How this facility in central Alberta is giving new life to oil waste
CBC
Out of the thousands of oil facilities that dot Brazeau County, one stands out from the rest.
Instead of producing, compressing or pumping fuel, Recover Energy Services Inc. recycles oil from drilling waste.
The company's facility is located just outside Lodgepole, about 170 kilometres southwest of Edmonton.
"I'm pretty proud of what our team has accomplished here," CEO Stan Ross said.
When a new oil well gets drilled, sometimes thousands of metres deep, companies use a drilling fluid, such as an oil-based mud. This is to help lubricate the drill and carry chunks of rock and ground out of its way.
This isn't the kind of mud typically found in a farmer's field. It's a mixture of oil, brine, emulsifiers, wetting agents, clay, lime and other chemicals.
"It's kind of like being a bartender," Reg Patterson, president of Barron Base Oil Corporation, said. The company produces oil-based mud.
"You can't drill a well without some type of fluid," he said.
In most cases, drilling waste — which resembles wet concrete — is mixed with sawdust, which can double the amount. The waste is then sent to a class II landfill, taking years to break down.
In 2021, there were just under 1,800 new oil wells in Alberta, according to the Alberta Energy Regulator. Each new well can produce 17 trucks of waste or about 500 metric tons, Ross said.
Recover Energy takes drilling waste and extracts a base oil from it, since November 2021. Manufacturers, such as Barron Base Oil Corporation, use this base oil to make more mud to help drill for more oil.
"There's not an unlimited supply of base oils," Patterson said. "So having a locally produced product from Alberta is definitely beneficial to everyone,"
After extraction, Recover Energy. dries out what remains and sends it to the landfill as it still has some contaminants, like residual chlorides.
However, it's still a much lower amount being sent to the dump overall, Ross said.
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