Oil sands and Conventional Energy Projects

 Exploration and production of energy accounts for 6.2% of Canada�s GDP.  This industry faces significant transportation challenges given where the reserves occur.  Below is a summary of the importance the energy industry has to Canada as a primary economic driver:

  The three major activities within this sector are oil sands, conventional production and pipelines. Each of these activities gives rise to major transportation challenges. Sometimes the challenge relates to the remoteness of the location or its inaccessibility due to ground condition. This is the case with the northern boreal areas where it is only possible to move drilling equipment during the winter season when the muskeg is frozen. The oil sands face a different challenge. Large invisible loads must be moved to the constructions sites at great expense and disruption given that there is only one road and one rail line from the south to Fort McMurray.

Oil sands Development
  The development of the Alberta Oilsands is a mega project on a grand scale. The Alberta Government estimates that new and sustaining capital requirements to produce this resource may reach $93.5 billion over its expected 30-year life. The Canadian

  Association of Petroleum Producers (CAPP) estimates that the Oilsands will account for up 15% of the world�s oil crude oil reserves.

�Oil sands production has surpassed one million barrels per day and with 175 billion barrels of reserves in the ground it is one of the few basins in the world with growing production. Companies expect to produce 2.9 million barrels per day of bitumen and synthetic light crude oil by 2015. To appreciate the immense scope of the second largest petroleum deposits in the world after Saudi Arabia, consider that at current production rates it would take over 400 years just to deplete the reserves at existing oil sands operations. Overall, Canada has 15 per cent of the world�s crude oil reserves, produces 2.5 million barrels per day, and is the largest and most reliable foreign supplier to the United States.�
CAPP 2004

  A report issued by the Alberta Economic Development in the spring 2005 provides a very comprehensive overview of the status of the individual projects.

  The Oilsands are located in Fort McMurray, Alberta. Most of the major equipment is imported and much of the construction is being done off site and transported to the projects in modules from Edmonton. Highway 63 is a two-lane highway and provides the only road to Fort McMurray. This highway is often congested because large loads must be moved at slow speeds along its 457 kilometre length.

  Many of the world�s largest energy companies have projects that are operational, under construction or planned. Included are companies such as Imperial Oil (Exxon), Shell, Petro Canada, EnCana, Nexen, Suncor, Syncrude, etc.

  In addition to the movement of large industrial equipment, there is a need to move other types of construction and extraction related material. The objective in the mining operation is to move as much material as possible. The limit to the size of the mine trucks is the largest tire that can be transport to the site. Most of the other truck parts can be disassembled into pieces that to be moved by road or rail. However, a tire, by definition is an indivisible load. If the mines want to build larger trucks they need to transport the tires to the mine. At Suncor, there are 30 trucks, each has 6 tires and a tire lasts about 11 months. They need about 180 tires per year. An individual tire weights about 8,000 lbs. They spend about $8 million per year on tires alone. If hybrids could transport larger tires, the potential benefits to the mines would be very significant.

  On a daily basis, over 300 hundred bus loads of workers are transported from the city of Fort McMurray to the project sites. This is a time consuming and costly exercise given the limited road capacity and bridges in the area. The furthest site is 125 km, one-way, from Edmonton. An option for moving passengers by hybrid air vehicle could be well received.

  In summary, hybrid air vehicle could be used for at least the following missions in the energy industry:
     � Movement of larger industrial equipment from ports or inland manufacturing facilities to the project construction sites.
     � Movement of large indivisible loads that have clearance that exceed the road and/or rail allowances.
     � Movement of people and supplies from the rail head in Fort McMurray to site.

  The Oilsands projects are of a scale and duration (30+ years of forecasted construction) that the transportations requirements stemming from this industrial activity alone could justify the development of a fleet of hybrid air vehicle of varying capacities and mission requirements. This may be a �killer application� this industry has sought for so long.

Conventional Exploration and Production

  Energy exploration and production is distributed over a broad geographic area. This necessitates transporting significant volumes of oilfield related equipment, supplies and construction materials and equipment. In the southern areas, roads and truck transportation provide adequate options for moving most products. However in the north, the two most significant issues are the lack of roads in some areas and inaccessibility of these roads during a significant portion of the year due to the adequacy of the roads and soft conditions during break-up that necessitate road bans. These factors contribute to seasonality and peaking issues that result in increased direct costs or opportunity costs.

  A case in point, is seasonally drilling activity. The recent surge in energy prices has put further pressures on the energy industry to explore and produce new wells. As the oil extraction industry drains the easy to access sedimentary basins, new capacity is being sought in the more logistically challenging Arctic climate zones. In much of northern Canada and Alaska, local ground conditions severely inhibit oil and gas drilling activity. Oil drilling in areas with muskeg or marshy conditions requires the ground to be frozen before heavy drilling rig equipment can be transported. During the remainder of the year, impassable mud and environmental restrictions prohibit surface transport to these sites.

  Hybrid air vehicles could also be used to transport larger compressors and gas processing plant equipment to remote locations. It also conceivable that hybrid air vehicle could play a role in transporting strained gas. This is natural gas that is not available in sufficient volumes to justify collector pipelines. Some estimates suggest that in Alberta, 6 percent of the known natural gas is stranded. The process of collecting this gas would likely involve the carriage of light weight bullets that could withstand significant pressures.
 

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