Zebra processes of oil recovery using fireflood and waterflood in alternate sands in a multi-sand environment
- Texaco, Inc., Houston, TX (United States)
This paper presents a new process of oil recovery, namely, the zebra process, which is specifically advantageous to use in heavy oil reservoirs that exist in multiple sands. This process uses firefloods and waterfloods in alternate sands. The firefloods serve as formation preheaters which reduce the oil viscosities in the neighboring sands so that these sands, normally not amenable to waterfloods because of high viscosity, can be waterflooded with ease. The exciting news is that the air compression cost in firefloods can be reduced by a factor of three with a proper application of the zebra process. This great savings in air compression cost is possible because the heat that is normally lost to the overburden and underburden in firefloods is now being put to good use, by preheating the neighboring sands. Examples are given on zebraing several idealized sand-shale sequences involving three-, five-, six-, and seven-sand reservoirs, and also zebraing two actual sand-shale sequences, both involving five-sand reservoirs.
- OSTI ID:
- 269567
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-9502114-Vol.1; TRN: 96:001163-0056
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: 6. UNITAR international conference on heavy crude and tar sands on fueling for a clean and safe environment, Houston, TX (United States), 12-17 Feb 1995; Other Information: PBD: [1995]; Related Information: Is Part Of Heavy crude and tar sands -- Fueling for a clean and safe environment. Proceedings: Volume 1; Meyer, R.F. [ed.]; PB: 811 p.
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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