BlackPearl Resources Inc. is seeking regulatory approval for a steam-assisted gravity drainage (SAGD) oil recovery project 50 kilometres northwest of Wandering River.
Last Friday, the company hosted an open house at the Grassland Community Hall to educate local residents on the Blackrod SAGD Commercial Project and hear their concerns.
“BlackPearl is proposing an ‘in-situ’ steam-assisted gravity drainage (SAGD) bitumen recovery project,” a public notice reads. “We are seeking approval to produce at a production capacity of 80,000 barrels per day (bbls/d) of crude bitumen, targeting the Lower Grand Rapids formation. The project is expected to be constructed in three phases over the estimated 25 to 30-year life of the project, with the initial phase being 20,000 bbls/d.”
The project is still a long way off, as the approval process will be a lengthy one.
“We plan to submit the application in May 2012, and we anticipate an 18 to 24-month approval process,” said project manager Mike Cartieri. “Based on that, we could potentially start construction in 2013 at the earliest.”
Currently there is a pilot program on the proposed site, to demonstrate the feasibility of using SAGD technology to extract oil.
“We plan to build it in three phases,” Cartieri explained. “First phase is 20,000 barrels a day, whereas the second and third phase is going to be 30,000 barrels a day each. Beyond that we could start construction once we get approval on steam, earliest in 2015.”
Cartieri said the project’s impact on the local economy should be significant.
“We’re going to need a substantial amount of construction workers, operation workers, so we think it will add to the local economy based on the amount of work that is going to come as a result of the project,” he said. “There will be drilling, operations, construction workers … and highly skilled workers that are able to operate high-pressure steam vessels will be needed.”
Cartieri said people would be able to live in local communities as well as a camp on site.
“It’s going to bring activity to the area,” he said. “We’ll need activity in the area, and people coming to that area to support the project.”
The SAGD project will not use any fresh water.
“Our project is going to use salt water from a saline water source, which is a deep source located below our bitumen formation,” Cartieri said. “Any water that we require for steaming will come from that source, so once the process gets started, we’ll use make up water to get the boilers running.”
Cartieri said the difference between the SAGD project and the existing oil sands is the way the oil is extracted.
“Fort McMurray is an oil sands open pit mine where you remove the over burden and you shovel the bitumen out,” he said. “Our oil is too deep to mine, so we have to drill horizontal SAGD wells and produce the oil with steam.”
Skeleton Lake resident Dave Dickson said he attended the open house to learn more about the project.
“I wanted to see how it’s done, and the environmental end of it is very good,” he said. “I’m pleased with the project and it will employ Albertans.”
To learn more about the project visit www.blackpearlresources.ca.
