The fifth incident at CNRL's Primrose site involving approximately 27,000 litres of bitumen emulsion being released is in no way connected to the four previous spills, according to a CNRL spokesperson.
The fifth incident at CNRL's Primrose site involving approximately 27,000 litres of bitumen emulsion being released is in no way connected to the four previous spills, according to a CNRL spokesperson.
Zoe Addington, a public affairs advisor for CNRL, says the Jan. 3 incident is "not an uncommon occurrence" in the industry and that the company "expects to find that the (well) casing parted at a collar connection joint," causing the seepage.
Addington went on to say that the incident happened in a wellbore 440 meters below surface at Pad 30 on the Primrose South site and resulted in "27 cubic meters of steam within the wellbore entering another part of the zone from a horizontal production well."
The company has estimated the volume of the release based on the steam they were injecting at the time of the incident.
"This is not going to reach the surface," said Addington. "There is no impact to the environment nor potential danger to people."
The Alberta Energy Regulator is also investigating the incident, which they also believe will have no impact on the environment.
"The bitumen release was entirely underground. No surface impact," wrote Darin Barter, a senior advisor in the office of public affairs with the AER, in an email to the Nouvelle. "The release went into another bitumen-bearing formations with no aquifers in the area."
CNRL stopped the steaming at this pad and is investigating the incident, monitoring the well and plan to do the necessary repairs.
"We are confident in our monitoring for this type of incident," said Addington.
