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Latest News: The facility will utilize the 72,000 b/d of bitumen to produce 58,500 b/d of
synthetic crude oil. The 13,500 b/d difference between the bitumen input and crude
output will be used for an asphaltene-gasification unit to provide syngas for the project's
steam generation and cogeneration needs. The majority of the upgrader facilities are
complete and the companies expect the project to be operational by mid-2008.
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Profile: OPTI holds a 50% working
interest in Long
Lake, Kinosis, Leismar and Cottonwood leases located
south of Fort
McMurray. ORMAT, the founding
parent company, now holds less than 10% in OPTI. OPTI
Canada Inc. was created in 1999 to develop integrated
bitumen and heavy oil projects using its proprietary
OrCrude upgrading technology.
The company is based in Calgary
and is listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange. Nexen
Inc. is an independent global energy company listed
on the Toronto and New
York stock exchanges and is one of Canada's largest
oil and natural gas producers. Nexen
has about 3,000 employees worldwide and produces some
250,000 b/d of oil equivalent. |
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Reactors in place at
Long Lake.
Photo courtesy of OPTICanada/Nexen.
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OPTI Canada is making
significant investments in upgrading infrastructure
for their Long Lake
projects, such as this gasifier
near Fort McMurray. Photo compliments
of OPTI Canada.
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EPC contract:contractor Colt Engineering Corp. completed construction on the first phase of the
Long Lake bitumen production field about 40 kilometers southeast of Fort McMurray,
Alberta, Canada, according to Industrial Info Resources. The oilsands project developers,
Nexen Inc. and OPTI Canada Inc., are steaming the property before ramping up bitumen
production to 72,000 b/d in mid-to-late 2008. The bitumen production will be used as a
feedstock for the Long Lake Upgrader operated by OPTI.
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Syngas strategy: The Shell gasifier will have four trains, with each one representing
33% of the total capacity. Liquid asphaltenes
are fed to the gasifier. Remaining
stream from the gasifier (after the hydrogen has been removed) is equal
to 100 MMcfd and fuels the
SAGD boilers and cogen facility. |
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Products: OrCrude's lighter ends are ~20°
API (sour) and are sent to the Chevron-Lummus
hydrocracker where the oil is cracked in the presence of
hydrogen converting it into 39° API light-sweet final
product that can be shipped to Hardisty,
AB and into the US for refining. |
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Site location: Phase 1 is about 40
km southeast of Fort McMurray
on a lease located some 8 km southeast of the Hamlet
of Anzac in the regional municipality of Wood Buffalo. Phase 2 is about 14 km
south of Anzac. |
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Plant technology: The project's OrCrude unit will break the bbl into liquid asphaltenes and partially upgraded OrCrude
product. The plant has two thermal crackers and distillation
columns. The heavy ends (or bottoms) are sent from the
distillation columns to the gasifiers. |
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Project data: Steam injection for phase
1 will begin in late 2006, and the upgraders
will start up in mid-2007. Each phase of the four-phase
project will produce 70,000-b/d of synthetic crude oil
(SCO) for a total of 280,000 b/d by 2015. Phase 2 will
be sanctioned in early 2008 with steam being injected
into the ground in 2010, and the upgraders
will be started up in 2011. The second phase of upgrading
has regulatory approval and will receive SAGD approval
in 2006. The current plan is to build the same-sized
project three more times to take advantage of knowledge
gained from executing Phase 1. This will be an advantage
in a very tight labor market and allow the team to control
costs. |
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SAGD process: Rigs drill horizontal
wells in pairs from pads. Steam is injected into the
upper well and rises to form a steam chamber that heats
the bitumen, reducing viscosity, and allowing it to
flow through slots in the lower production well. Bitumen
is pumped to the surface. |
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Upgrader: After treating, diluted
bitumen is fed into the upgrader,
consisting of a OrCrude
unit, a gasifier and a hydrotreater.
The technology uses (1) asphaltene
residue to produce fuel gas to supply the SAGD operation,
a cogen unit and the upgrader
and (2) H2 to feed the hydrocracker. |
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Drilling: Engineering, procurement and development drilling
has been completed. All SAGD wells have been drilled,
and 82% have been completed. SAGD module fabrication
is almost complete with 85% of modules on site. Upgrader
module fabrication is advancing. |
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SAGD: SAGD construction is
more than 55% complete, while the upgrader
is just under 40% complete. The project is on track
to begin steam injection in late 2006 and to begin upgrader
operations in the second half of 2007. |
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Contact: Jamey Fitzgibbon, VP
Resources Development, OPTI Canada,
Suite
2010, 555
4th Ave SW,
Calgary,
ABT2P 3E7, Catherine Holt, Sr. Exec. Asst. to Roger
Thomas, president and CEO, Nexen.
catherine_holt@nexeninc.com, T (403) 699-5508, F (403) 699-5745 |
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Project Description/Cost
($millions) |
Remarks |
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SAGD Heavy Oil Project
Phase 2 (Kinosis)........$2,790
Water treatment/steam
generation expansion.......$250
SAGD Heavy Oil Project
Phase 1.......................$3,482 |
Proposed for 2008-2010.
Estimates are preliminary
Proposed
Under construction. Approved
August 2003 |
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