THAI™ TechnologyWhat is the THAI™ technology? THAI™ is a evolutionary new combustion process, that combines a vertical air injection well with a horizontal production well. During the process a combustion front is created where part of the oil in the reservoir is burned, generating heat which reduces the viscosity of the oil allowing it to flow by gravity to the horizontal production well. The combustion front sweeps the oil from the toe to the heel of the horizontal producing well recovering an estimated 80 percent of the original oil-in-place while partially upgrading the crude oil in-situ. 
The THAI™ process was discovered in 1993 and is continually advanced through numerous repeatable physical model laboratory runs and successful field scale numerical simulation models, using the Computer Modelling Group’s “STARS” simulation model. THAI™ is patented in Canada, the United States and Venezuela. The THAI™ process also has potential to operate in reservoirs that are lower in pressure, of a lower quality, thinner and deeper than SAGD. THAI™ integrates existing proven technologies and provides the opportunity to create a step change in the development of heavy oil resources globally. Petrobank owns all the intellectual property rights associated with the THAI™ technology. To field demonstrate the THAI™ process, Petrobank, through its wholly owned subsidiary, Whitesands Insitu Ltd., is undertaking the WHITESANDS Pilot Project in the oil sands of Alberta, Canada. The WHITESANDS project is sited on a portion of our 62 sections of oil sands leases in the heart of the oil sands fairway. THAI™ has many potential benefits:
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