Petrobakken Latest Drilling Economics and Results in Canadas Part of the Bakken Oil Field

Petrobakken reveals the latest economics and results of improved drilling techniques in Canada’s portion of the Bakken oil field

The results are 10% better than the nearest competitor and are currently showing slower decline in production.

Petrobakken also announced the commissioning and commencement of air injection at our Kerrobert THAI (Toe Heel Air Injection) heavy oil project. This project applies the THAI technology in a conventional heavy oil reservoir at Kerrobert, Saskatchewan.

Kerrobert heralds a new era for fast track heavy oil projects in Canada.

– July 9, 2009: Regulatory approval received only 54 working days after filing the application.

– September 7, 2009: Drilling and completion operations completed.

– September 8, 2009: Plant construction initiated and completed in six weeks.

– September 12, 2009: The pre-ignition heating cycle (“PIHC”) commenced (in the vertical wells only) and we have now started air injection.

The PIHC performed as expected, allowing us to achieve the necessary injectivity into the reservoir zone. The horizontal wells have temporary downhole pumps which were turned on at low rates to achieve a slight drawdown pressure across the horizontal well prior to air injection. Air injection has been initiated at a rate less than 10% of designed volumes to establish the in-situ combustion zone. Currently, we expect to begin producing through the plant in the next twenty-four hours. Once combustion gas is consistently produced from the horizontal well, we will cease pumping and ramp up air injection to allow the wells to flow. We will then increase air injection rates and oil production volumes are expected to increase concurrently.

This project will highlight the applicability of the THAI technology in Saskatchewan’s conventional heavy oil resource base. We believe that a significant portion of the Province’s estimated 20 billion barrels of unrecovered conventional heavy oil resources can be commercialized using THAI

Here is an 8 page pdf that looks at simulations of Toe Heel Air Injection (THAI) THAI simulations show it will work under different geology conditions and work better than other underground combustion techniques.