New Technology Magazine

Introducing new technology for longer wells keeps Canada’s biggest oilfield humming

With several decades of production already under its belt, one might think the
 Pembina oilfield would be well past the point of being a worthy candidate for new investment. But with the application of the latest in drilling technology, the old field is generating new production opportunities and is setting some new records in the process.

Extraction offshore Japan marks milestone in race to exploit world's biggest hydrocarbon resource

Based partly on pioneering knowledge learned in Canada’s far north, a Japanese vessel produced the first ever natural gas from an offshore methane hydrates field in March. The only previous production tests, including the first onshore production established at Mallik in the Northwest Territories, have occurred from under the tundra in onshore Arctic environments.

A modest Grosmont formation well pair could have an immense impact on Alberta’'s reserves

The C2 well pair located in the Saleski project in northeastern Alberta is as unpretentious as it gets. Completed in early 2012, the wells are approximately 400 metres deep, and the horizontal section in the reservoir is 450 metres long. The C2 well entered production in the first quarter of 2012 and has now gone through three cycles of injection and production. The peak oil production exceeded 1,200 barrels per day (bpd).

Could 100-stage frac jobs on individual
 laterals be around the corner?

Almost in lockstep with the meteoric rise in production from shale plays in North America, the number of frac stages regarded as feasible has also skyrocketed. Just the other day, it seems, five or six fracs were considered a good complement of stimulations. But in the last year or two, even 15–20 stages per well have ceased to seem exceptional.

Dawson Creek 
facility gets on the grid, sells offsets to province

Perhaps the best sound at the Dawson Creek gas plant is the sound of silence.

“One of the unwritten items we gain off of this plant is noise. This plant is extremely quiet. It runs very quiet and it’s great for our staff and contractors,” says Al Roberts, vice-president of production with ARC Resources Ltd.