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ENERGY: EUB says gas shut-in protects future bitumen production
            (AlbertaIndex, July 27, Friday) --- The Alberta Energy and Utilities Board (EUB) said it has ordered two large Canadian energy companies to stop gas production at 121 wells as they present an “unacceptable risk to a much larger bitumen resource adjacent to the gas.”             The order issued through Decision 2007-056 affects gas production from wells affected owned by EnCana and Canadian Natural Resources Limited at the Cold Lake Oil Sands Area Clearwater formation.
           
The EUB said that the energy content of the bitumen reserves conserved in the contested area by this decision is about 50 times larger than the energy content of the shut-in natural gas production.
            The EUB said that all parties agree gas production has caused pressure depletion in the bitumen zone and this in turn has caused solution gas to migrate to the gas zones.
            EnCana, however, did not agree that this would impact bitumen production.
            “Decision 2007-056 results from a public hearing that commenced in Calgary on February 20, 2007. The hearing included the unique step of inviting all interested parties to contribute technical evidence related to the effect of associated gas production on bitumen recovery,” said the EUB.
            “Obtaining technical input from all interested parties assisted in making the best decision possible.”
The EUB believes there is a need to assess whether additional gas production should be curtailed in situations similar to those considered at the hearing. The specific process to be used for the assessment should be determined by the EUB at a later time.

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