technology used to extract oil from tar sands by injecting steam into sand formations.

[philb]

IST AND TEI-STRUTHERS WELLS FORM PARTNERSHIP TO PRODUCE EOR STEAM GENERATORS
Toronto, Ontario - November 15, 2006 (News Release)

Aecon Group Inc. (TSX: ARE) today announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary, Innovative Steam Technologies (IST), has formed a consortium with TEi-Struthers Wells, a subsidiary of Thermal Engineering International, to produce fired Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) steam generators, a technology used to extract oil from tar sands by injecting steam into sand formations.

Under the joint development agreement signed by the two companies, TEi-Struthers Wells and IST will design, manufacture and install Enhanced Oil Recovery steam generators for key oil producing markets such as Alberta, California, and Texas. TEi-Struthers Wells has been the pioneer of this EOR technology since 1962 in heavy crude oil reserves in the U.S. The technology is also well suited for the Oil Sands deposits of northern Alberta as it is an integral part of the SAGD (steam assisted gravity drainage) process, which will be one of the means of oil recovery in the area.

The consortium will produce different sizes of units with varying levels of thermal capacity: units with a maximum capacity of 100 MMBtu/hr will use existing designs from TEi-Struthers Wells and larger units with a capacity greater than 100 MMBtu/hr will be jointly developed by Aecon and TEi-Struthers Wells. Delivery of the first EOR steam generators is targeted for 2007.

The increased production resulting from the EOR units is ideally suited to meet the growing needs of the current energy market, both in the steady rise of new large projects in Alberta, as well as the need for new and replacement boilers in the U.S.

"The in-depth experience of TEi-Struthers Wells paired with IST's design expertise and fabrication facilities make this an ideal partnership," said Bob Dautovich, President of IST. "In addition to IST's facilities, we also have the advantage of access to Aecon's Industrial Division's construction and modular assembly capabilities in Alberta, as well as their strong ties and familiarity with the needs of the Oil Sands market and clients."

"We are very pleased to partner with IST to bring our EOR design to market," said Jon Koenig, President, Thermal Engineering International (USA) Inc. "There are superb synergies between our two companies and we expect this will be a very successful partnership."

Innovative Steam Technologies is the world leader in the design and fabrication of once-through-steam-generators and is a wholly owned division of Aecon Group Inc. Aecon is Canada's largest publicly traded construction and infrastructure development company. Aecon and its subsidiaries provide services to private and public sector clients throughout Canada and internationally.

TEi-Struthers Wells is a business unit of Thermal Engineering International (USA) Inc., a subsidiary of Babcock Power Inc. TEi-Struthers Wells offers a full range of Process Equipment and Process Heaters, for which it has gained a well deserved worldwide reputation for performance and reliability. Babcock Power Inc., (BPI), based in Danvers, MA, through its subsidiaries, is one of the world's leading suppliers of technology, equipment, and services to the power generation industry.

The information in this news release includes certain forward-looking statements. These statements are based upon assumptions that are subject to significant risks and uncertainties which are generally described in Section 3.2 "Risk Factors" in the 2005 Annual Information Form available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. Although Aecon believes that the expectations reflected in forward-looking statements are reasonable, it can give no assurance that the expectations of any forward-looking statements will prove to be correct.

For more information contact:

Mitch Patten, Vice President, Corporate Affairs Aecon Group Inc. 416-297-2615 [e-mail] www.aecon.com


Steve Sabo, Director of Marketing, Babcock Power Inc. 518-854-3630, [e-mail] www.babcockpower.com

[NNadir]

1. It is difficult to put into words how much I hate this idea.

The tar sands are the scariest idea this side of Fischer Tropsch chemistry with coal as a starting material.

[Dead_Parrot]

2. Yeah, but who wants air when you can have superb synergies? nt

[provis99]

3. if this is economical, we won't run out of oil for decades

Alberta and Saskatchewan have estimated oil reserves in the sands that amount to 10 times the entire estimated oil reserves in the Middle East. The good news: no more dependency on MidEast oil. The bad news: we'll still be burning fucking oil, killing the earth for decades to come.

[Nihil]

4. Nope, we'll just run out of inhabitable planet ...

... but at least we'll still be able to drive until then!

:eyes:

[Javaman]

5. Actually I have been reading quite a bit about this...

The amount of water that is required for either sand or shale oil extraction will out pace the amount that is available to extract the amount of oil that the companies claim exist. (the next wars will be about water)

The "affordability" of such a project will in effect create titanically huge super-fund sites in the very near future.

The financial break down of the cost per barrel of oil that is extracted under this method is still up for question, however, what is indeed known is, at the moment the return of energy to the amount expended to extract it, is less than on barrel for every barrel that is used. Meaning, by current standards, it would take 1 barrel of oil in energy to extract 1 1/2 barrels of oil from the sand or shale. (some studies even report a deficit of as much as 4 barrels)

Originally costing in the area of 5 to 7 billion dollars in start up costs to begin the process, that price has doubled in little over a year.

The price of oil has to be maintained at around 50 to 60 dollars a barrel to make this endeavor cost effective.

So since there are these HUGE sums of money plus the recent cost overruns being invested by the major oil companies, one has to ask the very obvious question: is the current price of oil based on a shortage or is it based upon a new industry that doesn't make a dime unless the price per barrel is set at an artificially high price?

Either way, get used to oil being high, the days of sub 50 or 60 dollar barrels of oil are a thing of the past.

We are now living in the boil the frog stage of world energy consumption and pricing.

We are swimming through some very interesting currents these days.

[eppur_se_muova]

6. Screw the "innovative" high-tech lingo, this is a NINETEENTH-century approach!

Just steam the hell out of it, and damn the energy waste (and the foul runoff).