EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES PROVIDE CONTINUED PROSPERITY IN THE WESTERN CANADIAN SEDIMENTARY BASIN

摘要

The late 1980s and early 1990s were a period of profound change for the petroleum industry globally. In western Canada, deregulation of the gas industry and rapidly changing market conditions characterized by low prices due to an over supply of product forced petroleum companies to reorganize, downsize, delayer and re-engineer work processes to improve financial performance. The evolution of the multi-discipline team approach to problem solving and business development has become the norm and has helped revolutionize the tight knit Canadian industry. Increased focus on cost reduction and benchmarking continues to promote business costs to lower and increasingly competitive levels. To drive the industry forward in an increasingly complex and competitive business environment, companies have accepted greater technical risk in introducing new and innovative technologies to access the hydrocarbon reserves of the geologically diverse, mature Western Canada Sedimentary Basin. Examples of innovative drilling and production technologies used to increase individual well productivity and maximize recoverable reserves in western Canada, including horizontal wells, underbalanced drilling (in sweet and sour reservoirs), coiled tubing drilling, sour well snubbing and multilaterals, are presented. Rapid introduction of innovative technologies such as these are helping to secure the competitive position of the industry by accessing evermore challenging reservoirs at competitive costs.