Water Supply Challenges Confronting Steam-Assisted Gravity Drainage (SAGD) Oil Sands Projects in Alberta

R. S. Clarkson, S. Howard, and M. Dubord
Aqua Terre Solutions Inc, Calgary, AB

It has been estimated that approximately $30 billion will be invested in oilsands projects over the next decade. The majority of these projects will extract bitumen using steam-assisted-gravity-drainage (SAGD). Although it may be argued the SAGD process has fewer environmental constraints than traditional open-pit mining techniques, the potentially large water supply requirements present many challenges of its own. Key groundwater supply considerations for any SAGD project include the nature of the supply (e.g. water quantity and water quality), as well as potential impact on overlying groundwater-bearing units and surface water features. What is often more difficult to predict is consistency and sustainability of the water supply throughout the duration of the project (e.g. 15 to 25 years or more) coupled with possible cumulative effects arising from groundwater extractions from the same regional aquifer(s) at other existing or future oilsands developments.

In addition to the above technical issues, the Alberta government is reviewing current practices and policies in order to identify potential options to reduce the amount of non-saline water that is used for enhanced recovery purposes (conventional and thermal). The focus of this talk is to outline challenges faced by industry for oilsands projects that rely on groundwater in the SAGD process within the framework of Alberta's “Water for Life Strategy”.

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #90039©2005 AAPG Calgary, Alberta, June 16-19, 2005