A message for Web the Oil Drum Shill”
Every old, declining oil field can potentially be rejuvenated by fracking.
“Oil companies have breathed new life into the Cardium in recent years, using newer horizontal drilling and multi-stage hydraulic fracturing technologies to recover previously uneconomic oil in the geological structure that cuts through much of the province and has long been key to conventional oil production. Cardium oil output has totalled some 1.5 billion barrels since the 1950s, when the huge Pembina field was discovered.
ExxonMobil has a “significant acreage position” in the Cardium, according to the joint statement, which noted RN Cardium Oil’s project may promote technology development that could be applied on unconventional reservoirs in Russia.
As of the end of last year, Exxon had “encouraging early results in the Cardium,” said Exxon vice-president of investor relations David Rosenthal on a Jan. 31 conference call with analysts, according to a transcript.
Exxon had two wells on production at the end of 2011 and had planned for additional drilling in 2012, Rosenthal said, noting that of the company’s tight oil and liquids-rich gas prospects, it is particularly optimistic about the Cardium, in addition to the Bakken in North Dakota and the Woodford Ardmore in Oklahoma.
“I will say that if you look, for example, up in the Cardium, where some of the tight oil well rates that you’ve heard from others, ours are certainly doing well and at the upper end of that range,” Rosenthal said.”