Proven has just completed the first projects using PIGbot which has many of the same features of OFM but runs inside of IHS Accumap where the data is already loaded. Sweep movies over time are now available with relative ease.

Many engineers have used OFM to redesign water floods and increase production. Although a powerful tool, it takes significant time to load all information into it.

Because it runs inside Accumap, PIGbot has access to the entire IHS production dataset. No more loading data – PIGbot is faster than OFM.

PIGbot identifies unswept drilling locations in mature water floods. If you’ve supported the reservoir pressure, you deserve to also low water cut drill infill wells. Proven’s PIGbot can help you find them.

PIGbot also identifies directional permeability using injected water as a tracer. Knowing the permeability trend in a flood can significantly improve the sweep.

Although the current version of PIGbot is proprietary and only runs inside Proven’s offices, the tool has already helped add over $30 million of reserve value to mature floods.

Proven has worked on over 100 floods in Western Canada and submits more water flood applications to the ERCB than anyone else. PIGbot was designed to further increase the value of water flooding in North America.

PIGbot is Pool Information Gathering robot.

~Granger J. Low

Is there such a thing as ethical oil or is this an oxymoron? Let’s look at an analogy to explore the idea that Canada produces ethical oil. In the analogy, the environment, work conditions, employee compensation, price of oil, and allocation of profits will all be compared in Canada versus Africa, the Middle East and Venezuela.

It is lunch time and you want to go out for a quick sandwich. A block down the street there is a rundown café with a surly manager at the helm. In the café, the floors are dirty, the hygiene questionable and the employees are underpaid and overworked. There is also a rumour circulating that the business is a front for organized crime, but that particular cafe is where everyone else in your company buys their sandwiches.

Across the street is another café. The premises are new and clean and the owner works hard at keeping it that way. The employees are pleasant and well paid. It is closer than the dirty café and the sandwiches cost exactly the same amount of money. The owner is a family man that works hard to support his family and he volunteers in the community as well as supports many good causes that assist the poor and needy. Where would you buy your sandwich?

Potential buyers of Canadian oil face the same decision every day. Canada is that clean, well cared for country where laws determine that employees are paid fairly as well as treated with respect. While some may hope for a cleaner alternative to oil and gas, the reality of today dictates the continued need for oil and gas production. Compared to the majority of other producing countries, Canada has strict environmental and reclamation laws. And lastly, Canada prides itself on its humanitarian work at home and in the world rather than using its money to fund terrorism or line the pockets of dictators. If there is such a thing as ethical oil, it is found in Canada.

~Connie Low

Kathryn Tingle, formerly a Reservoir Engineer in Training here at Proven Reserves, returned in early autumn from maternity leave.

Kathryn enjoyed her year away with her baby, Richard, and is excited to return to work in a new challenging role as a member of the technical sales team.

Kathryn is a graduate of the University of Alberta Chemical Engineering program. While at Proven she enhanced her technical skills by studying reservoir engineering and log interpretation at the University of Calgary.

Kathryn has transitioned into her new role as a Business Development Engineer and looks forward to applying her considerable technical knowledge in that area.

Welcome back, Kathryn!