Canada

A growing chorus of suppliers, researchers, and service companies is persuading US operators to re-examine their use of slickwater in shale plays and consider displacing it with carbon dioxide and nitrogen.

Some operators are returning to their North American mature unconventional shale wells to refracture, or restimulate, the rock to accelerate production and enhance ultimate recoveries.

This paper presents a concept for recovery in Canadian oil sands that uses water injection to condition a reservoir interval sufficiently to relieve the overburden stress on the oil sand and increase its porosity and permeability.

The rapid growth of progressing cavity pumps is an example of how new uses continue to emerge for older technology.

Concerns have been expressed and published about the amount of water used in Canada’s oil-sands industry.