Development and Research Status of Heavy Oil Enhanced Oil Recovery

Abstract

Heavy oil is an important part of petroleum hydrocarbon energy. With the depletion of conventional crude oil reserves, successful and efficient exploitation of heavy oil resources is becoming increasingly important. This article focuses on the nine relatively mature heavy oil development technologies from the perspectives of the level of understanding of the mechanism and the scale of the mining field: steam huff and puff, steam flooding, steam-assisted gravity drainage (SAGD), in situ combustion, thermochemical combined flooding, multicomponent thermal fluid, polymer flooding, chemical viscosity reduction development, and microbial oil recovery, which are divided into two technical categories: thermal recovery and cold recovery development. The basic development principles are explained, and application examples of the two categories of techniques are provided. It is pointed out that thermal compounding, cold mining development, and nanomaterial applications will be the three development trends in heavy oil development.

Experimental Study on the Enhanced Oil Recovery Mechanism of an Ordinary Heavy Oil Field by Polymer Flooding

“…For ordinary heavy oil (with viscosities of 100–10,000 cp), thermal recovery technology is generally used after primary oil recovery. − Thermal recovery technology began in the 1930s, represented by applications in the United States and Canada, and four techniques have been successively developedsteam flooding, steam huff and puff, fired oil layer, and steam-assisted gravity drainage (SAGD)which are mainly used in medium-shallow (<600 m) and thick-layer heavy oils . The mechanism of thermal recovery technology is mainly to reduce the viscosity of heavy oil to increase its fluidity.…”

“… 7 − 9 Thermal recovery technology began in the 1930s, represented by applications in the United States and Canada, and four techniques have been successively developed—steam flooding, steam huff and puff, fired oil layer, and steam-assisted gravity drainage (SAGD)—which are mainly used in medium-shallow (<600 m) and thick-layer heavy oils. 10 The mechanism of thermal recovery technology is mainly to reduce the viscosity of heavy oil to increase its fluidity. However, the application of thermal recovery technology has some crucial challenges due to its economic and environmental obstacles, especially in North America, Latin America, the Middle East, China, and so on.…”

Recyclable Fe3O4 Nanoparticles Responsive to Temperature for Heavy Oil Viscosity Reduction: Synthesis, Characterization, and Performance

“…Therefore, measures should be taken to reduce the viscosity of heavy oil. , Thermal, dilution, chemical, and biological methods are commonly used to develop heavy oil reservoirs. Thermal techniques − tend to be costly and energy-intensive. Dilution methods typically require large amounts of solvents and light hydrocarbons, such as toluene, which is a cost and environmental challenge.…”

Research and Application Progress of Wet-Phase Modified Expandable Graphite as a Steam Plugging Agent in Heavy Oil Reservoirs

“…It is challenging to implement traditional production techniques, such as chemical and water flooding, for the development of heavy oil reservoirs. However, the viscosity of heavy oil decreases sharply with the increasing temperature . Therefore, steam injection development is the main development mode of heavy oil reservoirs in the world.…”

“…However, the viscosity of heavy oil decreases sharply with the increasing temperature. 2 Therefore, steam injection development is the main development mode of heavy oil reservoirs in the world. Common heavy oil thermal recovery technologies include cyclic steam stimulation (CSS) and steam flooding.…”