Journal of Canadian Petroleum Technology, Vol.48, No.9, 26-32, 2009
Prospects for Commercial Bitumen Recovery from the Grosmont Carbonate, Alberta
The last few years have seen the end of the Athabasca land play and the revival of interest in Alberta's bitumen resources in carbonate reservoirs. Of these, the Grosmont Formation is the most promising in terms of resource size and concentration. It is also the best known, in terms of having been the subject of several in situ pilots operated in the late '70s and early '80s. The data recorded from these early pilots is priceless in terms of having a touchstone of reality for new process concepts. On the other hand, the interpretations written in those days ('before gravity') are not necessarily as helpful. This paper looks at the Grosmont in terms of facts and fundamentals, and presents the case for Grosmont exploitation. There is good evidence that the Grosmont has very high bulk permeability as a result of karst porosity development and fracturing. This bodes well for the use of modern gravity drainage methods in the Grosmont.