Suncor approves facility to test water treatment, recycling technologies

Suncor Energy and five industry partners have announced an estimated $165 million funding commitment to sanction the construction of a dedicated Water Technology Development Centre (WTDC).

The WTDC, to be located at Suncor' s Firebag facility, will be used to test water treatment and further develop recycling technologies. The goal of the WTDC is to shorten the timeframe needed to develop and commercialize new technologies, as well as significantly enhance existing technologies.

"The WTDC will help us speed up the pace of innovation, while collaboratively managing the risks and costs of technology development," said Steve Williams, Suncor president and CEO. "We expect to see strong benefits by conducting different tests simultaneously, using process fluids in real world conditions to pilot new technologies and prove their commercial viability."

The centre is being pursued as a joint industry project convened under Canada' s Oil Sands Innovation Alliance (COSIA), with testing to begin by early 2017. In addition to Suncor, the partner companies include Canadian Natural Resources Limited, Devon Canada Corporation, Nexen Energy ULC, Shell Canada Energy and Husky Oil Operations Limited.

Knowledge

"Moving forward on the WTDC is a demonstration of the tangible progress that COSIA is making by bringing companies together to share knowledge and advance innovation," says Dan Wicklum, chief executive of COSIA. "The research and testing conducted at the WTDC will allow participating companies to test drive more technologies than could be evaluated by each company alone. This helps to deliver our vision of accelerated environmental performance improvement in Canada' s oil sands."

The structure of the joint industry project will see Suncor construct, own and operate the WTDC while collaborating with the other partners on design, construction and operations -- including specific tests. As a dedicated test facility, the WTDC is expected to overcome the barriers that are common to field testing at commercial production facilities, which are not typically designed to accommodate simultaneous testing of water treatment technologies.

Testing priorities will include minimizing fresh water use and maximizing reliability for steam assisted gravity drainage production. The facility is expected to provide industry with the opportunity to develop new ways of approaching water treatment and recycling, resulting in positive environmental, social and economic outcomes.

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Exxon, BP Evacuate Iraq workers amid limited oil drilling impact

Exxon Mobil and BP began removing employees in Iraq as militants continued a push toward Baghdad and a battle raged for control of the nation’s largest oil refinery.

The evacuations come amid government and company assertions that Iraq’s output of almost 3 MMbpd should remain unaffected by escalating sectarian tensions. Exxon has removed some workers from the West Qurna oil field as operations continue, according to a person familiar with the company’s Iraq operations. BP has removed non-essential workers, CEO Bob Dudley said.

While violence is sweeping northern Iraq, the conflict so far spared Iraq’s crude production in the south and the Kirkuk oilfield in the north is being defended by Kurds.

“The only infrastructure that is currently producing and supplying international markets is in the south and will remain untouched,” said Kyle Stelma, managing director of Dunia Frontier Consultants, which researches Iraq for clients.

Fighters from ISIL battled government forces for control of the Baiji refinery in northern Iraq today, a day after clashes in Baquba, 55 km northeast of the capital. A military spokesman said elite Iraqi forces were defending the Baiji refinery, but the comments contradicted local police who said militants had captured the facility.

A fuel tank at the refinery caught fire after shelling by militants, according to the Salahuddin provincial police command. The refinery halted operations because its storage tanks were full, according to Iraq’s Oil Ministry.

The market impact of the clashing continued to be muted, with Brent crude little changed at $114.23 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange New York.

Companies such as Chevron, Total and Marathon Oil, which are drilling in the Kurdistan region, are continuing to operate. Marathon hasn’t evacuated employees, spokeswoman Lee Warren said. Chevron’s operations continue “as normal,” spokesman Kurt Glaubitz said. Oryx Petroleum reported successful testing and a ramp up in drilling activity in Kurdistan.

The rapid battlefield success of the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant, or ISIL, a Sunni Muslim al-Qaeda breakaway group also embroiled in battles in neighboring Syria, threatens to re-ignite a sectarian civil war in Iraq. It also risks escalating into a wider conflict that draws in the United States and Iran in defense of PM Nouri al-Maliki’s Shiite-led government three years after the withdrawal of United States forces. Iraq is the largest oil producer in OPEC after Saudi Arabia.

BP CEO Bob Dudley said the violence, which he called “terrible” and said would have “far-reaching, wide-ranging implications” for the region, isn’t likely to spread all the way to the country’s southern oil fields.

“The implications for oil production at the moment appear limited,” he told reporters yesterday in Moscow. “We are of course very vigilant.”

Anti-terrorism forces killed a Saudi fighter identified as Abu Yamama al-Dossary during the “failed attack” on the Baiji refinery. A fuel tank at the plant caught fire during the clashes. The refinery has halted operations since June 15, the police said. Baiji has about 40% of Iraq’s refining capacity, data compiled by Bloomberg show.

“Iraq will have to increase the import of oil products to make up for the loss of Baiji’s production,” Robin Mills, the head of consulting at Manaar Energy Consulting and Project Management, said “Baiji mainly supplies the north, but also Baghdad.”

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Gazprom Neft inks drilling, fracturing agreement with C.A.T. oil AG

C.A.T. oil AG, a provider of oil and gas field services in Russia and Kazakhstan, signed a framework agreement with Gazprom Neft on drilling and hydraulic fracturing services on June 17, 2014.

The agreement guarantees full utilization of four new drilling rigs and one new fracturing fleet until the end of 2016 and foresees conclusion of respective service agreements between the operating subsidiaries of Gazprom Neft and C.A.T. oil.

The new drilling and fracturing capacities will be successively deployed in the field from September to December 2014 and are part of C.A.T. oil’s growth strategy.
 
In November 2013, C.A.T. oil announced its 2014-16 investment program of EUR 390 million aiming at expansion of its operating capacities by around 33% for fracturing, 55% for sidetracking and 170% for drilling by the end of 2016 as compared to the end of 2013

For 2014, C.A.T. oil has ordered six drilling rigs, four sidetracking rigs and one fracturing fleet. Execution of the program and manufacturing of the ordered new capacities are fully on schedule.

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