Laurentian, other areas

All eyes lately have turned to another potentially rich area known as the Laurentian basin, which lies between Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador.

The Laurentian area was the subject of major territorial disputes for over 30 years, first between Canada and France, which owns small islands in the Gulf of St. Lawrence south of Newfoundland and Labrador, and recently between the province of Newfoundland and Labrador and the province of Nova Scotia.

The International Court of Arbitration established the new boundary between Canada and France in 1992, and in April 2002, a federal arbitration tribunal established a new offshore boundary between Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador. The federal and provincial governments involved are expected to sign a final agreement in coming months. According to the Geological Survey of Canada, this sub-basin may hold 600 – 700 million bbl of oil and 8 – 9 tcf of gas.

In September 2004, three major oil companies – ConocoPhillips, Murphy Oil Corp., and BHP Billiton Petroleum (Americas) Inc. – announced they had begun 2D seismic surveys of the ocean floor in the Laurentian basin and were to start 3D surveys in 2005.

With billions of dollars invested in existing and upcoming projects, Canada's east coast oil and gas development sector has a very promising future.

British columbia: potential opportunities

British Columbia has four key basins offshore: Queen Charlotte, Georgia, Winona, and Tofino.

The two major regions where untapped reserves are anticipated include the Queen Charlotte basin and the Winona-Tofino basins. Both have little evidence of significant discoveries due to the fact the moratorium banned all exploration.

The Geological Survey of Canada, however, has estimated a resource of 9.8 billion bbl of oil and 25.9 tcf of gas for the Queen Charlotte basin. For the Winona-Tofino basins, the potential is estimated at 9.4 tcf of gas. These regions are similar in potential to the mature Cook Inlet oil and gas fields in Alaska.

British Columbia's offshore regions have been a no-go zone for all oil and gas activities since 1972, when the provincial and federal governments imposed the moratorium because of concerns about potential environmental disasters and interference with commercial fishery operations.

It is interesting to note that the governments considered lifting the moratorium in the mid-1980s but did not do so after 1989's oil spill from the Exxon Valdez tanker heightened fears about the development of an offshore oil and gas industry.

The ban on offshore oil and gas activity continues in place. Recently, however, with the decline in the fisheries, a more robust environmental regulatory system in place, and a safe offshore oil and gas industry off the east coast, there has been renewed interest to examine the moratorium at both the provincial and federal levels.

New monitors measure fluid cleanliness

Two new portable devices give plant operators the ability to measure cleanliness of even the most troublesome fluids reliably, simply, and quickly.

The PCM400 portable cleanliness monitor and the PFC400W portable particle counter help ensure accurate results.

The new monitor can confirm cleanliness of almost every kind of hydraulic, lube, or process fluid used, even under adverse fluid conditions. Its multiple mesh blockage technology addresses the common problem of inaccurate or unreliable results when monitoring fluids that are dark, cloudy, or contaminated by water or air.

The new particle counter, a portable diagnostic device to measure the size and quantity of particulate in fluid systems, combines a laser blockage technology with a water sensor.

The integral water sensor measures the amount of dissolved moisture in oil, which can help prevent erroneous counts and false positives, due to the presence of emulsified or free water droplets, enabling operators to take preventive action when needed.

The PCM400 uses a novel design to measure the rate of pressure drop increase across two mesh disks (5 microns and 15 microns) either on line or off line. Its combination of multiple meshes and bidirectional flow differs from other monitors that extrapolate data from a single mesh.

Automatic reversing of the flow path through the meshes provides a self-cleaning mechanism that flushes contaminants from the meshes and acts to stave off mesh plugging and blockage. The PCM400 also measures fluid temperature and viscosity and has a hand-held, removable display-programmer with a touch screen interface. An optional water sensor can be incorporated for use with mineral-based fluids.