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Thermal Recovery of Oil and Bitumen Roger M. Butler
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Thermal Projects Wabiskaw - Recognized the potential for cost-effective thermal recovery of a 2.0 billion barrel bitumen deposit in the Grand Rapids Formation within the Woodenhouse area. Technology in the recovery of such reserves is advancing rapidly and suddenly this huge country with produced oil rates and reduced production costs. Understanding how crude oil biodegrades into methane, or natural gas, opens the door to being able to recover the clean-burning methane directly from deeply buried, or in situ, oil sands deposits, says Steve Larter, U of C petroleum geologist in the The oil sands industry would no longer have to use costly and polluting thermal, or heat-based, processes (such as injecting steam into reservoirs) to loosen the tar-like bitumen so it flows into wells and can be pumped to the surface. With some experts predicting peak oil as early as 2030, there is more and more interest in so called "unconventional resources" such as heavy oil and bitumen. Image source:US EIA of oil sand assets in Alberta. Thermal Recovery of Oil and Bitumen. Because of “reserve growth,” a country or a company may increase its oil reserves without tapping new areas if it can recover more oil from its known fields. This apparently paradoxical situation is occurring because supplies of conventional crude oil have peaked while growing economies in South America have increased demand for refined fuel. In the 1960s, introduction of thermal recovery technologies (application of steam technology) caused abrupt and substantial additions to reserves in fields that contain heavy oil (American Petroleum Institute (API) gravity less than . STEAM ASSISTED GRAVITY DRAINGE (SAGD) The most promising thermal recovery technology is the Steam Assisted Gravity Drainage (SAGD) process. Image I recently got the chance to tag along with a group of journalism fellows on a tour of some oil sands production sites in Alberta, which is home to almost all of Canada's oil sands reserves.The Canadian oil They are a mix of naturally occurring bitumen, sticky oil and abrasive sand. Alberta's vast oil sands — a mixture of sand, water and a semisolid form of petroleum called bitumen — account for 97 percent of Canada's proven crude oil reserves, making Canada the largest source of foreign oil for the world's According to a report by oil sands industry consulting firm Strategy West, “The primary disadvantage of steam-based thermal recovery techniques is the large amount of energy and water that must be consumed for the generation of steam. GO Thermal Recovery of Oil and Bitumen Author: Roger M. There has been an increase in the exploration of unconventional crude oils, which almost equal global conventional oil reserves - from bitumen through to heavy oils. In situ (in place recovery or without excavation) is currently being done using steam injection with well recovery to heat and mobilize the goo. The Essential oil sands of Alberta North america Incorporate bitumen reserves Comparable in Sizing Towards the Essential oil fields in Saudi Arabia. Zones too thin for traditional thermal recovery. Language: English Released: 1991.