Chemical Methods for Ugnu Viscous Oils
- Univ. of Houston, TX (United States)
The North Slope of Alaska has large (about 20 billion barrels) deposits of viscous oil in Ugnu, West Sak and Shraeder Bluff reservoirs. These shallow reservoirs overlie existing productive reservoirs such as Kuparuk and Milne Point. The viscosity of the Ugnu reservoir on top of Milne Point varies from 200 cp to 10,000 cp and the depth is about 3300 ft. The same reservoir extends to the west on the top of the Kuparuk River Unit and onto the Beaufort Sea. The depth of the reservoir decreases and the viscosity increases towards the west. Currently, the operators are testing cold heavy oil production with sand (CHOPS) in Ugnu, but oil recovery is expected to be low (< 10%). Improved oil recovery techniques must be developed for these reservoirs. The proximity to the permafrost is an issue for thermal methods; thus nonthermal methods must be considered.
- Research Organization:
- Univ. of Houston, TX (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE
- DOE Contract Number:
- NT0006556
- OSTI ID:
- 1048103
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
Assessment of resource and recovery potential of Ugnu tar sands, north slope, Alaska
DEVELOPMENT OF SHALLOW VISCOUS OIL RESERVES IN NORTH SLOPE