Petrobank Energy & Resources Ltd. said production from its Kerrobert in situ combustion project in southwestern Saskatchewan increased in March to an average 264 b/d of apparently upgraded bitumen (OGJ Online, Feb. 1, 2012).
The company is using its proprietary THAI technology in the project, production of which in January and February averaged 155 b/d. To support combustion, it injects air through vertical wells drilled near the toes of horizontal producing wells.
That the produced oil has average API gravity of 13-14º indicates upgrading is occurring in situ, Petrobank says. The reservoir oil is 10.4º gravity.
The company brought Kerrobert field on production last September.
Bob Tippee has been chief editor of Oil & Gas Journal since January 1999 and a member of the Journal staff since October 1977. Before joining the magazine, he worked as a reporter at the Tulsa World and served for four years as an officer in the US Air Force. A native of St. Louis, he holds a degree in journalism from the University of Tulsa.
