Drilling and Reservoir Engineering

Heavy Oil Production and Thermal Recovery

Heavy oil can be as viscous as cold syrup at reservoir temperature, so it barely moves toward a well unless that viscosity is reduced, usually with heat. The challenge is delivering that heat economically. Delegates start with heavy oil and bitumen properties, viscosity temperature relationships and the reservoir settings in which they occur, Madagascar among them. Cold methods, including production with sand and polymer assistance, are compared. Thermal methods take the core of the programme: cyclic steam stimulation, steamflooding, steam assisted gravity drainage and in situ combustion, each with its heat balance, steam oil ratio and operational issues. Steam generation, water handling, thermal well integrity and emissions are treated as practical limits. Delegates leave able to screen heavy oil reservoirs and select and design a thermal recovery scheme.