Transformation of Resources to Reserves: Next Generation Heavy- Oil Recovery Techniques

i Disclaimer This report was prepared as an account of work sponsored by an agency of the United States Government. Neither the United States Government nor any agency thereof, nor any of their employees, makes any warranty, express or implied, or assumes any legal liability, or responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any information, apparatus, product, or process disclosed, or represents that its use would not infringe privately owned rights. Reference herein to any specific commercial product, process, or service by trade name, trademark, manufacturer, or otherwise does not necessarily constitute or imply endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by the United States Government nor any agency thereof. The views and opinions of the authors expressed herein do not necessarily state or reflect those of the States Government nor any agency thereof. ii Acknowledgements Financial support for research in the area of heavy oil and thermal recovery mechanisms was provided by the U. S. Assistance in chemical analyses of crude oils was provided by Drs. Recovery Techniques," DE-FC26-04NT15526. Experiments, theory development, and numerical modeling are employed to elucidate heavy-oil production mechanisms that provide the technical foundations for producing efficiently the abundant, discovered heavy-oil resources of the U.S. not accessible with current technology and recovery techniques. Work falls into two task areas: cold production of heavy oils and thermal recovery. Work is reported in both task areas. Briefly, we have obtained and made a chemical analysis of representative viscous crude oils from the North Slope of Alaska and for comparison purposes from Venezuela. Significant differences are found in the chemical functional groups of these oils We have also begun a series of primary recovery experiments for viscous Alaskan North Slope oils. In a previous report, we found that a technology base for delivering steam and other hot fluids through permafrost was in place (no commercially available technologies are available, however). Hence, thermal tasks in this report have focused on improving the distribution of steam via horizontal wells that are hydraulically fractured. Initial numerical results are promising and recovery efficiency is improved markedly for systems with shales and other barriers to vertical migration of fluids. Research into the mobility control of steam using aqueous surfactants is well under way. Work to date has verified a mechanism of foam generation by capillary snap off.