Soluble salt processes for in-situ recovery of hydrocarbons from oil shale
In the central portion of the Piceance Creek in Colorado, certain soluble salts occur in intimate association with the oil shale. The shale oil resource in this area of the Piceance Creek Basin is very large, some 50 to 100 billion barrels in place, on a Fischer Assay basis. This paper describes a class of in-situ shale oil recovery processes in which permeability and porosity are developed by dissolution of these soluble salts. These processes consist of two steps which may be conducted simultaneously or sequentially: (1) leaching of soluble salts, and (2) conversion of kerogen. Although steam pyrolysis is emphasized as a possible means of conversion, combustion and hot gases are suggested as alternatives. These processes differ in two aspects from recovery processes used in oil reservoirs: (1) the permeable system developed by leaching is confined by essentially impermeable boundaries, and (2) the hydrocarbon (kerogen) present is in the solid form and must be converted to a liquid or gas before it can be produced. A field test of a steam conversion process was conducted by Shell Oil Company in 1970-72 in the Piceance Creek Basin. This test generated a sizable permeable volume in the subsurface, confinement was maintained, and kerogen was converted. The conduct of the test and some of the problems that developed, such as productivity impairment and corrosion of tubulars, are discussed in this paper.
- OSTI ID:
- 7223668
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-761008-21
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: 51. annual meeting of the Society of Petroleum Engineers, New Orleans, LA, USA, 3 Oct 1976; Related Information: Paper No. SPE 6068
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
OIL SHALES
IN-SITU PROCESSING
COLORADO
GAS INJECTION
IN-SITU COMBUSTION
LEACHING
STEAM INJECTION
BITUMINOUS MATERIALS
CARBONACEOUS MATERIALS
CHEMICAL REACTIONS
COMBUSTION
DISSOLUTION
ENERGY SOURCES
FLUID INJECTION
FOSSIL FUELS
FUELS
NORTH AMERICA
OXIDATION
PROCESSING
ROCKY MOUNTAIN REGION
SEPARATION PROCESSES
THERMOCHEMICAL PROCESSES
USA
040401* - Oil Shales & Tar Sands- In Situ Methods
True & Modified