Laricina Energy
Encyclopedia
Laricina Energy Ltd. is a private Canadian oil producing company engaged in exploration in North-Eastern Alberta. The company targets oil sands opportunities outside of the Athabasca mining area and is focusing on in situ plays in the Grosmont
and Grand Rapids formations. Its headquarters are located in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
(CPPIB), which invested $250 million in exchange for 17.1 per cent ownership and the right to nominate someone for election to Laricina's board of directors, as long as CPPIB maintains a 10-per-cent holding. The company has established four main development areas in Germain, Saleski, Poplar and Conn Creek within the Athabasca oilsands region, with more than 10.2 Goilbbl of estimated exploitable net bitumen.
In the fall of 2010 the company completed construction of its Saleski Pilot near Wabasca, Alberta. Saleski is the world’s first Grosmont carbonate oil sands project that uses steam-assisted gravity drainage (SAGD) technology, and the first SAGD project to produce bitumen from Alberta’s Grosmont Formation, Alberta’s second-largest In situ oil sands resource. The Saleski Pilot is licenced for 1800 oilbbl/d of production. Steam injection started in December 2010 and first oil production was achieved in April 2011.
On July 14, 2011 Laricina Energy was selected as one of six innovative energy projects by the Alberta Government to receive funding under the Innovative Energy Technologies Program in support of its Saleski Grosmont Formation steam-assisted gravity drainage pilot.
The Saleski Pilot is unique in that it is designed to enhance industry’s proven SAGD extraction method – by combining steam with solvents, a process called solvent-cyclic SAGD or SC-SAGD. The primary objective of the Saleski Pilot is to understand the technical parameters of the reservoir in order to optimize the application of the SC-SAGD process for commercial development.
As of July 2011, Laricina is seeking regulatory approval for Phase 1 expansion at Saleski. This is the first of six potential phases of the Saleski Project’s expansion. Phase 1 is a 10700 oilbbl/d expansion that will bring the total field production to 12500 oilbbl/d. Laricina is taking a staged approach to expand bitumen production capacity to 270000 oilbbl/d over a 30-year period.
Grosmont Formation
The Grosmont Formation is a stratigraphical unit of Frasnian age in the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin.It takes the name from the hamlet of Grosmont, Alberta, and was first described in well Imperial Grosmont No. 1, in 13-17-67-23W4M, central Alberta by H.R...
and Grand Rapids formations. Its headquarters are located in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
History
It was founded in 2005 by President and CEO Glen C. Schmidt. The company takes its name from the Latin root for the tamarack, a hardy species of tall and skinny trees that thrive on the northern fringe of tree growth in North America. Mr. Schmidt said the tamarack is known for being the first tree to arrive in an area. Since its inception, the company has raised approximately $1.2 billion (Canadian) in equity financing and has accumulated 61,703 net hectares. A key investor is the Canada Pension Plan Investment BoardCPP Investment Board
Under the direction of the then Canadian Finance Minister Paul Martin, the CPP Investment Board was created in 1997 as an organization independent of the government to monitor and invest the funds held by the Canada Pension Plan . In turn, the CPP Investment Board created the CPP Reserve Fund. The...
(CPPIB), which invested $250 million in exchange for 17.1 per cent ownership and the right to nominate someone for election to Laricina's board of directors, as long as CPPIB maintains a 10-per-cent holding. The company has established four main development areas in Germain, Saleski, Poplar and Conn Creek within the Athabasca oilsands region, with more than 10.2 Goilbbl of estimated exploitable net bitumen.
Saleski Pilot
In the winter of 2009 Laricina conducted a series of non-thermal test with solvents on a well in its Grosmont formation at Saleski. The test confirmed the overall capacity and quality of the bitumen reservoirs within the carbonates.In the fall of 2010 the company completed construction of its Saleski Pilot near Wabasca, Alberta. Saleski is the world’s first Grosmont carbonate oil sands project that uses steam-assisted gravity drainage (SAGD) technology, and the first SAGD project to produce bitumen from Alberta’s Grosmont Formation, Alberta’s second-largest In situ oil sands resource. The Saleski Pilot is licenced for 1800 oilbbl/d of production. Steam injection started in December 2010 and first oil production was achieved in April 2011.
On July 14, 2011 Laricina Energy was selected as one of six innovative energy projects by the Alberta Government to receive funding under the Innovative Energy Technologies Program in support of its Saleski Grosmont Formation steam-assisted gravity drainage pilot.
The Saleski Pilot is unique in that it is designed to enhance industry’s proven SAGD extraction method – by combining steam with solvents, a process called solvent-cyclic SAGD or SC-SAGD. The primary objective of the Saleski Pilot is to understand the technical parameters of the reservoir in order to optimize the application of the SC-SAGD process for commercial development.
As of July 2011, Laricina is seeking regulatory approval for Phase 1 expansion at Saleski. This is the first of six potential phases of the Saleski Project’s expansion. Phase 1 is a 10700 oilbbl/d expansion that will bring the total field production to 12500 oilbbl/d. Laricina is taking a staged approach to expand bitumen production capacity to 270000 oilbbl/d over a 30-year period.