Dr. Laurier L. Schramm , Saskatchewan Research Council;
In Saskatchewan we have about a billion barrels of conventional oil reserves. At current pumping rates this is only seven years of production.
That ought to be enough to get you interested.
Via Saskdesk
Does that “can do” attitude involve ditching the NDP?
That is the amount of Oil Saskatchewan has if it doesn’t continue to search for/find more Oil.
A change in government to either Brad Wall or that Kid with the spiky hair in charge of the Liberals would increase the “reserves” by surprising amount.
Keep in mind that … the World Bank? or someone like that … changed (significantly) the way reserves could be calculated, which reduced many oilfields to “lower” reserves. They were lobbied to change it to recognize oilsands, which is why AB is now ranked second only to Saudi.
So my first question has to be: “reserves” based on whose definition?
Can the weight of the earth, like a top actually be shifted by the movement of such large amounts of oil over many years? Where does all the water in the oil go?
Note that the scientist is talking about “conventional” reserves. I expect that he is not referring to the gazallions of cubic metres of heavy oil in place. And the CO2 project in the southeast is, I believe, showing great promise at extending the life of conventional wells.
A company drilled on parents farm near Rosetown about 5 years ago ,well was not developed.The oil fields around Coleville and Kindersley must be near the end of life been going since the 70s
There’s a copy of the original Sask. Business article at this URL:
http://www.rednova.com/news/science/230178/oil_in_saskatchewan/
In it, the Sask. Research Council head says we can continue to develop unconventional reserves as long as we keep looking for unconventional solutions.
Ignore my comment. I clicked on your link and found the exact same article. What I want to know is, what happens when we’ve exhausted all the unconventional reserves as well?
There are 200 years of coal reserves which can be converted to motive fuel. Add to 60 years of oil reserves and you get 260 years to come up with a solution. If you go back 260 years to 1745 and see how far technology has come and then extrapolate 260 years in the future, there should be no cause for worry. High prices will bring about a solution faster than all the government initiatives Big Paulie and his ilk can dream up.
Thats our oil and we are coming to get it.
god bless the USA
Sarge,
Only if you liberate us from our evil dictator first.
Any of that oil owned by Martin/strong’s cordex?
This isn’t news… If you know anyone involved in the petroleum industry.
I say we invade Manitoba for their hydro resources. Those BASTARDS!
Conventional reserves are based on international standards as reported by industry. Oil companies are usually pretty accurate with their predictions — but they only report THEIR conventional reserves, not on the province as a whole. Though the NDP have made it easier for oil companies to explore and exploit their reserves in Saskatchewan in the past few years, the mentality in Alberta and elsewhere is to avoid exploring in Saskatchewan and seek more industry-friendly governments with which to work.
In other words, the estimate from the SRC is likely low due to the fact that oil companies have not invested as much into exploration of Saskatchewan has they would have in other western Canadian fields. Chances are, especially with the development of the Saskatchewan oil sands, the reserves are somewhat highter than reported.
A regime change might result in a change in overall reserves.
One idea I’ve heard about was Sask building nuclear plants to supply the tar sands with “cheap” power to help extract more bitumen (heavy oil). My thoughts are that oil is a currency, so if Sask was to exchange nuclear generated electricity for a royalty on Alberta properties using the power (for generating steam to improve recovery) that could add up to a significant amount of oil production going to the province.
Say for a minute that Sask takes 25% of the incremental oil production gained by the use of nuclear power. Further, guestimate that such power will improve recovery in the tar sands area by 30% (probably conservative)…that equals a daily volume of 7.5% of tar sands production. If the tar sands hits 2 million bbls/d, then the royalty paid would be approx. 150 thousand bbls/d (about twice of the volume that now goes through the heavy oil upgrader at Lloydminister).
Now factor in other benefits…cheaper power supply to improve oil recoveries on the Sask side of the border (more royalties), cheaper power for farms & cities, ability to lower taxes which obvious attractions new businesses and industries…so more jobs, more opportunity, more people…
Might be an idea worth considering just depends on what the province’s priorities are: salivating over Alberta’s wealth or “generating” it on their own.
It’s easier to sell oil than uranium and Sask is one of the richest areas of the world for uranium, so…