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me2
Tar Sands
Joined: Feb 06, 2006
Posts: 20
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 Posted: Tue Feb 07, 2006 9:14 am Post subject: How much natural gas does tarsand refining take ? |
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I've heard rumors that refining tarsand into crude takes a lot of natural gas. Can anyone confirm this ?
With all the development and new production in the Alberta tarsands, where will this natural gas come from ? |
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Motel
Coal
Joined: Oct 25, 2005
Posts: 14
Location: Alberta
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| Posted: Tue Feb 07, 2006 12:17 pm Post subject: Re: How much natural gas does tarsand refining take ? |
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Going by CAPP's numbers (Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers) production right now takes about 400 cubic feet per barrel of oil produced. In 2004 approximately one million barrels per day were produced from the tar sands plants and the productive capacity of natural gas in Canada was about 6.25 trillion cubic feet. This means that in 2004 oil production at the tar sands used up about two and a half per cent of the natural gas productive capacity.
By 2015 the tar sands are expected to be producing 2.7 million barrels a day and the productive capacity will be up around 8.25 trillion cubic feet, meaning that the oil production will use closer to 5% of the natural gas capacity.
The problem is that the gas that's easily accessible for Syncrude and Suncor (what's in the sedimentary basin in western Canada) is going to peak earlier than production in the rest of the country. Going by the graph from CAPP with numbers from the CERI (Canadian Energy Research Institute) productive capacity in the basin will peak around 2009.
I'll try and find the link with all the data. I was working these numbers out yesterday from a copy of the graph I had printed a while ago. |
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FatherOfTwo
Intermediate Crude
Joined: Nov 11, 2004
Posts: 977
Location: Heart of Canada's Oil Country
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| Posted: Tue Feb 07, 2006 12:30 pm Post subject: Re: How much natural gas does tarsand refining take ? |
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| me2 wrote: | I've heard rumors that refining tarsand into crude takes a lot of natural gas. Can anyone confirm this ?
With all the development and new production in the Alberta tarsands, where will this natural gas come from ? |
Currently yes, they are using a "lot" of natural gas.
But there is nothing that REQUIRES natural gas be used.
The bitumen itself can, and is, being used. New technologies are on the horizon that drastically reduce NG use (eg. THAI) etc. etc.
_________________
Do not underestimate the difficulties of surviving the transition of peak oil, nor the dangers of global warming. We must embrace nuclear energy and renewables. |
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Motel
Coal
Joined: Oct 25, 2005
Posts: 14
Location: Alberta
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| Posted: Tue Feb 07, 2006 12:46 pm Post subject: Re: How much natural gas does tarsand refining take ? |
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| FatherOfTwo wrote: | | New technologies are on the horizon that drastically reduce NG use |
Yea, and they already are being used. The CAPP numbers show that in the late 90's it was taking about 600 cubic feet per barrel produced. Reduction to 400 in a few years is pretty good.
Last edited by Motel on Tue Feb 07, 2006 2:46 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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nth
Light Sweet Crude
Joined: Feb 24, 2005
Posts: 1973
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| Posted: Tue Feb 07, 2006 1:44 pm Post subject: Re: How much natural gas does tarsand refining take ? |
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http://www.opticanada.com/
These guys have exclusive license to a zero natural gas extraction process. They maybe the future.
I am sure with them coming on the scene, others are researching into similar methods. |
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me2
Tar Sands
Joined: Feb 06, 2006
Posts: 20
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| Posted: Tue Feb 07, 2006 4:34 pm Post subject: Re: How much natural gas does tarsand refining take ? |
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That is the extraction side of things.
I am speaking of refining, where natural gas is used to make a high hydrogen contect gas which is used to crack the heavy oil into lighter crude. |
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MD
Community Manager
Joined: May 02, 2005
Posts: 3277
Location: at the convention
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| Posted: Tue Feb 07, 2006 4:52 pm Post subject: Re: How much natural gas does tarsand refining take ? |
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The push will come when other natural gas users begin screaming for a greater share of dwindling supplies. A couple years from now at most? Then the sands-to-refined producers will be forced to other methods.
_________________
"Don't ever become a pessimist... a pessimist is correct oftener than an optimist, but an optimist has more fun, and neither can stop the march of events."
Robert A. Heinlein
md@peakoil.com |
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FatherOfTwo
Intermediate Crude
Joined: Nov 11, 2004
Posts: 977
Location: Heart of Canada's Oil Country
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| Posted: Tue Feb 07, 2006 5:44 pm Post subject: Re: How much natural gas does tarsand refining take ? |
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| me2 wrote: | That is the extraction side of things.
I am speaking of refining, where natural gas is used to make a high hydrogen contect gas which is used to crack the heavy oil into lighter crude. |
Hmm, thanks for asking the question... it made me research that end of it.
| Quote: | | The Long Lake Project uses a unique combination of technologies to provide a solution to the natural gas supply and cost issue. A key component is a gasification facility using the Shell Gasification Process (SGP) which is integrated with the bitumen upgrading to convert the liquid asphaltene by-product stream into hydrogen for the secondary upgrading step and syngas fuel. An Air Liquide air separation unit (ASU) will provide high purity oxygen and other utility services to the upgrader. |
Source
Of course Long Lake is unique, but a good indicator of what the future will like. If you look at page 7, it looks like 20% of NG is used typically for upgrading. But it's a lot of tech gooble-di-goc, and I could be reading it incorrectly.
edit to add
| Quote: | | A key advantage of the Long Lake Integrated Upgrader configuration is the integration of an asphaltene gasification unit into the upgrader system to provide hydrogen to the hydrocracker and fuel for power and steam generation. The energy balance of the project, shown in Table 2, demonstrates the elimination of virtually all of the natural gas cost exposure, which results in an operating cost advantage of about 50% over currently-configured operations. |
_________________
Do not underestimate the difficulties of surviving the transition of peak oil, nor the dangers of global warming. We must embrace nuclear energy and renewables. |
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