Canadian oil and natural gas producer Pulse Oil Corp. (CVE:PUL) awarded contracts on Monday to oil-field services giant Schlumberger Ltd (NYSE:SLB) to complete all three phases of Pulse Oil’s petrotechnical modelling of the two Nisku oil reefs at Bigoray, in West Central Alberta.
This is a key step before Pulse employs modern oil recovery methods to unlock crude from its oil patch in Bigoray. Schlumberger will complete a geological study, geophysical modelling and reservoir simulation work ahead of Pulse Oil’s ‘miscible flooding’ of Bigoray’s Nisku D and Nisku E oil reef pools.
For the layman, sophisticated enhanced oil recovery (EOR) techniques using “miscible flooding” involve pumping in a solvent followed by a gas, which loosens up all the remaining oil in the reefs, so it can be sucked out from the bottom of the reservoir. Pulse’s high upside EOR project relates only to the Nisku D and Nisku E reef pools.
Schlumberger will complete a geological study, geophysical modelling and reservoir simulation work ahead of Pulse Oil’s ‘miscible flooding’ of Bigoray’s Nisku D and Nisku E oil reef pools.
"Making the right parametric decisions regarding a chosen EOR program is critical to maximizing the value of this project for our shareholders,” said Pulse Oil President Drew Cadenhead.
“We are excited to award Schlumberger these three phases of the critical modelling work, as their unique multi-domain expertise, proprietary technologies and software gives Pulse confidence we have done all we can to ensure a successful long-term maximum recovery from these proven pools,” added the veteran exploration geologist.
In late-2017, Pulse Oil acquired neglected assets at Bigoray in west central Alberta that consist of the Cardium oil pools, the Mannville gas pools, the Pekisko oil pool and the Nisku oil pools. Pulse quickly brought back production that had been grounded during historical low commodity prices in 2014.
According to the company, each of the 50 pinnacle reefs in the Bigoray oil patch contain 10 million to 50 million barrels of sweet light crude. Pulse says 10% of that oil will gush out simply through drilling a well. But the real money lies in Pulse’s plan to employ EOR techniques using a miscible flood to recover the remaining oil from the Nisku D and Nisku E reef pools.
Pulse Oil shares were trading flat at C$0.17 on Monday.