10th Annual Athabasca Oil Sands Conference
Tuesday, September 14
8:30 am to 5:00 pm
Cost: $475.00 + GST.
Register Now for the Athabasca Oil Sands Conference. We are pleased to announce that this year’s program will open with a Keynote by John Rhind, Chief Operating Officer of Shell Albian Sands. In keeping with one of Shell’s central missions “Everyone Home Safely, Always,” John will open the conference by focusing on the topic of safety and the ability to enhance one’s business by putting safety in the spotlight.
The theme of this year’s program is “Achieving Productivity Targets Across the Business”and will focus exclusively on the opportunities and challenges in the Athabasca in-situ and mining operations.
**New addition to the program:
“Message from the Alberta Government” The Honourable Ronald Liepert, Minister of Energy, Government of Alberta
Session I: Reliability: Design Criteria
Using Operations Excellence to drive Continuous Improvement in Oil Sands: New Oil Sands developments are significant capital investments, with higher levels of operational cost and complexity than many traditional upstream operations. “Operations Excellence“, which can be defined as a simple, integrated consistent approach to maximizing safety, reliability, and throughput while minimizing operating cost, is a strategic imperative in this environment. Developing a clear, common approach to operational excellence drivers such as maintenance & reliability, process optimization, asset integrity, integrated planning, and performance management can help Oil Sands operators to build operations capability to drive continuous improvement. This presentation will address the experience of the ConocoPhillips/Total Surmont SAGD operation in applying the ConocoPhillips global Operations Excellence framework to SAGD operations to develop a simple, fit-for-purpose approach to operations excellence, including ongoing defect elimination and continuous improvement. The presentation will provide describe the overall framework, specific examples, lessons learned, and opportunities for ongoing operations excellence in Oil Sands.
Presented By: Greg Bussing, Oil Sands OE & OPS Supporter, ConocoPhillips
“Operability Assurance: A Disciplined Approach on the Surmont Project Designed to Deliver Productivity Targets”: In the last twenty five years Bantrel’s work experience has contributed more than one million barrels per day of energy production and refining in Canada. Bantrel is currently the lead EPC contractor for the second phase of the Surmont SAGD project, owned by ConocoPhillips Canada and Total E&P Canada. The expansion is the largest yet planned in the oil sands and will raise production from 27,000 to 110,000 bpd. Part of Bantrel’s scope is to support long term operations excellence through Operability Assurance (“OA”), a program that provides the foundation to achieve Productivity Targets. The program entails embedding technical, operations and maintenance considerations early into the engineering and design process that carries through into long term operations, all under one project planning and execution umbrella. Major aspects OA include the design and establishment of: comprehensive maintenance database systems; equipment maintenance programs; facility training & operations and; commissioning and start-up. These categories are further broken down into aspects that detail and establish requirements for and support long term “Operations Excellence”. The presenter will describe the program and how it relates to a SAGD project.
Presented By: Roy Tyrie, Operability Assurance Manager , Bantrel Co.
Session II: Oil Sands Sector Labour Supply and Demand Outlook: Achieving Productivity Targets in Labour Force Development and Retention
Workforce planning, strategic recruitment and human resources practices will need to be a top priority for the Oil sands sector in order to ensure it has the required labour to support the expected growth. Three factors posing significant threats to the ability of the sector to attract the labour supply it needs are 1) the geographic location, 2) the cost of living in Wood Buffalo/Fort McMurray region, and 3) the negative image some hold of the industry and oil sands specifically.
Presented By: Cheryl Knight, Executive Director and CEO, Petroleum Human Resources Council Of Canada
People Solutions that are Built to Last
Presented By: Ron Barauskas, Senior Director, Human Resources, Suncor
Operations Panelists Invited: Syncrude, Nexen and Suncor
Keynote Luncheon: “Why Data Matters: Extracting Insights, Making Better Decisions ”
Presented By: Mark Decyk – Practice Leader, Advanced Analytics and Optimization, IBM Global Business Services
Session III: Emerging Water Management Issues Affecting In Situ Bitumen Production
Moderator: CH2M Hill
“Aspects of Brackish Water Sourcing and Wastewater Disposal in a Competitive Environment”: Statoil Canada Ltd. Co-Author: Clyde Fulton, P. Eng., Director, Water Treatment Technology Heavy Oil Technology Centre, Statoil Canada Ltd.
This presentation is designed to stimulate discussion in the areas of:
- regulatory trend towards increased brackish water use
- internal company brackish water strategies and the timeline to public disclosure
- well licencing issues (gas and bitumen rights)
- interference on and from other water users
- potential interference with bitumen production
- gas over water issue
Presented By: John Kus, Director, Water Sustainability CAN FFD WS
“The Influence of Reservoir Retention and Integrated Water Management on SAGD Water Balance” As water reuse become more stringent, the amount of water lost to the reservoir becomes more significant in the overall water balance, particularly considering a recently proposed change to the definition of produced water reuse. This presentation will discuss techniques for measuring reservoir retention and the magnitude of reservoir retention experienced at two SAGD operations. It will also address some regulatory implications of using industrial wastewater as SAGD makeup.
Presented By: Gary Giesbrecht, Senior Process Engineer, Suncor
“OSLI: How a New Level Collaboration is Accelerating the Goal of Performance and Technology Advancement”: This presentation will deliver a brief overview of the ConocoPhillips Canada, Nexen Inc., Statoil Canada, Suncor Energy Inc. and Total E&P Canada network plans to address some key issues and will then focus on three specific water management initiatives.
- In-situ operator training
- The creation of a producer water technology centre
- A regional solutions strategy for all of the oil sands business
Presented By: Brian Doucette,Chair – Water Management Working Group, Oil Sands Leadership Initiative (OSLI)
Session IV: Regulatory Performance Targets
Moderator: KC Yeung, Manager of Oil Sands Technology, Husky Energy Inc
“The Regulatory Enhancement Project: Helping Alberta’s Industry Become More Competitive”: The Regulatory Enhancement Project is a cross-ministry initiative looking to renew and enhance Alberta’s regulatory system for oil and gas so that it sets appropriate accountabilities and requirements for industry; uses integrated, aligned and efficient processes; and enables developers to work towards desired outcomes for environmental protection, public safety and resource conservation. The project is considering the full range of tools that might form the tool box government uses to achieve desired policy outcomes. The approaches being considered include prescriptive regulations, but also other tools such as performance standards, incentives, market-based mechanisms, codes of conduct, certification systems, and comprehensive auditing that can be used to assure outcomes. Different organizational structures are also be considered, from coordinated delivery to a one-window approach or even to a single-regulator.
Jeff will provide the conference with an overview of the project’s work to date, and expected next steps.
Presented By: Jeff Kucharski, Executive Lead, Energy Futures Division, The Government of Alberta
“First year implementation of Directive 074”: The ERCB issued Directive 074: Tailings Performance Criteria and Requirements for Oil Sands Mining Schemes on February 3, 2009. The Directive requires that all mineable oil sands operators to make submissions to the ERCB on how their tailings management will meet the new requirements. First round of tailings plans were submitted on September 30, 2009. The ERCB has conducted a rigorous technical review of each tailings plan and has worked with the operators to ensure each project is taking all possible actions to meet the new requirements.
Presented by: Kate Parsons, Section Leader, Operational Applications, Oil Sands Branch, Energy Resource Conservation Board
“Responsible Actions: Implementation Planning and CRISPs”: Responsible Actions: A Plan for Alberta’s Oil Sands (Responsible Actions) is a comprehensive 20-year strategic plan that outlines the Government of Alberta’s long-term vision for the oil sands. Responsible Actions balances environmental protection, social responsibility and economic success. Implementation is led and coordinated across government by the Oil Sands Sustainable Development Secretariat. Plan, goals and objectives will be incorporated into ministry business plans and Government will report on progress annually, monitor and revise the implementation plan as required.
A key component of implementing Strategy 2 under Responsible Actions is the development of Comprehensive Regional Infrastructure Sustainability Plans (CRISPs) for Alberta’s three oil sands areas. Each CRISP will establish a blueprint for future infrastructure development based on possible oil sands production rates and associated population growth. The CRISP for the Athabasca Oil Sands Area is currently underway. Initiation of a CRISP for the Cold Lake Oil Sands Area has recently begun and a CRISP for the Peace River Oil Sands Area will be completed over the next two years.
Presented By: Tom Ross, Acting ADM of the Oil Sands Sustainable Development Secretariat, a division within Alberta Treasury Board
Closing Remarks & Reception
Hosted by: Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo
We look forward to seeing you in Fort McMurray! Register Here.
Please contact Kyla Marie Arneson at (403) 444-6524 or with any questions.
