Non-Conventional Oil

Nonconventional Liquid Fuels

Syncrude

Extra-Heavy Oil, Oil Sands, Oil Shale

Synthetic Fuel

Coal, Natural Gas, Biomass Feedstocks

Renewable Fuels

Ethanol, Biodiesel

Convention Liquid Fuels

25 Billion Barrels per Year

Syncrude

Extra-Heavy Oil, Oil Sands, Oil Shale

3 Billion Barrels per Year

Synthetic Fuel

Coal, Natural Gas

~0.1 Billion Barrels per Year

Light versus Heavy Crude Oil

1.) Differences in density:

. Crude Specific Gravity

Light <0.870

Medium 0.870 to 0.920

Heavy >0.929

Extra-Heavy >1.000

(Alberta Heavy 0.945 to 1.007)

(Alberta Bitumen 1.014)

2.) Differences in Viscosity:

Crude Viscosity .

Light Crude ~ 50 cP Heavy Crude ~5,000 Extra Heavy Crude ~10,000 Bitumen ~100,000 Kerogen “Solid”

Non-Conventional Oil:

Syncrude

Extra-Heavy Crude,

Oil Sands,

Oil Shale

North America

South America

Middle East

Asia

Africa

Russia

Europe

Estimated Technically Recoverable Heavy Oil and Natural Bitumen

World Total: 1,085 bbl

North America

South America

Middle East

Extra-Heavy Crude

Extra-Heavy Crude

Largest Deposit, nearly 90% of World’s Extra-Heavy Oil:

Orinoco Heavy Oil Belt, Venezuela

- The Venezuelan national oil company says:

1,360 billion barrels (1.36 trillion) in place.

- About 20% could be recovered economically.

- Thus 270 billion barrels (0.270 trillion)

of oil reserves for the Orinoco belt.

(Comparable to the reserves of Saudi Arabia)

Extra-Heavy Crude Oil

Will flow in reservoir, but slowly.

In Venezuela:

In order to pump oil in pipelines,

emulsify with water.

Cannot be refined in traditional refineries.

Oil-Sands (Tar Sands)

Oil Sands (Tar Sands)

81% of world’s estimated oil-sand supply is in Canada

Oil sands: Bitumen in sand deposits at a 1% to 20% level

Bitumen won’t flow at room temperature, must be heated

Oil Sands: Extraction Methods

Open-Pit Mining

If bitumen is within 225 feet of surface, mine

sand, separate and process bitumen

In situ Process

If greater than 225 feet, two wells drilled,

steam injected into one, heated bitumen

comes out of the other

Currently, mostly open-pit mining is used, but 80% of the reserves are too deep for open-pit mining.

Upgrading In order to obtain syncrude for use in a refinery, must:

“Crack” large molecules to smaller, less viscous ones

Add hydrogen to carbon-rich, hydrogen-deficient molecules

Remove sulfur (5%) and nitrogen (0.6%)

Oil Shale

Oil Shale Enormous resources worldwide:

2.9 trillion barrels of “technically recoverable” oil

0.50 - 2.0 trillion barrels of “technically recoverable” oil in the USA

Extraction of shale oil:

Two methods, neither now in commercial operation:

1.) Underground mining and surface retorting of kerogen (1970s)

2.) in situ: Heat to 700 degrees F underground, vaporizing water to steam, shattering rock (under development by Shell Oil)

For one million barrels per day of shale oil:

By mining:

Requires 3 million barrels per day of water.

Mining and remediation of 500 million tons

of rock per year (about half the amount of

the annual tonnage of domestic coal

production).

In situ: Requires energy for heating

The “Old” Technologies• Cyclic steam stimulation• Steam drive (many variations)• Pressure-driven (p) processes

– High p water floods, solvents…

• Pressure-driven combustion processes– Wet or dry, forward or reverse, air or O2

• All these processes suffer from– Instability– Poor recovery, heat cost, well problems

New Production Technologies

• CHOPS (Cold Heavy Oil Prod. w. Sand)

• PPT (Pressure Pulsing Techniques)

• GAD (Gravity Assisted Drainage)– IGI (Inert Gas Injection)

– SAGD (Steam-Assisted Gravity Drainage)

– VAPEX (Vapor-Assisted Petr. EXtraction)

• Hybrids of these will be used

CHOPS

• The production of sand creates long channels or wormholes with high permeability.

• The combination of foamy oil behavior and the high permeability channels accounts for the high recovery factors and high production rates

CHOPS

For Successful CHOPS

• Foamy oil mechanism must be active (sufficient gas in solution)

• Continuous sand failure must occur (unconsolidated sands)

• No free water zones in the reservoir• PC pumps are necessary• Integrated sand handling system

– Sound sand disposal technology

• More profitable than thermal methods

• Very low CAPEX (cheap verticals)

• OPEX has been reduced

• NO Pumping issues (PC pumps can handle large sand %)

• Sand disposal has been solved

PPT• P - Pressure

• P - Pulsing

• T – Techniques

• Sharp pressure pulses applied to the liquid in wells

• Reduces advective instabilities

• Reduces capillary blockage effects

• Reduces pore throat blockage

• Increases the basic flow rate• Increases OOIP recovery• Reduces coning, viscous fingering• Reduces plugging by fines and

asphaltenes• Helps overcome capillary barriers at

throats• Emerging technology, much remains to

be optimized

GAD

• G – Gravity• A – Assisted• D – Drainage methods• Horizontal wells are essential• Flow is driven by density differences• Most effective with a gas phase• Wells produce slowly, but recovery ratios

can be very high, >90%

Inert Gas Injection

• Not for thermal heavy oil

• Good kv is required

• Ideal approach for converting old conventional fields to a GD process

• Operating expenses are quite low

• Should be considered for new fields, and for renewing old fields

THAI(Toe to Heel Air Injection)

• Toe-to-Heel Air Injection (THAI) is a new method that involves injecting air into the ground, which is then ignited.

• The fired-up air heats the oil, allowing it to be more easily lifted.

• The heat generated in the reservoir reduces the viscosity of the heavy oil, allowing it to drain into a second, horizontal well from where it rises to the surface.