CA1060339A - Recovering viscous petroleum from thick tar sand - Google Patents
Recovering viscous petroleum from thick tar sandInfo
- Publication number
- CA1060339A CA1060339A CA261,656A CA261656A CA1060339A CA 1060339 A CA1060339 A CA 1060339A CA 261656 A CA261656 A CA 261656A CA 1060339 A CA1060339 A CA 1060339A
- Authority
- CA
- Canada
- Prior art keywords
- petroleum
- formation
- vertical passage
- recovery
- steam
- Prior art date
- Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
- Expired
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Classifications
-
- E—FIXED CONSTRUCTIONS
- E21—EARTH DRILLING; MINING
- E21B—EARTH DRILLING, e.g. DEEP DRILLING; OBTAINING OIL, GAS, WATER, SOLUBLE OR MELTABLE MATERIALS OR A SLURRY OF MINERALS FROM WELLS
- E21B36/00—Heating, cooling, insulating arrangements for boreholes or wells, e.g. for use in permafrost zones
-
- E—FIXED CONSTRUCTIONS
- E21—EARTH DRILLING; MINING
- E21B—EARTH DRILLING, e.g. DEEP DRILLING; OBTAINING OIL, GAS, WATER, SOLUBLE OR MELTABLE MATERIALS OR A SLURRY OF MINERALS FROM WELLS
- E21B43/00—Methods or apparatus for obtaining oil, gas, water, soluble or meltable materials or a slurry of minerals from wells
- E21B43/16—Enhanced recovery methods for obtaining hydrocarbons
- E21B43/24—Enhanced recovery methods for obtaining hydrocarbons using heat, e.g. steam injection
Abstract
ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE
RECOVERING VISCOUS PETROLEUM FROM THICK TAR SAND
Recovery of viscous petroleum such as from thick tar sands is assisted using a closed-loop flow path from the earth's surface through a substantial portion of the forma-tion for conducting hot fluid to reduce the viscosity of the patroleum in the formation to develop a potential passage in the formation outside the flow path into which a drive fluid is injected to promote movement of the petroleum to a production position.
RECOVERING VISCOUS PETROLEUM FROM THICK TAR SAND
Recovery of viscous petroleum such as from thick tar sands is assisted using a closed-loop flow path from the earth's surface through a substantial portion of the forma-tion for conducting hot fluid to reduce the viscosity of the patroleum in the formation to develop a potential passage in the formation outside the flow path into which a drive fluid is injected to promote movement of the petroleum to a production position.
Description
~060339 BAcKGBcuND-oF-TH~-lNvE~TlQN
2 This inve~tion relates ~eneIally to recovering viscous
3 petroleum from petroleum-containing ~or~atian~. Throughout the
4 world there are several ma~or deposits of high-viscosity crude petroleum in oil sands not recoverable in their natural state 6 through a well by ordinary producticD methcds. In the United 7 States, the ma~or concentration of such deFcsits is in Utah, a ~here approximately 26 billion barrels of in-place heavy oil or 9 t~lr exi~ts. In California, the estimata of in-place heavy oil or viscous crude is 220 million barrels. By far tha largest 11 deposit~ in the world are in the Province of Alberta, Canada, and 12 represent a total in-place resource cf almost 1000 billion 13 barrels. The depths range from surface cutcroppings tc about 14 ~000'.
To date, ~one of these deposits has been produced 16 commercially by an in-situ technology. Only one commercial 17 mining operation exists, and that is in a cballo~ Athabasca 18 deposit. A second mining ~roject is about 20~ completed at the 19 present time. Ho~ever, there have been many in-situ -~ell-to-~ell pilots, all of ~hich used some form cf ther~al rcovery after ~1 establishing communicaticn between injector and producer.
~2 ~ormall~ such communication has been established by introducing a 23 pancake fracture. The displacing or drive mechanism has been 24 steam and combustion, such as the prcject at Gregoire Lake or stea~ and chemicals such as the early work cn Lease 13 of the ~6 Athabasca deposit. Ancther means of develoFing communication is 27 that proposed for the Peace River prcject. It is expected to 28 develop well-to-~ell communication by injecting steam over a 29 period of several years into an acquifer underlying the tar ~and ~0 deposit at a depth of arcund 1800'. ~robably the most active in-31 situ pilot in the oil sand-c has been that at Cold Lake. This ~ - 2 - ~
106~)339 1 pro~ect uses the huff-and~puff single-well method of stea~
2 stimulation and has been producing abcut 4000 barrels of viscous 3 petroleu~ per day for several years from abcut 5~ ~ells. This is 4 probably a semi-commercial process, but ~hether it is a paying proposition is unknown.
6 The most difficult problem in any in-situ ~ell-to-~ell 7 viscous petrcl~um project is establishing and maintaining a communication between inj6ctcr and ~prcducer~ In shallo~
9 deposits, ~racturing to the sùrface has cccurred in a number of pilots so that satisfactory drive pre~ure could not be 11 maintain~d. In many cases, problems arice from healing of the 12 fracture when the viscous petroleum that had b~en mobilized 13 througb heat cooled as it moved to~ard the ~roducer. The cool 14 petroleum is essentially immobile, siDce its viscosity in the 1~ Athabasca deposits, for example, is cn the crder of 100,000 to 1~ 1,000,000 cp at reservoir temperat~lre.
17 As noted, the ~ajor problem cf the econcmic recovery 13 from many formations has been estab~lishing and maintaining 19 communication between an iniection ;pccition and a recovery position in the viscous oil-containing fcrmation~ This i5 21 primarily due to the character of the formations, where effective ~2 mobility of fluids may be extremely lc~, aDd in some cases, such 23 as the Athabasca Tar Sands, virtual~1y Dil. Thus, the Athabasca ~4 Tar Sands, for example, are strip mined where the overburden is 2S limited. In some tar sands, hydrau~ically fracturing has ~een 26 used to establish COmmuDiCation between injectors and producers.
27 This has not met ~ith uniform success. A particularly difficult 2~ situation develops in the intermediate o~erburden depths, which ~9 cannot stand f~acturing pressure.
Heretofore, many processes hav~ been utilized in 31 attempting to recover vi~cou~ petroleuo frcm viscous oil 106~)339 1 formations of the Atllabasca Tar Sands tyFe. The application o 2 heat to such viscous petrcleum formations by steam or underground 3 combustion has been attempted. The use cf slotted liners 4 positioned in the viscous oil formaticn as a conduit for hot fluids has also been suggested. Howev~r, these methods have not 6 be~n o~erly succassful because of the difficulty of esta~lishing 7 and mdintail1ing ccmmunication between the injector and the a produce~. Clearl~, if one could establish and maintain 9 comlnunication between injector and prcducer, regardless of the ~Irive fluid cr recovery technique employed, it would open up many 11 o these viscous petroleum deposits tc a number of potenti~lly 12 success~ul pro~ects.
13 BRIEF DESCRIPTION_OF_IHE_INy~NTIoN
14 The present invention is directed to a method of assisting the recovery cf viscous petrcleum from a petroleum-16 containing formation and is particularly useful in those 17 ~ormations where co~munication betweeD an in~ection position and 18 a recovery position is difficult to estaklish and malotain. The 19 method in accordance Nith the present invention of assisting the recovery o~ ~isous petroleum from a Eetroleum-coDtaining 21 formation is particularly useful in a formation having a larg~
2~ ~vertical di~ension. A substantially ~ertical passage, such as a 23 ~ell o~ shaft, is formed through the petroleum-containing 24 ~or~ation. A closed-loop flow path is provided from the earth's ~5 surface through a substantial portion of the formation penetrated 26 by the vertical passage. A recovery Fath is formed for flowing 27 petroleum out of the formation. This Fath may ~e located in the ~8 vertical passage near the bottom therecf or it ~ay be located in ~9 a separate near~y ~ell. A hot fluid is circulated through the closed-loop flo~ path to beat the visccus ~etroleum in the 31 formation ad~acent at least a porticn cf the vertical passage to form a potential passageway for fluid flow through the formation, and a drive fluid is in~ected into the upper portion of the formation through the potential passageway to promote flow of petroleum to the recovery position near the bottom of the vertical passage. In preferred form, the hot fluid which is flowed through the flow path is steam, and the drive fluid used to promote movement of the petroleum is also steam. In some situations, other fluids such as gas or water may be useful drive fluids. Depending on certain conditions, the hot fluid and the drive fluid are in~ected simultan-eously. Under other conditions, the hot fluid and the drive fluid are in-Jected intermittently or alternatively. m e in~ectivity of the drive fluid into the formation is controlled to some extent by ad~usting the flow of hot fluid through the M ow path member. In this manner, the sweep efficiency of the drive fluid in the formation may be improved.
OBJECT C~ IHE INVENTION
The present invention seeks to maximize recovery of viscous petroleum fron a tar sand having a large vertical dimension wherein communi-cation between an in~ector position and a producer position is difficult to establish and maintain by utilizing a hot fluid in a physically separated, substantially vertical flow path through the formation to assist in establish-ing and maintaining communication for a drive Muid used to promote movement Or the petroleum to the producer posltion.
mus, the first embodiment of this invention seeks to provide a method of assisting the recovery of viscous petroleum from a petroleum-containing fonmation having a large vertical dimension comprising the steps of form~ng a substantially vertical passage through a petroleum-containing formation, providing a closed-loop flow path from the earth's sur~ace throu~l a substantial portion of said vertical passage; providing a recovery path f~r flowing petroleum out of said formation from a recovery p~sition near the bottom of said substantial portion of said vertical passage;
circulating a hot fluid through said ciosed-loop flow path to heat the viscous petroleum in said formation ad~acent at least a portion of said vertical passage to form a potential passageway for fluid flow through said formation; and in~ecting a drive fluid into the upper portion of said form-ation through said potential passageway to promote flow of petroleum to said recovery position near the bottom of said vertical passage.
In a second embodiment this invention seeks to provide a method of assisting the recovery of viscous petroleum from a petroleum-containing formatlon having a large vertical dimension and being normally r~sistant to flow comprising the steps of forming a substantially vertical passage through a petroleum-containing formation, said vertical passage having a casing positioned therein and said casing having upper perforations ad~acent the upper portion of said formation and lower perforations ad~acent the lower portion of said formation; forming a closed-loop flow path from the earth's surface for steam flow through a substantial portion of said vertical passage; providing a recovery path for flowing petroleum out of said vertical passage from a position near said lower perforations in said casing; packing off said closed-loop flow path and said recovery path in said casing below the upper perforations therein; circulating a hot fluid through said closed-loop flow path to heat the viscous petroleum in said ~ormation ad~acent at least a portion of said vertical passage to form a potential passageway for fluid flow through said formation; and in~ecting a drlve fluid through said upper perforations into said formation to promote flow of petroleum down through said formation and into a recovery position in said vertical passage through the lower perforatians in said casing.
In a third embodlment this invention seeks to provide a method of assisting the recovery of viscous petroleum from a petroleum-containing formation having a large vertical dimension comprising the steps of forming a substantially vertical passage through a petroleum-containing f~rmation; providing a closed-loop flow path from the earth's surface through a substantial portion of said vertical passage; providing a recovery path for ~;.~, -- 5~--flowing petroleum out of said vertlcal passage from a recovery position near the botton thereof; circulating a hot fluid through said closed-loop flow path to heat the viscous petroleum in said formation ad~acent at lea~t a portion of said vertical passage to form a potential passageway for fluid flow through said formation; and in~ecting a drive fluid into the upper portlon of said fonmation through said potential passageway to promote flow of petroleum to said recovery position near the bottom of said vertical passa~e~
- 5b -~3RIEF_DESCRIPTION_OE_$~1E_DRAWINGS
2 FIG. 1 is an elevation view Fartially in section and 3 illustrates the preferred embodiment cf apparatus ass~mbled in 4 accoxdance with the present inventicn for use in recovering viscous petroleum from an underground formation;
6 FIG. 2 is an elevation vie~ partially in section and 7 illustrates an alternative arrangement of apparatus assembled in 8 accordance with the prese~t invention;
9 ~IG. 3 is an enlarged partial view of a portion of the apparatus o~ FIG. l;
11 FIG. 4 is a plan vie~ and illustrates a potential well 12 layout n accordance with the prese~t in~ention;
13 FIG. 5 is an elevation vie~ partially in section and 14 i~lustrates apparatus used in conducting demonstrations in accordance with the pressnt inventicn;
16 FIG. 6 is a per~pective view of a block of tar sand 17 flooded in accordance with the present invention shouing position 18 of core samples taXen after tbe flood: and 19 FIG. 7 i~ a table illustrating the analysis of such cores.
21 DETAILED_D~SC~IPTION OF THE EMBQ DIME~TS_QF_THE_INVEMTION
22 Refer no~ to th~ drawings, and tc FIG. 1 in particular, 23 ~here the preferred embodiment of~apparatus assembled in 24 accordance with the invention is illustrated. FIG. 1 shows a substantially vertical passage formed through a petroleum-26 containing tar sand 14. qhe vertical Fassage may be a shaft cr 2~ ~ell, and for ease of description will be referred to herein as 28 either. Thus, the shaft, generally indicated by the nu~ber 10, 29 has been cased by mean~ of casing 24. A wellhead 30 is located at the ùpper end of the casing 24. A hollow tubular member 18 31 extends through the ~ellh~ad 30 to a position near the lower part 1 of the tar sand 14. ~n end plate 21 closes off the bcttom of the 2 tubular mem~er. A flow Fipe 20 extends down the interior of 3 tubular member 18 and cooperates ~ith the tubular member 18 tc 4 form ~ closed-loop flow path throu~h at least a portion of the tar sand.
6 A source of hot fluid such as a steam ~ource 32 is 7 connected to flo~ pipe 20 by means cf conduits 38 and 40 throuqh 8 valves 34 and 36. The steam source 32 i~ also connected to the 9 interior of casing 24 by means of conduit 38 through valve 44.
Steam is circulated through the formation out of direct contact 11 therewith by flowing down flow pipe 20 and up the annulus between 12 the outside of the flow pipe 20 and the tubular member 18. Fluid 13 leaves this annulu~ via conduit 37 and valve 39. A production 14 pump is located in the interior of thè casing to move produced fluids to the surface via flow line 58.
16 The outside of tubular member 18 and the production 17 flow line 58 are both packed off by pacXing means 41 to 18 effectively form an upper injection chamber 43 and a lower 19 production chamber 45 inside casing 24. Up~er perforations 26 and lower perforaticns 27 are formed in the casing to permit 2~ communication between the interior of the casing and the 22 formation. In operation, it is usually desirable to first ~3 introduce steam into the annùlus 43 cf the casing of shaft 10 to ~4 atte~pt to obtain injection of steam into f~rmation 14 through ~5 perforations ~6. In most instances, in viscous tar sands little or no in~ection is obtained. In accordance with the iDvention ~7 steam is then flowed through a closed-locp flow path .via flow 28 pipe 20 and tubular member 18 heats the viscous petroleum in tar 2~ sand formation 14 to reduce the visco~ity of at least a portion of the petroleum ad~acent the casing cccupi~d by tubular member 31 18. This provides a potential passage for flow of the drive 10~0339 1 fluid or steam into the formation via annulus 43 and perforations 2 26. By suita~ly ccntrollinq the flcw in the flow path 20, 18 and 3 the formation 14, a good sweep efficiency can he obtained and oil 4 recovery maximized through perforations 37 in recovery position 45. Thus when the steam flowing in tbe flo~ path establishes 6 in~ectivity for the drive fluid int~ the fcrmation and results in 7 ~ome production of petroleum from the ~rcducer steaM flow through 8 the flow path is terminated to prevent breakthrough of the drive 9 fluid~ If injectivity of the drive fluid becomes und~sirably lo~, then additional steam is flowed through the flo~ Fath to ~1 rees~ablish the desired injectivity.
12 FIG. 2 is an ~levation vie~ Fartially in section, and 13 illustrates an alternative embodiment cf ap~aratus assembled in 14 accordance with t~e preceDt invention. As there shown t~o closel~ spaced-apart wells 110 and 112 are formed and penetràte a 16 tar sànd formation 114. ~ell 110 includes a string of surface 17 casing 124 ~hich extends at least into the upper portion of tbe 18 tar sand 114~ The surface casing 124 is provided with a wellhead 19 130. A tubular mem~er 118 extends thrcugh the ~ellhead and dcwn through the tar sand. An inner flo~ pipe 120 cooperates with the ~1 tubular member 118 to form a closed-lPop flow path for hot fluid 22 through the formation. Thus, steam from steam source 132 is ~3 c~rculated through the 1c~ path via ccnduit 140 and valve 136.
24 Returni~g condensate through tubular mem~er 118 may be removed ~ith a crossover ccnnection (not shown~ for reheating and 26 r~circulating, if desired. The casing 124-tubular member 118 27 annulus is packed off by means of pac~ing means 141. Steam may 28 be injected into formation 114 from steam source 132 via ccnduit 29 138, valve 144 and perforations 126. A nearby production well 112 is provided with perforations 127 in the lower portion of the 31 formatlon for recovery of petroleum moved there by the in~ected 1 steam. A suitable pump 156 and flo~ line 158 are used to move it 2 to the surface.
3 FIG. 4 is a plan view and illustrates a potential field 4 layout. A central injectcr well 110 is currounded by four producers 112N, 112E, 112S and 112W.
6 FIG. 5 is an elevation view Fartially in section and 7 illustrates apparatus used in conducting demonstrations in 8 accordance with the present inventicn. ns there shown, a sand 9 pack 70 of Athabasca tar sand was encased in a suitable elongated core tube 72. The ccre tube was provided with suitable end 11 plates 74 and 76 for receiving a holla~ tubular membar 78. The 12 apparatus is also arranged for steam injection into the face cf 13 the sand pack through ccnduit 80 and for collecting proceeds of 14 the sand pack flood thrcugh conduit ~2. A ~team source 84 is connected to the tubular member 78 and to the sand pack face 16 through tubing 86 and ccntrol valve ~8. A doun-stream control 17 valve 90 controls flo~ cf steam thrcugb the central tubular 18 member 78. ~hus, assisted recovery oFerations in accordance with 19 the invention can be demcn~trated utilizing the apparatus shown in PIG. 5.
21 FIG. 6 is a p~rspective of a block of Athabasca tar 22 sand sho~ing a number of core positicns for cores tak~
23 longitudinally through the core block. The cores are identified 24 by number and flow plane as indicated. ~he tar sand blocX ~as flooded in accordance with the method cf the invention. The 26 cores ~ere taken after tbe flood and analyzed for residual 27 petroleu~. FIG. 7 is a table indicating the residual viscous 28 petroleum weight by core Fosition and Flane of the cores of PIG.
29 6. The original blcck contained 13.5~ by ~eight of viscous ~petroleu~. As is evident from the table of FIG. 7, a substantial 31 ~eight percent of a viscous petroleuu was recovered ~hen the _ g _ 1 block was flooded in accordance ~ith the method c~ the present 2 invention.
3 Further with respect to FIGS. S, 6 and 7, in order to 4 demonstrate the method of the present invention, it was neces-cary as a first step to set UF an apparatus containing Athabasca oil 6 sand havin~ a zero effective permeability tc steam. To do this, 7 a 1~ID by 12"-long quartz tube was used. Ihe tube was packed 8 ~ith Athabasca oil sand ccntaining abcut 13~ weight viscous 9 p~troleum and about ~ water. Fittings ~ere attached to both ~nds o the tube and a conventional steam drive applied to the 11 ~oil sand at a pressure of 75 psi and a temperature of 320~. It 12 was founa during the early runs that 50~ of the petroleum was 13 recovered because of unrealistic permeability to steam, and sa 14 the runs did not successfully simulate Athabasca conditions. It ~as ~ound later that ~y using a 1/2"-diameter solid steel rod, 16 1~." long, as a tool for rammmming the cil sand very tightly in ~7 the tube, the rcc~ temperature air Fermeabilities were reduced to 18 less than 50 millidarcies, a much mcre realistic value for 19 viscoùs petroleum-containing formaticns. In this region of ~0 permeability, conventional steam drive did not work and the steam ~1 front advanced only about 1" into the tu~e and na farther, since 2~ the initially ~obilized p~troleum blocked off any communication, 23 thereby reducing the effective mobility to zero. These 24 conditions were reproducible on a satisfactory basis.
The method of the invention ~ac then demonstrated using 26 the apparatus shown schematically in EIG. 5. FIG. 5 shoHs a ~7 partially co~pleted demcnstration in accordance ~ith the method 28 of the invention. The in-place tubular memker 78 has heen heated ~9 by opening the heating annulus contrcl valve 90 allowin~ steam to pass through. This immediately provides steam in~ectivity at the 31 drive end of the tar sand pack 70 and viscous petroleum produced ` - 10 -1~6'~339 1 immediately at the producing end. ~eccveries in these 2 experiments ranged from 48 to 52% weight of the total petroleum 3 in place. Residual petroleum was determined in every case by 4 exhaustive solvent e~traction at the end of each run. In some demonstrations, too much heat was allcwed ta pass through the 6 tubular member 78, there~y creating an annulus outside the 7 tubular member of very high mobility, allowing premature steam 8 breakthrough and giving rather poorer recoveries, on the order of 9 only 30~ of the total petrcleum in ~lace.
In order to demcnstrate the ~resent method in a 11 laboratory under more realistic field-type conditions, the 1~ demonstrations were modified by using large chunks of relatively 13 undistributed Athabasca cil sand. Tbese ranged in weight from 14 one to about four kilograms and appeared to be devoid of cracks.
lS They were randomly shaped and generally roundish or oval. These 16 were encased in epoxy resin so that a total thickness of about 4"
17 existed all around the oil sand piece. The placement of the in-18 place tubular member and injector and Froducer were very similar 1~ to the apparatus shc~n in FIG. 5. Again, a 1/8" stainless-steel tu~e was used for the in-~lace tubular mem~er. In order to 21 establish that there was indeed zero effective mobility, a steam 22 drive was al~ays applied to the injectcr before allowing any heat 23 to pass through the in-place tubulaI mem~er. ~hree experiments 24 ~ere run, and in no case was there more than four drops of water ~5 produced at the exit from the block, aud this slight water 26 production ceased after less than one minute after initiating 27 conventional steam drive. After reaching this static condition 28 ~ith zero injectivity, the heated annulu~ ccntrol valve 90 was 2g cracked slightly, allowing passing of steam into the tubular member 78. Immediately petroleum flc~ed frcm the producer end of 31 the core at a high petroleum/water ratio. Care must be exercised .
1 in controlling the amount of heat thrcugh the in-place tubular 2 member since, in one case, this was not done and the over-all 3 recoYery ~as 30% of the tctal petroleum in ~lace. Even continued 4 lowing of steam through the block bet~een in~ectcr and producer did not allow any further recovery ~f ~etroleum in this instance.
6 On breaking open the blcck, it was fcund that a very clean oil 7 sand of higher permèability had been created as an annulus close a to the in-place pipe. Since tlle heat in the tubular ~ember was " not controlled, good sweep efficiancy of the block was not obtain~d ih this case.
11 The most successful demonstration run was that carried 12 out on a 3.5-kg bl~ck o~ cil sand, initially 13.5% weight 13 petroleum content. Total recovery ~as 65~ cf the petroleum 14 originally in place. In all of these exFeriments, the same pressure and temperature cf 75 psi and 320~E respecti~ely were 16 used.
1~ Although, at first glance, the practice of the 18 invention might lead one to expect a ~ery lcw residual oil t9 content close to the annulus surroundin~ the in-place tubular member and a high residual oil resulting frcm poor sweep 21 efficiency in thcs~ regicns of the sample farthest away from the 22 in-placa pipe, this was not the case. In fact, excellent sweep ~3 ef~iciency is o~tained ~hen the ratic of hot fluid to drive fluid 24 is controlled so as not tc permit early steam breakthraugh. In order to e~aluate this concern, the encased 3.5-kg block of oil 2~ sand at the end of a demonstration ~as cut through the center at 27 right angles to the in-place tubular member. ~he oil sand wa~
~8 then cored using a 3/4"-diameter core ~orer and sampled to a 29 depth of 1/~". This was done at 11 locations in each of 6 different planes in the oil sand block. A diagram of the 31 location of tbese core sa~ples is shcwn in EIG. 6. A total of 66 ` - 12 -1~60339 1 samples was taken and each analyzed for residual petroleu~
2 ccntent by exhaustive extraction with toluene. The recults are 3 shown in FIG. 7. It can b~ se6n that a remarkably uniform sweep 4 of tbe oil sand sample had taken place. Particularly surprising is the fact that the residual petroleum in thcse 6 cores taken 6 from the annulus immediately surrounding the in-place tubular 7 membar show a re~idual petloleu~ content not too different from 8 the cores farthest away from the in-Flace tubular member.
9 The demcnstrations show that the method of the present ~nv~ntion satisfactorily simulated tb~ zero effective mobility o~
11 the Athdbasca oil sand deposit. The r~ccvery demcnstrations 1~ showd that a communication path bet~eeD injector and producer can 1~ be successfu~ly developed; and provided e~cessive heating of the 14 ir.-place tubular member is avoided, r~coveries up to 65X of the petroleum in place can be achieved. Ihe s~eep efficiency is ~6 surprisingly high, resulting in an even dictribution of residual 17 oil. ~his means that the reservoir after an assisted-recovery 1~ operation conducted in accordance with the invention would be l9 amendable to further recovery technigues such as combustion, chemical floods, etc. Earticularly attractive is the fact that ~1 in~ectinq dri~e fluids would be confined to the area of inter~st 2~ b6tween in~ect~cr and producer, since this ~culd bs the only 23 path~ay open to them. In cther words, it is unlikely that the 24 fluids would be lost to the other parts of the reservoir ~ecause ~S of the relative im~ermeakility of the formation on the outer ~dge 26 of the sw~pt area.
To date, ~one of these deposits has been produced 16 commercially by an in-situ technology. Only one commercial 17 mining operation exists, and that is in a cballo~ Athabasca 18 deposit. A second mining ~roject is about 20~ completed at the 19 present time. Ho~ever, there have been many in-situ -~ell-to-~ell pilots, all of ~hich used some form cf ther~al rcovery after ~1 establishing communicaticn between injector and producer.
~2 ~ormall~ such communication has been established by introducing a 23 pancake fracture. The displacing or drive mechanism has been 24 steam and combustion, such as the prcject at Gregoire Lake or stea~ and chemicals such as the early work cn Lease 13 of the ~6 Athabasca deposit. Ancther means of develoFing communication is 27 that proposed for the Peace River prcject. It is expected to 28 develop well-to-~ell communication by injecting steam over a 29 period of several years into an acquifer underlying the tar ~and ~0 deposit at a depth of arcund 1800'. ~robably the most active in-31 situ pilot in the oil sand-c has been that at Cold Lake. This ~ - 2 - ~
106~)339 1 pro~ect uses the huff-and~puff single-well method of stea~
2 stimulation and has been producing abcut 4000 barrels of viscous 3 petroleu~ per day for several years from abcut 5~ ~ells. This is 4 probably a semi-commercial process, but ~hether it is a paying proposition is unknown.
6 The most difficult problem in any in-situ ~ell-to-~ell 7 viscous petrcl~um project is establishing and maintaining a communication between inj6ctcr and ~prcducer~ In shallo~
9 deposits, ~racturing to the sùrface has cccurred in a number of pilots so that satisfactory drive pre~ure could not be 11 maintain~d. In many cases, problems arice from healing of the 12 fracture when the viscous petroleum that had b~en mobilized 13 througb heat cooled as it moved to~ard the ~roducer. The cool 14 petroleum is essentially immobile, siDce its viscosity in the 1~ Athabasca deposits, for example, is cn the crder of 100,000 to 1~ 1,000,000 cp at reservoir temperat~lre.
17 As noted, the ~ajor problem cf the econcmic recovery 13 from many formations has been estab~lishing and maintaining 19 communication between an iniection ;pccition and a recovery position in the viscous oil-containing fcrmation~ This i5 21 primarily due to the character of the formations, where effective ~2 mobility of fluids may be extremely lc~, aDd in some cases, such 23 as the Athabasca Tar Sands, virtual~1y Dil. Thus, the Athabasca ~4 Tar Sands, for example, are strip mined where the overburden is 2S limited. In some tar sands, hydrau~ically fracturing has ~een 26 used to establish COmmuDiCation between injectors and producers.
27 This has not met ~ith uniform success. A particularly difficult 2~ situation develops in the intermediate o~erburden depths, which ~9 cannot stand f~acturing pressure.
Heretofore, many processes hav~ been utilized in 31 attempting to recover vi~cou~ petroleuo frcm viscous oil 106~)339 1 formations of the Atllabasca Tar Sands tyFe. The application o 2 heat to such viscous petrcleum formations by steam or underground 3 combustion has been attempted. The use cf slotted liners 4 positioned in the viscous oil formaticn as a conduit for hot fluids has also been suggested. Howev~r, these methods have not 6 be~n o~erly succassful because of the difficulty of esta~lishing 7 and mdintail1ing ccmmunication between the injector and the a produce~. Clearl~, if one could establish and maintain 9 comlnunication between injector and prcducer, regardless of the ~Irive fluid cr recovery technique employed, it would open up many 11 o these viscous petroleum deposits tc a number of potenti~lly 12 success~ul pro~ects.
13 BRIEF DESCRIPTION_OF_IHE_INy~NTIoN
14 The present invention is directed to a method of assisting the recovery cf viscous petrcleum from a petroleum-16 containing formation and is particularly useful in those 17 ~ormations where co~munication betweeD an in~ection position and 18 a recovery position is difficult to estaklish and malotain. The 19 method in accordance Nith the present invention of assisting the recovery o~ ~isous petroleum from a Eetroleum-coDtaining 21 formation is particularly useful in a formation having a larg~
2~ ~vertical di~ension. A substantially ~ertical passage, such as a 23 ~ell o~ shaft, is formed through the petroleum-containing 24 ~or~ation. A closed-loop flow path is provided from the earth's ~5 surface through a substantial portion of the formation penetrated 26 by the vertical passage. A recovery Fath is formed for flowing 27 petroleum out of the formation. This Fath may ~e located in the ~8 vertical passage near the bottom therecf or it ~ay be located in ~9 a separate near~y ~ell. A hot fluid is circulated through the closed-loop flo~ path to beat the visccus ~etroleum in the 31 formation ad~acent at least a porticn cf the vertical passage to form a potential passageway for fluid flow through the formation, and a drive fluid is in~ected into the upper portion of the formation through the potential passageway to promote flow of petroleum to the recovery position near the bottom of the vertical passage. In preferred form, the hot fluid which is flowed through the flow path is steam, and the drive fluid used to promote movement of the petroleum is also steam. In some situations, other fluids such as gas or water may be useful drive fluids. Depending on certain conditions, the hot fluid and the drive fluid are in~ected simultan-eously. Under other conditions, the hot fluid and the drive fluid are in-Jected intermittently or alternatively. m e in~ectivity of the drive fluid into the formation is controlled to some extent by ad~usting the flow of hot fluid through the M ow path member. In this manner, the sweep efficiency of the drive fluid in the formation may be improved.
OBJECT C~ IHE INVENTION
The present invention seeks to maximize recovery of viscous petroleum fron a tar sand having a large vertical dimension wherein communi-cation between an in~ector position and a producer position is difficult to establish and maintain by utilizing a hot fluid in a physically separated, substantially vertical flow path through the formation to assist in establish-ing and maintaining communication for a drive Muid used to promote movement Or the petroleum to the producer posltion.
mus, the first embodiment of this invention seeks to provide a method of assisting the recovery of viscous petroleum from a petroleum-containing fonmation having a large vertical dimension comprising the steps of form~ng a substantially vertical passage through a petroleum-containing formation, providing a closed-loop flow path from the earth's sur~ace throu~l a substantial portion of said vertical passage; providing a recovery path f~r flowing petroleum out of said formation from a recovery p~sition near the bottom of said substantial portion of said vertical passage;
circulating a hot fluid through said ciosed-loop flow path to heat the viscous petroleum in said formation ad~acent at least a portion of said vertical passage to form a potential passageway for fluid flow through said formation; and in~ecting a drive fluid into the upper portion of said form-ation through said potential passageway to promote flow of petroleum to said recovery position near the bottom of said vertical passage.
In a second embodiment this invention seeks to provide a method of assisting the recovery of viscous petroleum from a petroleum-containing formatlon having a large vertical dimension and being normally r~sistant to flow comprising the steps of forming a substantially vertical passage through a petroleum-containing formation, said vertical passage having a casing positioned therein and said casing having upper perforations ad~acent the upper portion of said formation and lower perforations ad~acent the lower portion of said formation; forming a closed-loop flow path from the earth's surface for steam flow through a substantial portion of said vertical passage; providing a recovery path for flowing petroleum out of said vertical passage from a position near said lower perforations in said casing; packing off said closed-loop flow path and said recovery path in said casing below the upper perforations therein; circulating a hot fluid through said closed-loop flow path to heat the viscous petroleum in said ~ormation ad~acent at least a portion of said vertical passage to form a potential passageway for fluid flow through said formation; and in~ecting a drlve fluid through said upper perforations into said formation to promote flow of petroleum down through said formation and into a recovery position in said vertical passage through the lower perforatians in said casing.
In a third embodlment this invention seeks to provide a method of assisting the recovery of viscous petroleum from a petroleum-containing formation having a large vertical dimension comprising the steps of forming a substantially vertical passage through a petroleum-containing f~rmation; providing a closed-loop flow path from the earth's surface through a substantial portion of said vertical passage; providing a recovery path for ~;.~, -- 5~--flowing petroleum out of said vertlcal passage from a recovery position near the botton thereof; circulating a hot fluid through said closed-loop flow path to heat the viscous petroleum in said formation ad~acent at lea~t a portion of said vertical passage to form a potential passageway for fluid flow through said formation; and in~ecting a drive fluid into the upper portlon of said fonmation through said potential passageway to promote flow of petroleum to said recovery position near the bottom of said vertical passa~e~
- 5b -~3RIEF_DESCRIPTION_OE_$~1E_DRAWINGS
2 FIG. 1 is an elevation view Fartially in section and 3 illustrates the preferred embodiment cf apparatus ass~mbled in 4 accoxdance with the present inventicn for use in recovering viscous petroleum from an underground formation;
6 FIG. 2 is an elevation vie~ partially in section and 7 illustrates an alternative arrangement of apparatus assembled in 8 accordance with the prese~t invention;
9 ~IG. 3 is an enlarged partial view of a portion of the apparatus o~ FIG. l;
11 FIG. 4 is a plan vie~ and illustrates a potential well 12 layout n accordance with the prese~t in~ention;
13 FIG. 5 is an elevation vie~ partially in section and 14 i~lustrates apparatus used in conducting demonstrations in accordance with the pressnt inventicn;
16 FIG. 6 is a per~pective view of a block of tar sand 17 flooded in accordance with the present invention shouing position 18 of core samples taXen after tbe flood: and 19 FIG. 7 i~ a table illustrating the analysis of such cores.
21 DETAILED_D~SC~IPTION OF THE EMBQ DIME~TS_QF_THE_INVEMTION
22 Refer no~ to th~ drawings, and tc FIG. 1 in particular, 23 ~here the preferred embodiment of~apparatus assembled in 24 accordance with the invention is illustrated. FIG. 1 shows a substantially vertical passage formed through a petroleum-26 containing tar sand 14. qhe vertical Fassage may be a shaft cr 2~ ~ell, and for ease of description will be referred to herein as 28 either. Thus, the shaft, generally indicated by the nu~ber 10, 29 has been cased by mean~ of casing 24. A wellhead 30 is located at the ùpper end of the casing 24. A hollow tubular member 18 31 extends through the ~ellh~ad 30 to a position near the lower part 1 of the tar sand 14. ~n end plate 21 closes off the bcttom of the 2 tubular mem~er. A flow Fipe 20 extends down the interior of 3 tubular member 18 and cooperates ~ith the tubular member 18 tc 4 form ~ closed-loop flow path throu~h at least a portion of the tar sand.
6 A source of hot fluid such as a steam ~ource 32 is 7 connected to flo~ pipe 20 by means cf conduits 38 and 40 throuqh 8 valves 34 and 36. The steam source 32 i~ also connected to the 9 interior of casing 24 by means of conduit 38 through valve 44.
Steam is circulated through the formation out of direct contact 11 therewith by flowing down flow pipe 20 and up the annulus between 12 the outside of the flow pipe 20 and the tubular member 18. Fluid 13 leaves this annulu~ via conduit 37 and valve 39. A production 14 pump is located in the interior of thè casing to move produced fluids to the surface via flow line 58.
16 The outside of tubular member 18 and the production 17 flow line 58 are both packed off by pacXing means 41 to 18 effectively form an upper injection chamber 43 and a lower 19 production chamber 45 inside casing 24. Up~er perforations 26 and lower perforaticns 27 are formed in the casing to permit 2~ communication between the interior of the casing and the 22 formation. In operation, it is usually desirable to first ~3 introduce steam into the annùlus 43 cf the casing of shaft 10 to ~4 atte~pt to obtain injection of steam into f~rmation 14 through ~5 perforations ~6. In most instances, in viscous tar sands little or no in~ection is obtained. In accordance with the iDvention ~7 steam is then flowed through a closed-locp flow path .via flow 28 pipe 20 and tubular member 18 heats the viscous petroleum in tar 2~ sand formation 14 to reduce the visco~ity of at least a portion of the petroleum ad~acent the casing cccupi~d by tubular member 31 18. This provides a potential passage for flow of the drive 10~0339 1 fluid or steam into the formation via annulus 43 and perforations 2 26. By suita~ly ccntrollinq the flcw in the flow path 20, 18 and 3 the formation 14, a good sweep efficiency can he obtained and oil 4 recovery maximized through perforations 37 in recovery position 45. Thus when the steam flowing in tbe flo~ path establishes 6 in~ectivity for the drive fluid int~ the fcrmation and results in 7 ~ome production of petroleum from the ~rcducer steaM flow through 8 the flow path is terminated to prevent breakthrough of the drive 9 fluid~ If injectivity of the drive fluid becomes und~sirably lo~, then additional steam is flowed through the flo~ Fath to ~1 rees~ablish the desired injectivity.
12 FIG. 2 is an ~levation vie~ Fartially in section, and 13 illustrates an alternative embodiment cf ap~aratus assembled in 14 accordance with t~e preceDt invention. As there shown t~o closel~ spaced-apart wells 110 and 112 are formed and penetràte a 16 tar sànd formation 114. ~ell 110 includes a string of surface 17 casing 124 ~hich extends at least into the upper portion of tbe 18 tar sand 114~ The surface casing 124 is provided with a wellhead 19 130. A tubular mem~er 118 extends thrcugh the ~ellhead and dcwn through the tar sand. An inner flo~ pipe 120 cooperates with the ~1 tubular member 118 to form a closed-lPop flow path for hot fluid 22 through the formation. Thus, steam from steam source 132 is ~3 c~rculated through the 1c~ path via ccnduit 140 and valve 136.
24 Returni~g condensate through tubular mem~er 118 may be removed ~ith a crossover ccnnection (not shown~ for reheating and 26 r~circulating, if desired. The casing 124-tubular member 118 27 annulus is packed off by means of pac~ing means 141. Steam may 28 be injected into formation 114 from steam source 132 via ccnduit 29 138, valve 144 and perforations 126. A nearby production well 112 is provided with perforations 127 in the lower portion of the 31 formatlon for recovery of petroleum moved there by the in~ected 1 steam. A suitable pump 156 and flo~ line 158 are used to move it 2 to the surface.
3 FIG. 4 is a plan view and illustrates a potential field 4 layout. A central injectcr well 110 is currounded by four producers 112N, 112E, 112S and 112W.
6 FIG. 5 is an elevation view Fartially in section and 7 illustrates apparatus used in conducting demonstrations in 8 accordance with the present inventicn. ns there shown, a sand 9 pack 70 of Athabasca tar sand was encased in a suitable elongated core tube 72. The ccre tube was provided with suitable end 11 plates 74 and 76 for receiving a holla~ tubular membar 78. The 12 apparatus is also arranged for steam injection into the face cf 13 the sand pack through ccnduit 80 and for collecting proceeds of 14 the sand pack flood thrcugh conduit ~2. A ~team source 84 is connected to the tubular member 78 and to the sand pack face 16 through tubing 86 and ccntrol valve ~8. A doun-stream control 17 valve 90 controls flo~ cf steam thrcugb the central tubular 18 member 78. ~hus, assisted recovery oFerations in accordance with 19 the invention can be demcn~trated utilizing the apparatus shown in PIG. 5.
21 FIG. 6 is a p~rspective of a block of Athabasca tar 22 sand sho~ing a number of core positicns for cores tak~
23 longitudinally through the core block. The cores are identified 24 by number and flow plane as indicated. ~he tar sand blocX ~as flooded in accordance with the method cf the invention. The 26 cores ~ere taken after tbe flood and analyzed for residual 27 petroleu~. FIG. 7 is a table indicating the residual viscous 28 petroleum weight by core Fosition and Flane of the cores of PIG.
29 6. The original blcck contained 13.5~ by ~eight of viscous ~petroleu~. As is evident from the table of FIG. 7, a substantial 31 ~eight percent of a viscous petroleuu was recovered ~hen the _ g _ 1 block was flooded in accordance ~ith the method c~ the present 2 invention.
3 Further with respect to FIGS. S, 6 and 7, in order to 4 demonstrate the method of the present invention, it was neces-cary as a first step to set UF an apparatus containing Athabasca oil 6 sand havin~ a zero effective permeability tc steam. To do this, 7 a 1~ID by 12"-long quartz tube was used. Ihe tube was packed 8 ~ith Athabasca oil sand ccntaining abcut 13~ weight viscous 9 p~troleum and about ~ water. Fittings ~ere attached to both ~nds o the tube and a conventional steam drive applied to the 11 ~oil sand at a pressure of 75 psi and a temperature of 320~. It 12 was founa during the early runs that 50~ of the petroleum was 13 recovered because of unrealistic permeability to steam, and sa 14 the runs did not successfully simulate Athabasca conditions. It ~as ~ound later that ~y using a 1/2"-diameter solid steel rod, 16 1~." long, as a tool for rammmming the cil sand very tightly in ~7 the tube, the rcc~ temperature air Fermeabilities were reduced to 18 less than 50 millidarcies, a much mcre realistic value for 19 viscoùs petroleum-containing formaticns. In this region of ~0 permeability, conventional steam drive did not work and the steam ~1 front advanced only about 1" into the tu~e and na farther, since 2~ the initially ~obilized p~troleum blocked off any communication, 23 thereby reducing the effective mobility to zero. These 24 conditions were reproducible on a satisfactory basis.
The method of the invention ~ac then demonstrated using 26 the apparatus shown schematically in EIG. 5. FIG. 5 shoHs a ~7 partially co~pleted demcnstration in accordance ~ith the method 28 of the invention. The in-place tubular memker 78 has heen heated ~9 by opening the heating annulus contrcl valve 90 allowin~ steam to pass through. This immediately provides steam in~ectivity at the 31 drive end of the tar sand pack 70 and viscous petroleum produced ` - 10 -1~6'~339 1 immediately at the producing end. ~eccveries in these 2 experiments ranged from 48 to 52% weight of the total petroleum 3 in place. Residual petroleum was determined in every case by 4 exhaustive solvent e~traction at the end of each run. In some demonstrations, too much heat was allcwed ta pass through the 6 tubular member 78, there~y creating an annulus outside the 7 tubular member of very high mobility, allowing premature steam 8 breakthrough and giving rather poorer recoveries, on the order of 9 only 30~ of the total petrcleum in ~lace.
In order to demcnstrate the ~resent method in a 11 laboratory under more realistic field-type conditions, the 1~ demonstrations were modified by using large chunks of relatively 13 undistributed Athabasca cil sand. Tbese ranged in weight from 14 one to about four kilograms and appeared to be devoid of cracks.
lS They were randomly shaped and generally roundish or oval. These 16 were encased in epoxy resin so that a total thickness of about 4"
17 existed all around the oil sand piece. The placement of the in-18 place tubular member and injector and Froducer were very similar 1~ to the apparatus shc~n in FIG. 5. Again, a 1/8" stainless-steel tu~e was used for the in-~lace tubular mem~er. In order to 21 establish that there was indeed zero effective mobility, a steam 22 drive was al~ays applied to the injectcr before allowing any heat 23 to pass through the in-place tubulaI mem~er. ~hree experiments 24 ~ere run, and in no case was there more than four drops of water ~5 produced at the exit from the block, aud this slight water 26 production ceased after less than one minute after initiating 27 conventional steam drive. After reaching this static condition 28 ~ith zero injectivity, the heated annulu~ ccntrol valve 90 was 2g cracked slightly, allowing passing of steam into the tubular member 78. Immediately petroleum flc~ed frcm the producer end of 31 the core at a high petroleum/water ratio. Care must be exercised .
1 in controlling the amount of heat thrcugh the in-place tubular 2 member since, in one case, this was not done and the over-all 3 recoYery ~as 30% of the tctal petroleum in ~lace. Even continued 4 lowing of steam through the block bet~een in~ectcr and producer did not allow any further recovery ~f ~etroleum in this instance.
6 On breaking open the blcck, it was fcund that a very clean oil 7 sand of higher permèability had been created as an annulus close a to the in-place pipe. Since tlle heat in the tubular ~ember was " not controlled, good sweep efficiancy of the block was not obtain~d ih this case.
11 The most successful demonstration run was that carried 12 out on a 3.5-kg bl~ck o~ cil sand, initially 13.5% weight 13 petroleum content. Total recovery ~as 65~ cf the petroleum 14 originally in place. In all of these exFeriments, the same pressure and temperature cf 75 psi and 320~E respecti~ely were 16 used.
1~ Although, at first glance, the practice of the 18 invention might lead one to expect a ~ery lcw residual oil t9 content close to the annulus surroundin~ the in-place tubular member and a high residual oil resulting frcm poor sweep 21 efficiency in thcs~ regicns of the sample farthest away from the 22 in-placa pipe, this was not the case. In fact, excellent sweep ~3 ef~iciency is o~tained ~hen the ratic of hot fluid to drive fluid 24 is controlled so as not tc permit early steam breakthraugh. In order to e~aluate this concern, the encased 3.5-kg block of oil 2~ sand at the end of a demonstration ~as cut through the center at 27 right angles to the in-place tubular member. ~he oil sand wa~
~8 then cored using a 3/4"-diameter core ~orer and sampled to a 29 depth of 1/~". This was done at 11 locations in each of 6 different planes in the oil sand block. A diagram of the 31 location of tbese core sa~ples is shcwn in EIG. 6. A total of 66 ` - 12 -1~60339 1 samples was taken and each analyzed for residual petroleu~
2 ccntent by exhaustive extraction with toluene. The recults are 3 shown in FIG. 7. It can b~ se6n that a remarkably uniform sweep 4 of tbe oil sand sample had taken place. Particularly surprising is the fact that the residual petroleum in thcse 6 cores taken 6 from the annulus immediately surrounding the in-place tubular 7 membar show a re~idual petloleu~ content not too different from 8 the cores farthest away from the in-Flace tubular member.
9 The demcnstrations show that the method of the present ~nv~ntion satisfactorily simulated tb~ zero effective mobility o~
11 the Athdbasca oil sand deposit. The r~ccvery demcnstrations 1~ showd that a communication path bet~eeD injector and producer can 1~ be successfu~ly developed; and provided e~cessive heating of the 14 ir.-place tubular member is avoided, r~coveries up to 65X of the petroleum in place can be achieved. Ihe s~eep efficiency is ~6 surprisingly high, resulting in an even dictribution of residual 17 oil. ~his means that the reservoir after an assisted-recovery 1~ operation conducted in accordance with the invention would be l9 amendable to further recovery technigues such as combustion, chemical floods, etc. Earticularly attractive is the fact that ~1 in~ectinq dri~e fluids would be confined to the area of inter~st 2~ b6tween in~ect~cr and producer, since this ~culd bs the only 23 path~ay open to them. In cther words, it is unlikely that the 24 fluids would be lost to the other parts of the reservoir ~ecause ~S of the relative im~ermeakility of the formation on the outer ~dge 26 of the sw~pt area.
Claims (11)
PROPERTY OR PRIVILEGE IS CLAIMED ARE DEFINED AS FOLLOWS:
1. A method of assisting the recovery of viscous petroleum from a petroleum-containing formation having a large vertical dimension comprising the steps of forming a substantially vertical passage through a petroleum-containing formation, providing a closed-loop flow path from the earth's surface through a substantial portion of said vertical passage, providing a recovery path for flowing petroleum cut of said formation from a recovery position near the bottom of said substantial portion of said vertical passage, circulating a hot fluid through said closed-loop flow path to heat the viscous petroleum in said formation adjacent at least a portion of said vertical passage to form a potential passageway for fluid flow through said formation and injecting a drive fluid into the upper portion of said formation through said potential passageway to promote flow of petroleum to said recovery position Dear the bottom of said vertical passage.
2. The method of Claim 1 where said recovery passage is in said vertical passage.
3. The method of Claim 1 where said recovery position is in a separate well spaced apart from said vertical passage.
4. The method of Claim 1 where the hot fluid is steam.
5. The method of Claim 4 where the drive fluid is steam.
6. A method of assisting the recovery of viscous petroleum from a petroleum-containing formation having a large vertical dimension and being normally resistant to flow comprising the steps of forming a substantially vertical passage through a petroleum-containing formation, said vertical passage having a casing positioned therin and said casing having upper perforations adjacent the upper portion of said formation and lower ferforations adjacent the lower portion of said formation, forming a closed-loop flow path from the earth's surface for steam flow through a substantial portion of said vertical passage, providing a recovery path for flowing petroleum out of said vertical passage from a position near said lower perforations in said casing, packing off said closed-loop flow path and said recovery path in said casing below the upper perforations therein, circulating a hot fluid through said closed-loop flow path to heat the viscous petroleum in said formation adjacent at least a portion of said vertical passage to form a potential passageway for fluid flow through said formation, and injecting a drive fluid through said upper perforations into said formation to promote flow of petroleum down through said formation and into a recovery position in said vertical passage through the lower perforations in said casing.
7. The method of Claim 6 where the hot fluid is steam.
8. The method of Claim 7 where the drive fluid is steam.
9. A method of assisting the recovery of viscous petroleum from a petroleum-containing formation having a large vertical dimension comprising the steps of forming a substantially vertical passage through a petroleum-containing formation, providing a closed-loop flow path from the earth's surface through a substantial portion of said vertical passage, providing a recovery path for flowing petroleum cut of said vertical passage from a recovery position near the bottom thereof, circulating a hot fluid through said closed-loop flow path to heat the viscous petroleum in said formation adjacent at least a portion of said vertical passage to form a potential passageway for fluid flow through said formation, and injecting a drive fluid into the upper portion of said formation through said potential passageway to promote flow of petroleum to said recovery position near the bottom of said vertical passage.
10. The method of Claim 9 where the hot fluid is steam.
11. The method of Claim 9 where the drive fluid is steam.
Applications Claiming Priority (1)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| US05/627,306 US3994341A (en) | 1975-10-30 | 1975-10-30 | Recovering viscous petroleum from thick tar sand |
Publications (1)
| Publication Number | Publication Date |
|---|---|
| CA1060339A true CA1060339A (en) | 1979-08-14 |
Family
ID=24514114
Family Applications (1)
| Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA261,656A Expired CA1060339A (en) | 1975-10-30 | 1976-09-21 | Recovering viscous petroleum from thick tar sand |
Country Status (4)
| Country | Link |
|---|---|
| US (1) | US3994341A (en) |
| CA (1) | CA1060339A (en) |
| DE (1) | DE2649487C2 (en) |
| FR (1) | FR2329840A1 (en) |
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| US9200799B2 (en) | 2013-01-07 | 2015-12-01 | Glasspoint Solar, Inc. | Systems and methods for selectively producing steam from solar collectors and heaters for processes including enhanced oil recovery |
| EP3183512A4 (en) | 2014-10-23 | 2018-09-05 | Glasspoint Solar, Inc. | Heat storage devices for solar steam generation, and associated systems and methods |
| CN108603656A (en) | 2016-02-01 | 2018-09-28 | 玻点太阳能有限公司 | Separator and mixer for the steam for the solar energy generation quality controlled for long distance delivery for improving oil recovery and relevant system and method |
| CA2972203C (en) | 2017-06-29 | 2018-07-17 | Exxonmobil Upstream Research Company | Chasing solvent for enhanced recovery processes |
| IT201700078959A1 (en) * | 2017-07-13 | 2019-01-13 | Eni Spa | EXTRACTIVE WELL AND METHOD FOR HEATING A HYDROCARBON FIELD. |
| CA2974712C (en) | 2017-07-27 | 2018-09-25 | Imperial Oil Resources Limited | Enhanced methods for recovering viscous hydrocarbons from a subterranean formation as a follow-up to thermal recovery processes |
| CA2978157C (en) | 2017-08-31 | 2018-10-16 | Exxonmobil Upstream Research Company | Thermal recovery methods for recovering viscous hydrocarbons from a subterranean formation |
| CN107685072B (en) * | 2017-09-26 | 2020-12-04 | 上海格林曼环境技术有限公司 | Centralized combustion type in-situ thermal desorption restoration method for polluted site |
| CA2983541C (en) | 2017-10-24 | 2019-01-22 | Exxonmobil Upstream Research Company | Systems and methods for dynamic liquid level monitoring and control |
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| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US1634235A (en) * | 1923-12-31 | 1927-06-28 | Standard Dev Co | Method of and apparatus for recovering oil |
| US1634236A (en) * | 1925-03-10 | 1927-06-28 | Standard Dev Co | Method of and apparatus for recovering oil |
| US2786660A (en) * | 1948-01-05 | 1957-03-26 | Phillips Petroleum Co | Apparatus for gasifying coal |
| DE1002910B (en) * | 1953-07-17 | 1957-02-21 | Svenska Skifferolje A B | Process and devices for heating underground deposits of bituminous fuels or sulfur in their natural deposits |
| DE1020290B (en) * | 1953-10-26 | 1957-12-05 | Pan American Petroleum Corp | Process for the extraction of heavy oil |
| DE1112477B (en) * | 1957-07-26 | 1961-08-10 | Svenska Skifferolje A B | Process for heating underground geological deposits, in particular fuel-containing deposits, at their natural deposits |
| US3024013A (en) * | 1958-04-24 | 1962-03-06 | Phillips Petroleum Co | Recovery of hydrocarbons by in situ combustion |
| US2980184A (en) * | 1958-09-22 | 1961-04-18 | Shell Oil Co | Method and apparatus for producing wells |
| US3205012A (en) * | 1963-05-01 | 1965-09-07 | William B Dancy | Solution mining system using heat exchange tubes |
| US3343605A (en) * | 1965-02-17 | 1967-09-26 | Iii John Henry Phelan | Heater for oil recovery |
| US3338306A (en) * | 1965-03-09 | 1967-08-29 | Mobil Oil Corp | Recovery of heavy oil from oil sands |
| US3386508A (en) * | 1966-02-21 | 1968-06-04 | Exxon Production Research Co | Process and system for the recovery of viscous oil |
| US3493050A (en) * | 1967-01-30 | 1970-02-03 | Kork Kelley | Method and apparatus for removing water and the like from gas wells |
| US3420302A (en) * | 1967-04-11 | 1969-01-07 | Guy G Edwards | Oil processing system |
| SU322084A1 (en) * | 1970-03-23 | 1973-10-26 | DEVICE FOR EXTRACTION OF GEOTHERMAL ENERGY | |
| US3881551A (en) * | 1973-10-12 | 1975-05-06 | Ruel C Terry | Method of extracting immobile hydrocarbons |
-
1975
- 1975-10-30 US US05/627,306 patent/US3994341A/en not_active Expired - Lifetime
-
1976
- 1976-09-21 CA CA261,656A patent/CA1060339A/en not_active Expired
- 1976-10-22 FR FR7632024A patent/FR2329840A1/en active Granted
- 1976-10-27 DE DE2649487A patent/DE2649487C2/en not_active Expired
Also Published As
| Publication number | Publication date |
|---|---|
| FR2329840A1 (en) | 1977-05-27 |
| US3994341A (en) | 1976-11-30 |
| DE2649487C2 (en) | 1985-10-24 |
| FR2329840B1 (en) | 1980-05-09 |
| DE2649487A1 (en) | 1977-05-05 |
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