Osum Oil Sands Corp.

Enterra Patco Oil Field Products

Fce Flow Control Equipment Ltd.

Andrew Squires

Henry Gil

John David Watson

Dana Brock

In one embodiment, a method of hydraulically mining of oil sands from a well pair drilled into an oil sands deposit is disclosed. The wells are preferably installed from a protected underground workspace in or near the producing zone. The method of hydraulic mining disclosed herein includes: means of drilling production and tailings injection wells; means of augmenting hydraulic excavation for example by inducing block caving and/or wormholing; means of isolating the underground personnel areas from formation gases and fluids; and means of backfilling the excavated volumes with tailings. In one configuration, production wells are formed and lined with a frangible material, for example, a weak concrete or an inflatable epoxy-impregnated felt tube. Hydraulic mining of the full deposit thickness using a directional water jet bit begins at the far end of the drill hole and continues back in stages toward the well-head. When each stage is complete, the water jet can be used to disintegrate sections of liner to allow mining to proceed back towards the well-head. An aspect of the present invention is that it provides for backfilling of the mined volume in stages so that subsidence of the ground is avoided. Possible advantages of the hydraulic excavation method disclosed herein are the low amount of energy and water required, the high production rates possible and the tolerance to difficult geologies, to recover bitumen from oil sands as compared to thermal recovery methods such as SAGD and HAGD.

Recovery of bitumen by hydraulic excavation

A method and means is disclosed for managing the reduction of carbon during product transport for a large number of hydrocarbon fuel producers within a given geographic region. This reduction of carbon is accomplished at a few major sequestration hubs located within the geographic region where the sequestration hubs themselves pass through or near major carbon dioxide sequestration facilities. The method includes reducing the amount of carbon in the product and providing a carbon credit or a carbon tax benefit to the producer as an additional alternative available to the producer than acquiring a carbon credit, paying a carbon tax or installing on-site capture and sequestration facilities.

Method of managing carbon reduction for hydrocarbon producers

A method and system of generating a range of petroleum products from bitumen or heavy oil reservoir by installing wells from a combination of surface and underground well-head platforms while controlling carbon dioxide emissions during thermal recovery operations are provided.

Method of controlling a recovery and upgrading operation in a reservoir

Improved wear interface surfaces on well rod centralizers and centralizer stops. Well apparatus includes a rotary tool in a string of tubing extending into a well hole in the earth and a rod extending to the ground surface through such tubing which is drivingly connected to the tool. Centralizers are used on the rod and are located between a pair of centralizer stops. The stops and centralizers associated therewith having wear interface surfaces and at least one of the wear interface surfaces which abut one another having a material thereon of a hardness in the range of 7 to 10 in Mohs scale of hardness and thereby having a hardness greater than the hardness of abrasive materials likely, during use, to pass through said tubing.

Well rod, centralizer and centralizer stop interfaces with wear reducing

A wellhead flow tee and blow out preventing device having housings joined providing an integral unit. The housing includes a first upper portion with an upper mounting flange on an upper end thereof and a second lower portion with a lower mounting flange on a lower end thereof and a primary central fluid flow passage extending therethrough from one of said flanges to the other. The upper portion has at least one secondary fluid flow passage extending through a sidewall of said housing from said primary passage to an outer surface of said housing and to which external piping is connected. This part of the housing is the flow tee. The second lower housing portion has a pair of oppositely directed passages extending radially outwardly from the central passage to an outer surface of a sidewall of such housing portion. The oppositely directed passages are provided with selectively movable gating members for use in selectively preventing fluid flow through the primary passage. Each of the first and second housing portions having a neck portion surrounding the primary passage with one projecting toward the other and disposed in abutting relation and these neck portions are connected one to the other with a continuous continuity circumferentially around the primary passage.

Growing community of inventors

Calgary, Canada

Andrew Squires