Thank you.
In a nutshell, our project, which is a steam-assisted gravity drainage project as well, is just about the same thing as was described, with the one key distinction: we use strictly saline water.
Good morning, ladies and gentlemen.
I work for Devon Canada Corporation, and we are very proud of what we've have accomplished with regard to water and other issues. I'm also very pleased that we've been given the chance to speak to you.
I will repeat this; don't panic.
Thanks, everybody.
Ladies and gentlemen, at Devon we're very proud of what we've accomplished at our project in terms of how we've treated water and in terms of other aspects as well. It's a great opportunity for us to talk to you.
First of all, our project is located about 140 kilometres south of Fort McMurray. I'm sure you didn't fly through there. We're located about 15 kilometres south and east of a little community called Conklin. We are still located in the regional municipality of Wood Buffalo, and we pay municipal taxes to them. I only make that point because in effect we draw most of our services and quite a few of our people out of Lac La Biche, so we really don't put any pressure on Fort McMurray.
So that you remember this presentation, I'm going to enumerate the three main points. First, we use no surface water at Jackfish and no drinking water. Second, we recycle 95% of our water. Third, we have no tailings ponds like in the mines.
I'm going to summarize this very quickly.
There are three key points for Jackfish. First, we use no fresh water or surface water in our operations, with the exception of potable water for human consumption. Second, we have a high recycle rate, upwards of 95%. Third, we do not discharge or have tailing ponds on our sites. We don't withdraw from or discharge to surface locations, and when we do draw water, it's from a deep saline aquifer located about 300 metres below the surface.
In the photo here, although you can't see it very well, we have three small ponds. One of those is called a blowdown pond. That's a pond that we discharge water into when we're trying to ramp up our operations and heat up the operations or cool them down, and then once we're done, we can draw that water back into the process. We also have a sewage pond used to support our people's camp operations, and we have another pond, called a retention pond, that simply captures the surface waters.
Concerning the next slide, you've heard Matt talk about the steam-oil ratio. We're running at about 2.65 right now, but of course we're recycling most of that. Our target for the near future is to achieve a 2.5 ratio, but we are focusing on trying to reduce that even more.
Another thing I'd say about SAGD is that the surface impact or footprint related to this type of activity is quite small relative to even the conventional type of oil operations. We're going to produce 35,000 barrels of oil there daily off four pads, essentially, which have more or less seven wells each. Each well is going to produce about 1,000 to 1,500 barrels. For comparison, an average conventional oil well in Alberta produces less than 20 barrels a day. So there are some benefits from that aspect as well.
Let me tell you, this isn't an accident that we're using saline water at Jackfish. We have a commitment and a policy in the company that we're going to minimize the use of fresh water. We had consultations with our stakeholders, and we do it not just in the oil sands, but in everything we do. When Jackfish came along, we applied this policy and put it in action. Of course we had to find the saline water as well, and we had to deliver on that promise. We too had to drill a number of wells, but we were fortunate and we did find it.
From our standpoint, this was the right thing to do. We wanted to develop the oil sands, but we wanted to do it in an environmentally friendly way.
Matt just showed you a slide similar to this one as well. There are essentially four parts to this plant, from oil separation to oil storage, but there is also a big water treatment component, and of course we have our steam generators. The bottom line is that about half of the capital that goes into this plant is related to water recycling. We tend to think of this as a water recycling plant that enables us to reuse the water.
The other feature, which is not shown on this slide, is the extensive monitoring program that surrounds our property. We have 12 wells that monitor a dozen or so various aquifers. This information is collected and reported to the regulatory bodies. If any change in temperature or pressure were to occur, we would know what was going on and we could take corrective action.
You've seen various versions of the next slide. The only point I'd like to make is that in addition to the monitoring that goes on, above the Fort McMurray formation where we produce our oil there is a buffer of over 200 or 250 metres of cap rock that sits above the formation and essentially seals the formation off from any of the aquifers closer to the surface. That distance, by way of comparison, is roughly the size of the Calgary Tower, or two Peace Towers, in terms of height.
In terms of the road ahead, from our standpoint “good” isn't good enough, and it's particularly true with water. We have a saying in the company that governments grant us permits, but the communities grant us permission. It's very important to listen to what folks want, to try to manage that, and to be as good a neighbour as we can possibly be. We're seeking to do more, and we're directing our activities to that end.
I know you've visited the oil sands, but if you ever have the inclination or if you can make it--any one of you or all of you--you are invited to our site.
In closing, I would like to thank you sincerely for the opportunity to make this presentation. We would also be very honoured if some of you would come and visit us.