UK-based oil and gas services company Wood Group has received the first authorisation under an agreement signed to complete work at Suncor Energy’s Firebag in-situ site in Alberta, Canada.
The site is located 120km north-east of Ft McMurray.
Wood Group plans to complete the work using standard well pad design, which has been developed to address growing concerns about escalating cost for in-situ heavy oil facilities, including steam-assisted gravity drainage (SAGD) well pads.
The design uses the same approach applied by Wood Group to other heavy oil facilities.
Over the life of a SAGD project, two-thirds of all capital spending is expected on well pads and gathering line infrastructure.
Earlier, Suncor’s well pad facilities costs ranging from more than C$4m ($3.02m) to C$9m ($6.81m) per well pair and are currently C$2m ($1.51m) per well pair using the Wood Group design.
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By GlobalDataThe design reduces ownership costs associated with engineering, procurement and project management.
Accommodating pad sizes of up to 12 well pairs, the design uses a drilling pattern with the production and steam injection wells in two parallel rows. Wells will be drilled at 10m spacing.
Wood Group chief executive Robin Watson said: “Our standard well pad design provides heavy oil producers the opportunity to lower costs and increase profit margins, and offers a new design solution for heavy oil production.”
