Surface Facilities for a Giant Thermal EOR Project - Cost and HSE Implications of Alternative Fuels for Steam Generation

Coll, Richard; Peña, Gilberto; Guitián, J.; Mancera, A.; Escobar, E.

doi:10.2118/188808-ms

Cited by 3 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 6 publications

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“…However, the conversion timing from CHOP to CSS was not taken into consideration. Coll et al [28] showed that CSS, SF, SAGD, and other thermal recovery techniques were suitable for improving the recovery of foamy extraheavy oil reservoirs in Orinoco Oil Belt. In addition, the challenges encountered by the implementation of the above thermal recovery techniques were also mentioned in their study, which were mainly caused by the field surface engineering issues.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Conversion Timing of Following-Up Thermal Recovery Approaches of Post-CHOP for Foamy Extraheavy Oil Reservoirs

Yang

et al. 2021

Geofluids

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The purpose of this study is to determine the optimal conversion timing of follow-up thermal recovery approaches of post-CHOP for foamy extraheavy oil reservoirs. The microscopic visualization experiment and the one-dimensional sand pack experiment are conducted to investigate the influence of temperature on the foamy oil cold production process. According to the experimental results, it can be concluded that the temperature has great influence on foamy oil flow stage during the CHOP process. Therefore, it is necessary to study the optimal conversion timing of follow-up thermal recovery approaches after CHOP for the foamy extraheavy oil reservoir. Based on the analysis of the experimental results, the compositional foamy oil model is established by taking the effect of temperature into consideration. In the numerical model, the conversion timings of different thermal recovery approaches are investigated. The optimal conversion timings for cyclic steam stimulation (CSS) and steam flooding (SF) processes are the moments when the pressure drops to the pseudo-bubble point pressure. For the CSS method, excessive pressure cannot give full play to the production potential of CHOP stage; when the pressure is too low, it lacks enough energy to drive the heated crude oil to the wellbore. For the SF method, high pressure cannot fully release the latent heat of steam, and the content of dissolved gas (which will hinder the heat transfer) in oil phase is higher under high pressure, while the very low pressure leads to relatively high viscosity of crude oil; thus, the performance of the SF process becomes worse. For the SAGD process, the adverse effects of released solution gas in foamy extraheavy oil reservoir outweigh the positive effects. As a result, the CHOP period should be extended as long as possible to obtain a high recovery. In other words, the recovery process should be switched to the SAGD process at a relatively low formation pressure. The findings of this study could help for better understanding of the CHOP and post-CHOP thermal techniques for foamy extraheavy oil reservoirs, and it can provide guidance for reservoir engineers to make better use of the thermal recovery techniques to further improve the recovery performance of foamy extraheavy oil reservoirs.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Conversion Timing of Following-Up Thermal Recovery Approaches of Post-CHOP for Foamy Extraheavy Oil Reservoirs

Yang

et al. 2021

Geofluids

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Overcoming the Challenge of Forecasting EOR in Giant Extra-Heavy Oil Fields

Escobar

Coll

Leon-Carrera

et al. 2017

Day 3 Wed, November 15, 2017

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The development of giant fields of extra-heavy crude oil (XHO), through the massive application of thermal EOR processes, involves investments of several millions of dollars. It is a technical challenge to evaluate, by means of numerical simulation, and in a reasonable period of time, the behavior of EOR processes in giant fields. This paper describes a semi-analytical methodology to evaluate thermal processes of EOR and to provide, in a suitable time, the input data required by the investment decision makers. The methodology follows 4 main steps. 1) The field is divided in sectors using a special defined EOR-Quality Index. 2) Six representative Model-sectors are selected in each reservoir and used to perform numerical simulations of all EOR processes to be evaluated in the field. 3) Extrapolation of simulation results to all the individual sectors of the field (Field-sectors), by using a defined extrapolation function. 4) Synchronization of injection and production profiles for each EOR technology, in each individual Field-sector following the field development plan. The methodology was successfully applied to a giant-XHO field, in the Orinoco Oil Belt, where primary production followed by combinations of different sequences of Cyclic Steam Stimulation (CSS), Steam Flooding, Steam Assisted Gravity Drainage and Horizontal Alternate Steam Drive were evaluated at fullfield scale. The proposed methodology allows analyzing many more production strategies without losing the vision of the global impact of EOR operations in the whole field. Two validation tests were performed to check the robustness of the method. The first test checked the extrapolation function. A set of random selected Field-sectors in which EOR recovery performances were evaluated through both numerical simulation, and also with the extrapolation function. Comparable results were obtained by both methods. A final validation test was done performing a fullfield simulation study for a CSS application. The simulation model had 23MM active blocks, about 1000 horizontal wells, thermal PVT formulation, and 40 years of production. Comparable results in terms of production potential and plateau duration were obtained, which validates the proposed methodology. The numerical fullfield test took around one week, and it was also expensive in resources. The presented semi-analytical methodology overcomes the challenges of expensive and long numerical simulations, by an innovative way to characterize the dynamic response of Model-sectors and to extrapolate it into the all Field-sectors. The methodology is flexible enough to consider different kind of EOR processes configuration sequences, as well as, the evaluation of the processes at different scales as: sector, reservoir units and fullfield.

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Hydrogen from Depleted/Depleting Hydrocarbon Reservoirs: A Reservoir Engineering Perspective

Alkan,

Bauer,

Burachok

et al. 2024

Applied Sciences

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In today’s industry, H2 is mostly produced from fossil fuels such as natural gas (NG), oil, and coal through various processes. However, all these processes produce both carbon dioxide (CO2) as well as H2, making them questionable in terms of climate change mitigation efforts. In addition to efforts to increase the conversion efficiency of green H2 technologies, work is also underway to make H2 production from fossil fuels more environmentally friendly by reducing/avoiding CO2 emissions. In this framework, these technologies are combined with geologic carbon storage. In a further step, the use of depleted hydrocarbon reservoirs for in situ H2 production is being investigated, with the co-generated CO2 remaining permanently in the reservoir. The objective of this paper is to provide a brief overview of the technologies that can be used to produce H2 from depleted and depleting hydrocarbon reservoirs (DHRs) in various ways. We evaluate the required processes from a reservoir engineering perspective, highlighting their potential for H2 generation and their technology readiness level (TRL) for applications. We also investigate the possibility of permanently storing the co-produced CO2 in the reservoir as a means of mitigating emissions. In addition, we provide a preliminary cost analysis to compare these methods with conventional hydrogen production techniques, as well as an assessment of operational risks and associated cost estimates.

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Surface Facilities for a Giant Thermal EOR Project - Cost and HSE Implications of Alternative Fuels for Steam Generation

Cited by 3 publications

References 6 publications

Conversion Timing of Following-Up Thermal Recovery Approaches of Post-CHOP for Foamy Extraheavy Oil Reservoirs

Conversion Timing of Following-Up Thermal Recovery Approaches of Post-CHOP for Foamy Extraheavy Oil Reservoirs

Overcoming the Challenge of Forecasting EOR in Giant Extra-Heavy Oil Fields

Hydrogen from Depleted/Depleting Hydrocarbon Reservoirs: A Reservoir Engineering Perspective

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