RE:Morningstar articleThis article together with the Cenovus presentation materials of the last few years fits my view that Cenovus is moving away from SAGD (steam) to a solvent assisted process. They have been injecting solvent with steam for a few years now to improve recoveries.
N-Solv has just completed the pilot phase of their solvent extraction process with according to them very good results with no steam used.
N-Solv page Link I've wondered if the reason for Cenovus injecting steam with the solvent is to avoid patent infringement. Which brings up the question, does anyone know when the N-Solv patents expire? Best I can find with a google search is 20 years after first filing which according to the search was 2001. But there are probably other later patents.