New production technologies are having a large impact on Canadian heavy oil production and have potential to dramatically increase oil recovery ratios in conventional oil, making (or “helping to make”) marginal and weak projects profitable. As world conventional oil production peaks in the next few years, these technologies will become vital to the international petroleum industry. Maurice Dusseault will describe several relevant new production technologies, which are presented with the acronyms commonly used. He will also present case histories of each, and will also explain the key aspects of the physical mechanisms behind the processes.

CHOPS (Cold Heavy Oil Production with Sand) Thousands of shallow wells in Canada produce from 30 to 300 b/d of highly viscous oil along with 1-10% of the formation sand; if sand is excluded, these wells cease producing at economical rates. CHOPS enhances production in four ways: sand movement decreases flow resistance, sand production generates a high permeability region around the well, gas bubbles in the oil provide a drive mechanism, and sand movement reduces or eliminates pore throat blockages. CHOPS production now exceeds 450,000 b/d in Canada (~17% of Canada’s production), and the technology is beginning to spread to other sedimentary basins with unconsolidated heavy oil deposits (Venezuela, Oman, China).

PPFE (Pressure Pulse Flow Enhancement) Dynamic liquid phase pressure pulsing enhances liquid flow rate through porous media. It can also help overcome capillary barriers, reduce pore throat blockage, and suppress viscous fingering. To date, PPFE has been used in ~100 heavy oil well workovers and in four small full-field projects where it enhanced oil flow rates to surrounding wells. PPFE is extremely economical and promises to become a powerful IOR approach for liquid-dominated systems.

GAD (Gravity-Assisted Drainage) Several technologies based on phase density segregation have been developed (e.g.: inert gas injection, steam-assisted gravity drainage, vapor-assisted petroleum extraction). Properly implemented and managed, these can be used to connect to bypassed and isolated oil bodies, and will give high ultimate recovery ratios in both new and old fields.

<Close>