Technology Focus: Heavy Oil (March 2008)

Abstract

Technology Focus Recently, I served as cochairperson of the SPE Forum on "Enhanced Oil Recovery—What's Next?" The consensus of attendees was that while there is some promising technology, no game-changing enhanced-oil-recovery (EOR) technologies appeared to be on the immediate horizon. In the area of heavy hydrocarbons, on the other hand, it was expressed that in-situ upgrading of resources such as heavy oil, tar, and oil shale could be a game changer if more-vigorous work was conducted in the area of upgrading. The dawn for surface upgrading of bitumen appears to have occurred. Various possibilities for in-situ upgrading were discussed in some detail including electrical heating to create an upgrader and refinery-in-the-ground for oil shale; solvents tailored to precipitate the asphaltene fractions of crude oil; and in-situ combustion, in which the heaviest fractions of the crude are consumed selectively as fuel for combustion, thereby increasing the API gravity of the oil. A common theme is that in-situ upgrading is a complex process needing much more R&D. The conversion of trillions of barrels of oil equivalent to a lighter, sweeter synthetic crude oil is an exhilarating thought, especially given the possibility that such upgrading can be accomplished in a fashion that is close to being environmentally benign if it is carried out in situ with geological sequestration of any carbon dioxide created during upgrading. Considering the analogous time frame for implementation of the markedly simpler process of steamdrive for EOR, however, provides a sobering perspective. From the initial engineering report to commencement of a commercial project at Mt. Poso, a total of 20 years elapsed. Papers for this feature span many aspects related to heavy hydrocarbons including in-situ combustion, steam injection, optimization of thermal-recovery processes, chemical-based EOR for heavy oil, as well as artificial lift. Many questions linger for me regarding in-situ upgrading. Is an extended R&D time frame realistic today? If a significant portion of the technical workforce is poised to retire within a decade, where/when will the future workforce be trained for such an enormous challenge and who will be their mentors? Ultimately, could we extract the energy in the form of clean-burning hydrogen, or preferably methane, because of the significant natural-gas infrastructure already in place? Heavy Oil additional reading available at the SPE eLibrary: www.spe.org SPE 110479 • "World's First Metal PCP SAGD Field Test Shows Promising Artificial-Lift Technology for Heavy-Oil Hot Production: Joslyn Field Case" by Jean-Louis Beauquin, Total, et al. SPE 107949 • "Optimization of Cyclic Steam Stimulation Under Uncertainty" by K. Revana, Halliburton, et al. SPE 106908 • "Applicability of Water-Shutoff Treatment for Horizontal Wells in Heavy-Oil Reservoirs" by Francesco Verre, Imperial College, London, et al.