Enhanced Oil Recovery and extra Heavy Oils

Enhanced oil recovery and extra heavy oil research is important as there is a huge quantity of extra heavy oil in place: 5,000 billion barrels (worldwide). This is twice as much as the conventional oil resources. As such, extra heavy oil has the potential to be a major energy source for the 21st century.

Technologies for extra heavy oil production include open-pit mining and hot-water processing, however these can only be applied to shallow deposits. Cold production may be possible for deeper deposits, by drilling wells and using pumps to lift the oil to surface, however often enhanced recovery techniques are necessary. Steam injection is one such option, where the reservoir is heated to reduce oil viscosity and enable oil to flow to the producer well. In-situ combustion involves the injection of air into the reservoir, which allows some reservoir hydrocarbons to burn and so raise the temperature of the reservoir, mobilising oil for production. Another method of reducing viscosity for production is solvent injection, where the oil in the reservoir is diluted.

Current Research at the GRC includes developing advanced in-situ production techniques for extra heavy oil production such as VAPEX -- Vapour Extraction, an emerging solvent injection technique and new in-situ combustion (ISC) processes, which show great potential for the extraction of extra heavy oil and bitumen.

Air injection simulation showing high-temperature front in the reservoir model