Feasibility study of heavy oil recovery in the Appalachian, Black Warrior, Illinois, and Michigan basins

Abstract

This report is one of a series of publications assessing the feasibility of increasing domestic heavy oil production. Each report covers select areas of the United States. The Appalachian, Black Warrior, Illinois, and Michigan basins cover most of the depositional basins in the Midwest and Eastern United States. These basins produce sweet, paraffinic light oil and are considered minor heavy oil (10{degrees} to 20{degrees} API gravity or 100 to 100,000 cP viscosity) producers. Heavy oil occurs in both carbonate and sandstone reservoirs of Paleozoic Age along the perimeters of the basins in the same sediments where light oil occurs. The oil is heavy because escape of light ends, water washing of the oil, and biodegradation of the oil have occurred over million of years. The Appalachian, Black Warrior, Illinois, and Michigan basins' heavy oil fields have produced some 450,000 bbl of heavy oil of an estimated 14,000,000 bbl originally in place. The basins have been long-term, major light-oil-producing areas and are served by an extensive pipeline network connected to refineries designed to process light sweet and with few exceptions limited volumes of sour or heavy crude oils. Since the light oil is principally paraffinic, it commands a higher price than the asphaltic heavy crude oils of California. The heavy oil that is refined in the Midwest and Eastern US is imported and refined at select refineries. Imports of crude of all grades accounts for 37 to >95% of the oil refined in these areas. Because of the nature of the resource, the Appalachian, Black Warrior, Illinois and Michigan basins are not expected to become major heavy oil producing areas. The crude oil collection system will continue to degrade as light oil production declines. The demand for crude oil will increase pipeline and tanker transport of imported crude to select large refineries to meet the areas' liquid fuels needs.