The Western Canada Sedimentary Basin is one of the world’s leading petroleum provinces. Three key events were critical to its development: Discovery of conventional crude oil reservoirs in 1947; 1967 startup of commercial bitumen production from the oil sands of northeastern Alberta; Systematic exploitation beginning in the early 2000’s of unconventional (low-permeability) gas and oil reservoirs across the basin, using horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing. Today, WCSB production is dominated by oil sands bitumen (mining and subsurface thermal extraction), and gas / hydrocarbon liquids from low-permeability unconventional reservoirs. Both rely heavily on water to facilitate production. Oil sands surface mines quarry bitumen- saturated sand, which must be processed with water to create marketable bitumen. Most oil sands deposits are buried too deeply to mine, however, and must be accessed by drilling. Water is heated and injected into the reservoir as steam to reduce bitumen viscosity and promote flow to producing wellbores. Unconventional reservoirs are stimulated using horizontal wells and hydraulic fracturing, which creates sufficient permeability in the reservoir to allow gas and liquids to flow at commercial rates. Both oil sands and unconventional reservoir development require large volumes of fresh water, and both create waste water products that must be carefully managed to avoid contamination of potable surface water and shallow fresh groundwater aquifers. Provincial regulators in Alberta, British Columbia and Saskatchewan have developed regulatory regimes targeting specific characteristics of each play type – allocating appropriate fresh water volumes, promoting recycling, and mandating safe disposal. As both oil sands and unconventional production grow, demands on water resources increase and regulatory frameworks must be augmented. Industrial and academic research into water access, treatment and issues such as seismicity induced by water injection is expanding across Canada.

Water resource management in Western Canada oil sands and unconventional reservoirs

Macromolecular Chemistry: The Second Century

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ACS Spring 2020 National Meeting & Expo

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.