Oil

Understanding SAGD Technology

Steam Assisted Gravity Drainage (SAGD) sagd

Steam Assisted Gravity Drainage (SAGD; “Sag-D”) is an Enhanced oil recovery technology for producing heavy crude oil and bitumen. It is an advanced form of steam stimulation in which a pair of horizontal wellsare drilled into the oil reservoir, one a few metres above the other. High pressure steam is continuously injected into the upper wellbore to heat the oil and reduce its viscosity, causing the heated oil to drain into the lower wellbore, where it is pumped out. Dr. Roger Butler, engineer at Imperial Oil from 1955 to 1982, invented the steam assisted gravity drainage (SAGD) in the 1970s. Butler “developed the concept of using horizontal pairs of wells and injected steam to develop certain deposits of bitumen considered too deep for mining.”[1][2] In 1983 Butler became director of technical programs for the Alberta Oil Sands Technology and Research Authority (AOSTRA),[1][3] a crown corporation created by Premier Lougheed to promote new technologies for oil sands and heavy crude oil production. AOSTRA quickly supported SAGD as a promising innovation in oil sands extraction technology.[2]   – Via Wikipedia 

 

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PM Announces Investment Treaty with Nigeria

May 1, 2013

Ottawa, Ontario

Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Mohammed Namadi Sambo, Vice President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, today announced the conclusion of negotiations toward a Canada-Nigeria Foreign Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement (FIPA). The announcement was made following a bilateral meeting that was part of Mr. Sambo’s visit to Canada from April 30 to May 4, 2013.

Photo credit curtsey of businessnews.com.ng/business/

Photo  Curtsey of businessnews.com.ng/business/

“This agreement will facilitate investment flows between Canada and Nigeria, contributing to job creation and economic growth in both countries,” said Prime Minister Harper. “It will provide Canadian companies and investors with the protection and confidence they need to take advantage of the many commercial opportunities in Africa’s most populous nation.”

The Agreement will come into force once both parties complete their respective domestic ratification processes.  There are significant Canadian investment opportunities in Nigeria, including in the extractive, information and communications technology, agriculture and infrastructure sectors.

Nigeria is Canada’s largest trading partner in sub-Saharan Africa. Since 2006, annual bilateral trade between the two countries has more than doubled, reaching $2.3 billion by 2012. In 2011, Canadian direct investment in Nigeria totalled $36 million and is expected to grow as a result of this FIPA. 

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