in April 2005, we have successfully sands environment, any technology that is He says there are a number of players in
executed an extended program of nimble and can keep up with growing the oil sands targeting steam assisted
technical and operational enhancements demand is going to get more than just a gravity drainage projects at around
to the CDF,” Daniel says. “These cursory glance, Daniel notes. 30,000 to 50,000 barrels per day—projects
enhancements will allow us to proceed that would be ideally suited for RTP. The
with the design and construction of “In the oil sands people are planning big current strategy for these projects is to
crude-specific and site-specific full-scale crude upgrading plants, but they’re not buy diluent to add to the bitumen for
10,000- to 15,000-barrel-per-day facilities.” going to come online until 2013-14. Our pipeline transport, but diluent is costly
technology can be applied very quickly and in tight supply. As well, that strategy
compared to that. You can start with exposes producers’ volatile light/heavy
10,000 barrels per day, then build up over crude price differentials.
a period of time. We could handle more
than 100,000 barrels per day with multiple “When it gets to the market, you get the
trains.” lowest, lowest price out there,” says
Ivanhoe chairman David Martin. “With this
technology, when that oil leaves a
particular field, that oil will be light oil, it
will no longer be heavy oil. We are in the
vicinity of W TI prices.”
The smaller scale upgrading RTP enables
is one of its key appeals, he explains, as it
underpins operations that can be scaled
up as production grows, and allows for
faster commissioning. In the current oil
So how does RTP work? The proprietary
process is described as extremely fast
thermal conversion characterized by
moderate temperatures and atmospheric
pressure. The result is a possible
transformation of about eight degree API
oil to 20 degrees or higher.
“It’s very similar to a fluid catalytic cracker,”
says Ed Veith, Ivanhoe vice-president of
heavy oil upgrading. “We use sand as the
heat carrier and we burn coke to
generate heat for thermal processes. We
have essentially solved the issue of
burning [waste] coke and converting it
into a high-value fuel.”
Potential applications for RTP are not
confined to Western Canada, although
the company says opportunities there
are vast. It could also be used to produce
“stranded” heavy oil and oil sands
deposits that cannot be produced due to
lack of on-site energy or transportation
challenges.
“The fact that this technology exists is
adding value to heavy oil all over the
world.”
Ivanhoe’s goal is to use the technology to
build reserves, rather than licensing it.
“The opportunities it opens for
integrated development of oilfields
makes it very appealing to production
sharing formats and joint venture
formats,” says CEO Daniel. We have a
number of interested potential partners
from around the world, including from
the significant Athabasca [oil sands]
region of Western Canada, as well as
California, and we look forward to testing
their crudes and working toward
commercial agreements.” ■
