Injection-production strategies for reservoirs having a bottomwater zone

Conference · Fri Mar 01 04:00:00 EST 1985 · Soc. Pet. Eng. AIME, Pap.; (United States)

OSTI ID:5154175

Singh, B; Heidrick, T R; Malcolm, J D

The major oil sands deposits of Alberta are estimated to contain 197 billion cubic meters (1.23 X 10/sup 12/ bbls) of heavy oil. In situ, thermal recovery techniques must be used to recover the vast majority of this resource. These techniques are complicated by the fact that about 25% of the deposits have a high water saturation zone underlying the formation. The extent of this bottom water zone varies from a few meters to tens of meters under a payzone averaging between 10-25 meters depending on the particular reservoir. In designing a suitable thermal recovery method for these deposits, the presence of bottom water is likely to have two important but competing effects. First, it may serve the purpose of providing initial injectivity in the highly viscous oil sand deposits. The second effect, however, is that this zone may act as a heat sink and significantly reduce the efficiency of heating oil sand above. The magnitude of these effects will depend on a variety of factors, notably oil viscosity, vertical permeability, injection rates, and oil saturation in the water sand, if any. Thus it is evident that for most reservoirs, the injection-production strategy must be ''tailormade'' to optimize recovery. This paper presents the results of numerical simulation studies undertaken to evaluate the effectiveness of steam and steam-additive processes to recover heavy oil from deposits with bottom water zone. It is concluded that additives such as carbon dioxide and permeability blocking agents do not improve recovery in many cases. However, it is shown that suitable injection-production strategies can be developed to improve oil recovery by using steamadditive processes.

• Research Organization: Alberta Research Council
• OSTI ID: 5154175
• Report Number(s): CONF-830512-
• Conference Information: Journal Name: Soc. Pet. Eng. AIME, Pap.; (United States) Journal Volume: SPE13623
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

04 OIL SHALES AND TAR SANDS
040401* -- Oil Shales & Tar Sands-- In Situ Methods
True & Modified
ALBERTA
CANADA
ENHANCED RECOVERY
FLUID INJECTION PROCESSES
GEOLOGIC DEPOSITS
IN-SITU PROCESSING
NORTH AMERICA
OIL SAND DEPOSITS
OIL WELLS
PROCESSING
RECOVERY
RESERVES
RESERVOIR ROCK
RESOURCES
SATURATION
STEAM SOAK PROCESSES
THERMAL RECOVERY
WATER SATURATION
WELLS