Predicting bitumen recovery from steam stimulation. [Alberta]
Alberta's bitumen reserves occur in 4 major deposits that contain 980 billion bbl of bitumen in place. The Cold Lake deposit, 150 miles northeast of Edmonton, contributes in excess of 125 billion bbl of high viscosity, low gravity in-place bitumen. This deposit is confined within a large area, roughly 3000 sq miles in E.-Central Alberta, and is buried to a depth of 1000 to 1500 ft. Due to bitumen's high viscosity at virgin conditions, conventional oil field recovery techniques cannot be applied and surface mining techniques are impractical due to excessive overburden. Esso Resources has been experimenting with in situ recovery methods in the Cold Lake deposits since the early 1960's with major emphasis on steam stimulation. Esso's Leming pilot project is the most successful and largest in the area, and its performance under steam stimulation is discussed in this work. Total investment at Leming exceeds $50 million and has provided sufficient steam stimulation definition for Esso to propose a commercial development based on this recovery process. The pilot project begun at Cold Lake (later expanded to include 80 wells) has resulted in a technique for forecasting oil recovery from a full-scale project.
- OSTI ID:
- 6709776
- Journal Information:
- World Oil; (United States), Journal Name: World Oil; (United States) Vol. 189:4; ISSN WOOIA
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Steam stimulation heavy oil recovery at Cold Lake, Alberta
Related Subjects
040100 -- Oil Shales & Tar Sands-- Reserves & Exploration-- (-1989)
040401* -- Oil Shales & Tar Sands-- In Situ Methods
True & Modified
BITUMENS
BITUMINOUS MATERIALS
CARBONACEOUS MATERIALS
COLD LAKE DEPOSIT
COMMERCIALIZATION
ENERGY SOURCES
ENHANCED RECOVERY
FLUID INJECTION
FORECASTING
FOSSIL FUELS
FUELS
GEOLOGIC DEPOSITS
GEOLOGY
MATERIALS
OIL SAND DEPOSITS
OIL SANDS
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
OTHER ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
PERFORMANCE
PRODUCTIVITY
RECOVERY
RESEARCH PROGRAMS
RESERVES
RESOURCES
STEAM INJECTION
STIMULATION
TAR
THERMAL RECOVERY
WELL STIMULATION
WELLS