Syncrude's Aurora mine heralds new era of energy production for Canada
New technology lowers cost and improves environmental performance
Syncrude Canada Ltd. has ushered in a new era for Canada's growing oil sands industry with the opening August 17th the first oil sands mine to be remote from an upgrader. The Aurora mine is located 35 km from Syncrude's existing operation near Fort McMurray, Alberta and was enabled by new patented technology which allows the mine's output to be partially processed on-site and then pipelined to Syncrude's main plant for froth treatment and upgrading. The new technologies will also lower production costs and improve environmental performance through reduced energy consumption.
"This is a day of firsts for Syncrude," said Chairman and CEO Eric Newell. "Aurora has moved Syncrude one step closer to our goal of producing 25% of Canada's crude oil by 2008. Today, years of in-house research are paying off with the introduction of technologies such as hydro-transport, low-energy extraction, and bitumen froth pipelining. Importantly, Syncrude's leadership in developing these more energy efficient technologies will enable growth throughout the oil sands industry."
The Aurora project was three-and-a-half years in the making, and was built at a cost of more than C$600 million. It concludes the second phase of an ambitious $8 billion expansion program, begun in 1996. Still to come are further mine and upgrading expansions which will double Syncrude's crude oil production capacity to 460,000 b/d of crude oil by 2008.
Newell said, "There is tremendous global demand for crude oil, and we are capturing an important market opportunity which will benefit Canadians for decades to come. People from coast to coast contribute to the production of Syncrude Sweet Blend, which is a high quality product that is value-added in Canada. Over the course of Syncrude's 20-plus year production history, it has pumped billions of dollars into the Canadian economy and paid billions more to governments in the form of taxes and royalties. What's more, from an environmental perspective, Syncrude is among the world's most efficient and responsible producers of crude oil and our ultra-low sulphur product is fully in step with the move toward cleaner burning oil energy products."
"New technology is an important part of our strategy, and Aurora is a showcase for that technology," says Jim Carter, president and COO. "A key first is that it operates as a regional business with mining and extraction occurring at Aurora; the resulting bitumen froth is then transported by pipeline to our Mildred Lake operation for further froth treatment and upgrading. Aurora proves that we can successfully grow the business and access new high quality oil sands ore bodies without having to relocate or construct a new upgrading facility."
Improved energy efficiency is evident in the Low Energy Extraction process developed at the Syncrude Research Centre and implemented for the first time at Aurora. It extracts bitumen from oil sand at much lower temperatures than traditional processes, and uses about 40 per cent less energy. Low Energy Extraction will be a major step forward in reducing Syncrude's production of greenhouse gases.
Long distance pipelining of bitumen froth is enabled by Natural Froth Lubricity. This technology uses the water that is naturally evident in the froth to form a lubricating "sleeve", thus allowing the froth to travel via pipeline without adding a diluent such as naphtha.
Syncrude is the nation's largest single source of crude oil and the world's largest producer of crude oil from oil sands. Syncrude produced 81.4 million bbl of Syncrude Sweet Blend in 1999. In April of 1998, it reached a major production milestone with the shipment of its billionth bbl of upgraded crude oil.
The Syncrude Project is a joint venture operated by Syncrude Canada Ltd. and owned by AEC Oil Sands, L.P., AEC Oil Sands Limited Partnership, Athabasca Oil Sands Investments Inc., Canadian Occidental Petroleum Ltd., Canadian Oil Sands Investments Inc., Gulf Canada Resources Limited, Imperial Oil Resources, Mocal Energy Ltd., Murphy Oil Company Ltd., and Petro-Canada.
Edited by Dev George
Managing Editor, Oil and Gas Online