NSERC Industrial Research Chair in Unconventional Oil Recovery

石油和天然气是艾伯塔省和加拿大最大的自然能源资源。目前，艾伯塔省生产了加拿大70%的石油和80%的天然气。石油和天然气的开采和收入是艾伯塔省经济的关键组成部分，因为艾伯塔省政府三分之一的收入来自石油和天然气。随着全球对石油和天然气的需求和使用的增加，以及油价降至最低点，高效地回收和提取重油和沥青已成为政府、石油业、研究中心和大学--尤其是阿尔伯塔大学--的优先事项。拟议的NSERC非常规石油回收工业研究教席是阿尔伯塔大学为应对开发生态可行的技术以提取或开发非常规石油储量和资源而开展的一项重大研究活动。在很大程度上，石油行业在技术上没有准备好满足重油和沥青生产和消费的高需求。艾伯塔省拥有世界第二大碳氢化合物储量(仅次于沙特阿拉伯的常规石油储量)，估计为1.7万亿桶，目前这些储量(1730亿桶)中只有10%(1730亿桶)可以使用现有技术开采。这些地势较低的资源比可开采的油砂具有更大的潜力。这些石油储量中只有15%可以用现有技术开采--85%的石油储量保持不变。虽然开采油砂的地面开采技术已经成功应用，但由于技术和经济问题，现场回收重质油和沥青仍然是一个相当大的挑战。在这项拟议的研究计划下，通过开发先进和最佳的原地开采技术，存在回收85%这些储量的潜力。

Oil and natural gas are the largest natural energy resources in Alberta and Canada. Currently, Alberta produces70% of Canada's oil and 80% of its natural gas. The extraction and revenue from oil and natural gas is animperative component of the Alberta economy as one-third of the Alberta Government's revenue is generatedfrom oil and gas. As the demand and use for oil and gas increases globally and furthermore as oil pricesreached its lowest values, efficient recovery and extraction of heavy-oil and bitumen has become a priority forthe government, the oil industry, research centres and universities - especially the University of Alberta.The proposed NSERC Industrial Research Chair in Unconventional Oil Recovery is a major research initiativeundertaken by the University of Alberta in response to developing ecologically viable technologies forextracting or tapping unconventional oil reserves and resources. For the most part, the oil industry has beentechnologically unprepared to meet the high demands of heavy oil and bitumen production and consumptionneeds. With Alberta having the second largest hydrocarbon reserves in the world (after Saudi Arabia'sconventional oil reserves) that are estimated at 1.7 trillion barrels, currently only 10% of these reserves (173billion barrels) is recoverable using existing technologies.Heavy-oil and bitumen reserves deposited below minable depths require in-situ recovery techniques. Theselower-lying resources have considerably more potential than extractable oil sands. Only 15% of these oilreserves can be mined using existing techniques - leaving 85% of oil reserves untouched. While proventechnologies are successfully applied for surface extraction of mined oil sands, in-situ recovery of heavy-oiland bitumen is still a considerable challenge due to the technological and economic problems. Throughdevelopment of advanced and optimal in-situ recovery techniques under this proposed research program, thepotential to recover 85% of these reserves exists.