Table of Contents
Preface
Chapter 1 The Challenges of Unconventional Oil Recovery
1 1.1 Overview............................................................................................................................. 1
1.1.1 Unconventional Hydrocarbons .......................................................................................... 1
1.1.2 Unconventional Oil Resource Base................................................................................... 2
1.1.3 Natural Bitumen and Extra-Heavy Oil ............................................................................... 4
1.1.4 Oil Shale............................................................................................................................ 4
1.1.5 Problems With Unconventional Oil .................................................................................... 5
1.1.6 Development Planning ...................................................................................................... 8
1.1.7 Technology Landscape for Heavy-Oil and Bitumen Production......................................... 9
1.1.8 Effectiveness of Current Depletion Technologies ............................................................ 11
1.1.9 Integrated Approach to Heavy-Oil Production ................................................................. 11
1.1.10 Monograph Summary.................................................................................................... 11
Chapter 2 Unconventional Oil Recovery Methods 13
2.1 Introduction............................................................................................................................. 13
2.2 Primary Recovery ................................................................................................................... 13
2.3 Enhanced Oil Recovery .......................................................................................................... 15
2.3.1 Steam .............................................................................................................................. 15
2.3.2 Thermal Recovery Mechanisms ...................................................................................... 19
2.3.3 Polymer Floods................................................................................................................ 23
2.3.4 Solvent Injection .............................................................................................................. 23
2.3.5 Other methods................................................................................................................. 24
2.4 Recovery Sequencing ............................................................................................................ 24
2.5 Resource Screening ............................................................................................................... 24
2.5.1 Thermal Recovery ........................................................................................................... 25
2.5.2 Steam Injection................................................................................................................ 25
2.5.3 Air Injection...................................................................................................................... 26
2.5.4 Application....................................................................................................................... 27
Chapter 3 Fluid and Rock Properties 29
3.1 Introduction............................................................................................................................. 29
3.2 Oil-Phase Properties .............................................................................................................. 29
3.2.1 What Makes a Heavy Oil So Viscous? ............................................................................ 29
3.2.2 The Role of Solution Gas ................................................................................................ 31
3.2.3 The Role of Asphaltenes and Maltenes........................................................................... 32
3.2.4 The Role of Organic Acids and Bases............................................................................. 32
3.2.5 Oil Shale Properties ........................................................................................................ 34
3.3 Oil-Phase Characterization..................................................................................................... 34
3.3.1 Crude-Oil Description...................................................................................................... 35
3.3.2 Estimation of the Steam Distillation Yield ........................................................................ 36
3.3.3 Comparison With the Published Results ......................................................................... 38
3.3.4 Calculation of the Molecular Weight of the Distillate ....................................................... 41
3.3.5 Effect of Steam Distillation Efficiency .............................................................................. 42
3.4 Rock Properties ...................................................................................................................... 45
3.4.1 Volumetric Heat Capacity ................................................................................................ 45
3.4.2 Thermal Conductivity....................................................................................................... 46
3.4.3 Porosity and Permeability................................................................................................ 47
3.5 The Role of Wettability ............................................................................................................ 47
3.6 The Role of Mineral Solubility ................................................................................................. 48
3.7 Other Properties ..................................................................................................................... 49
Chapter 4 Cold Heavy-Oil Production 51
4.1 Introduction............................................................................................................................. 51
4.2 Cold Heavy-Oil Production Mechanisms ................................................................................ 51
4.3 Production Behavior in Cold Heavy-Oil Production With Sand............................................... 55
4.4 The SuperSump Concept ....................................................................................................... 56
4.5 Cold Heavy-Oil Production With Sand—Case Studies ........................................................... 58
4.5.1 Kuwait.............................................................................................................................. 58
4.5.2 Alaska.............................................................................................................................. 58
4.5.3 Sudan .............................................................................................................................. 60
4.6 Cold Heavy-Oil Production With Sand Modeling .................................................................... 61
4.7 Cold Heavy-Oil Production Optimization ................................................................................ 63
Chapter 5 Cold Enhanced Recovery 67
5.1 Waterflooding Heavy- and Viscous-Oil Reservoirs ................................................................. 67
5.1.1 Mobility Ratio Effects....................................................................................................... 67
5.1.2 Viscous Instability ............................................................................................................ 68
5.1.3 Fractional Flow Calculations............................................................................................ 69
5.1.4 Viscous-Oil Analog Fields................................................................................................ 70
5.2 Polymer Flooding.................................................................................................................... 71
5.2.1 Polymer Displacement Efficiency .................................................................................... 75
5.2.2 Screening Criteria for Polymer Flooding.......................................................................... 78
5.2.3 Field Application of Polymer Flooding ............................................................................. 78
5.3 Emulsion Flooding .................................................................................................................. 80
5.4 Gas or Water-Alternating-Gas Injection.................................................................................. 83
5.4.1 Screening Criteria for CO2 Injection ................................................................................ 85
5.5 Voidage-Replacement Ratio ................................................................................................... 86
Chapter 6 Enhanced Steam Injection 89
6.1 Cyclic Steam and Steamflooding............................................................................................ 89
6.1.1 Wellbore Heat Losses ..................................................................................................... 89
6.1.2 Carbon Intensity .............................................................................................................. 90
6.2 Steam Foam ........................................................................................................................... 91
6.3 Steam-Assisted Gravity Drainage........................................................................................... 93
6.3.1 Mathematical Derivation.................................................................................................. 93
6.3.2 Factors Affecting SAGD Performance ............................................................................. 94
6.3.3 Surveillance Techniques.................................................................................................. 97
6.3.4 SAGD Optimization ......................................................................................................... 98
6.3.5 Numerical Modeling of SAGD With Solvents................................................................. 109
6.4 Steam-Assisted Gravity Drainage With Noncondensible Gas .............................................. 113
6.4.1 SAGD Optimization With Air Injection ........................................................................... 113
6.5 Solvent-Based Recovery Processes .................................................................................... 114
6.5.1 Vapor Extraction ............................................................................................................ 114
6.5.2 Nsolv ............................................................................................................................. 114
Chapter 7 Enhanced Air Injection 117
7.1 Introduction........................................................................................................................... 117
7.2 The Benefits of Air Injection.................................................................................................. 118
7.3 Process Mechanisms ........................................................................................................... 119
7.3.1 In-Situ Combustion........................................................................................................ 119
7.3.2 High-Pressure Air Injection............................................................................................ 120
7.3.3 Fuel Combustion ........................................................................................................... 120
7.3.4 Thermal Alteration ......................................................................................................... 121
7.3.5 Low-Temperature Oxidation .......................................................................................... 122
7.3.6 Steam Distillation and Light-Oil Stripping ...................................................................... 124
7.3.7 Application to Light Oil................................................................................................... 125
7.3.8 Spontaneous Ignition..................................................................................................... 126
7.3.9 Impact of Pressure on Displacement Mechanisms ....................................................... 126
7.4 Process Implementation ....................................................................................................... 127
7.4.1 Screening ...................................................................................................................... 127
7.4.2 Engineering Estimation ................................................................................................. 128
7.4.3 Laboratory Experimentation .......................................................................................... 131
7.4.4 Fluid Characterization ................................................................................................... 134
7.5 Numerical Modeling.............................................................................................................. 136
7.5.1 Reaction Model ............................................................................................................. 136
7.5.2 Simulation of Combustion-Tube Runs ........................................................................... 138
7.5.3 Simulation Results......................................................................................................... 138
7.5.4 Scaling the Combustion-Tube Results .......................................................................... 139
7.6 Economic Feasibility ............................................................................................................. 139
7.7 Pilot Testing .......................................................................................................................... 140
7.8 Field Applications ................................................................................................................. 141
7.8.1 Design Features of Canadian ISC Projects................................................................... 141
7.8.2 Injection Schemes ......................................................................................................... 142
7.8.3 Suplacu de Barcau Field, Romania............................................................................... 143
7.8.4 Balol and Santhol Fields, India...................................................................................... 143
7.8.5 Hybrid Processes .......................................................................................................... 144
7.8.6 Post-Cold-Heavy-Oil-Production-With-Sand and Post-SAGD Combustion ................... 144
7.8.7 In-Situ Upgrading .......................................................................................................... 145
7.9 Air Injection in Light-Oil Reservoirs ...................................................................................... 145
7.9.1 High-Pressure Air Injection............................................................................................ 146
7.9.2 Enriched-Air Injection .................................................................................................... 148
7.9.3 Cyclic Combustion......................................................................................................... 148
7.9.4 Other Fields................................................................................................................... 149
7.10 Process Characteristics and Monitoring ............................................................................. 149
7.11 Performance Estimation ..................................................................................................... 150
7.11.1 Nelson and McNeil Methodology................................................................................. 150
7.11.2 Gates-Ramey Correlation............................................................................................ 150
7.12 Field Case Histories ........................................................................................................... 152
7.12.1 Medicine Pole Hills Unit Air Injection Project............................................................... 152
7.12.2 West Hackberry Air Injection Project ........................................................................... 154
7.12.3 Morgan Pressure Cycling In-Situ Combustion Project ................................................ 158
7.12.4 Holt Sand Unit Oxygen Injection ................................................................................. 163
7.13 Environmental Considerations............................................................................................ 172
7.13.1 Thermal Efficiency....................................................................................................... 172
7.13.2 CO2 Production............................................................................................................ 173
7.13.3 CO2 Sequestration....................................................................................................... 173
7.13.4 Larger Applicability ...................................................................................................... 173
7.14 Promising Research Potential ............................................................................................ 174
7.15 Conclusions ........................................................................................................................ 174
Chapter 8 Alternative Sources for Heating Reservoirs 175
8.1 Nuclear Energy..................................................................................................................... 175
8.1.1 Economic and Cost Issues............................................................................................ 176
8.1.2 Public Perception of Nuclear Energy............................................................................. 176
8.2 Solar Thermal Enhanced Oil Recovery ................................................................................ 177
8.3 Downhole Heating ................................................................................................................ 180
8.4 In-Situ Upgrading.................................................................................................................. 183
8.4.1 In-Situ Conversion Process ........................................................................................... 183
8.4.2 ElectrofracTM Process .................................................................................................... 184
8.4.3 Conduction, Convection, and Reflex Process ............................................................... 185
8.5 Electromagnetic Heating ...................................................................................................... 185
8.5.1 Energy Equivalence ...................................................................................................... 185
8.5.2 Methods for Field Application ........................................................................................ 186
8.5.3 Analytical Modeling of Electromagnetic Heating Process ............................................. 187
8.6 How To Increase the Energy Efficiency of New Processes .................................................. 189
Chapter 9 Challenges in Reservoir Simulation of Unconventional Technologies 191
9.1 Introduction........................................................................................................................... 191
9.2 Mass and Heat Transport...................................................................................................... 191
9.2.1 Auxiliary Relationships .................................................................................................. 193
9.2.2 Stiffness and Grid-Size Limitations ............................................................................... 194
9.3 Inclusion of Geomechanics .................................................................................................. 195
9.3.1 Decoupled Flow and Geomechanics............................................................................. 196
9.3.2 Explicitly Coupled Flow ................................................................................................. 196
9.3.3 Iteratively Coupled Flow ................................................................................................ 196
9.3.4 Fully Coupled Flow........................................................................................................ 197
9.4 Designing the Simulation Model ........................................................................................... 197
9.4.1 Number of Dimensions.................................................................................................. 198
9.4.2 Selection of Pseudocomponents................................................................................... 199
9.5 Simulating Processes for Unconventional Systems.............................................................. 199
9.5.1 Chemical Flooding......................................................................................................... 199
9.5.2 In-Situ Combustion........................................................................................................ 200
9.5.3 Steam Injection.............................................................................................................. 201
9.5.4 Steam-Assisted-Gravity-Drainage Simulation ............................................................... 203
9.5.5 Cold Heavy-Oil Production With Sand........................................................................... 203
9.5.6 Electromagnetic Heating Simulation ............................................................................. 204
9.6 History Matching................................................................................................................... 205
Chapter 10 Facilities and Operations 207
10.1 Introduction......................................................................................................................... 207
10.2 Processing Technology Challenges .................................................................................... 207
10.3 Steam Generation, Delivery, and Transportation ................................................................ 208
10.4 Water Supply and Treatment for Steam Generation ........................................................... 210
10.5 CO2 Sequestration and Management ................................................................................. 210
10.5.1 Life-Cycle Emissions ................................................................................................... 210
10.6 Gathering Systems and Export Pipelines........................................................................... 211
10.6.1 Oil/Water Separation ................................................................................................... 213
10.7 Surface Sand Management ................................................................................................ 213
10.8 Air and Gas Compression .................................................................................................. 215
10.8.1 Explosion in the Reservoir........................................................................................... 216
10.8.2 Explosion in the Surface Facilities and Injection Wellbores......................................... 216
10.8.3 Explosions in Injection/Production Wells ..................................................................... 217
10.8.4 Oxygen Flammability................................................................................................... 217
10.8.5 Oxygen Compatibility .................................................................................................. 217
10.8.6 Corrosion From Oxygen .............................................................................................. 218
10.8.7 Corrosion From CO2 .................................................................................................... 218
10.9 Field Experience With High-Pressure Air Compressors ..................................................... 218
10.9.1 Medicine Pole Hills Unit, Bowman, North Dakota........................................................ 218
10.9.2 Sloss, Nebraska .......................................................................................................... 218
10.9.3 Heidelberg, Mississippi................................................................................................ 218
10.9.4 Mitigating the Safety Risks .......................................................................................... 219
10.9.5 Required Surveillance ................................................................................................. 219
10.9.6 Ignition Issues ............................................................................................................. 220
10.9.7 Compression Equipment ............................................................................................. 221
10.10 Integrated Developments.................................................................................................. 222
10.11 Upgrading ......................................................................................................................... 223
10.11.1 Sulfur and Coke Coproducts ..................................................................................... 225
10.11.2 Conversion Landscape.............................................................................................. 225
10.11.3 Upgrading Practices .................................................................................................. 225
10.11.4 Secondary Upgrading Process ................................................................................. 225
10.11.5 “Integration” Technologies ......................................................................................... 225
10.11.6 In-Field Heavy-Oil Upgrading .................................................................................... 225
10.11.7 Refining Challenges .................................................................................................. 225
Chapter 11 Shale Oil Recovery 227
11.1 Nanopore System............................................................................................................... 227
11.2 Shale Fluid Properties ........................................................................................................ 231
11.3 Proposed Enhanced-Oil-Recovery Methods ...................................................................... 232
11.3.1 Gas Injection in Fractured Tight Rocks........................................................................ 233
11.3.2 Use of CO2 Thickeners for Improved Hydraulic Fracturing With Liquid CO2 ................ 236
11.3.3 Chemical Injection ....................................................................................................... 237
11.3.4 Steam or Air Injection .................................................................................................. 237
11.3.5 Surfactant Imbibition.................................................................................................... 237
11.4 Summary ............................................................................................................................ 237
Nomenclature
References 243
Appendix A Calculation of Steam Distillation Yield 267
Appendix B Example Problems 273
Appendix C Reservoir Modeling Checklist 279
Index 283