passive reservoir heating for improved bitumen … · passive reservoir heating for improved...

Passive Reservoir Heating for ImprovedBitumen Recovery

M.P. Cimolai, S.C. Solanki and N.R. Edmunds

CIPC 2009-145

June 17, 2009

19-Jun-09 Strength In Our Roots

2Passive Heating Advantages

What interest would there be for a process that could:

1. Increase SAGD recovery efficiency by ~ 20%?

2. Remove direct steam injection in a thermal recovery process?

3. Optimize the application of solvent for bitumen recovery?

4. Robustly produce bitumen in low grade reservoir?

5. Effectively produce bitumen over bottom water?

6. Successfully exploit thin, non-commercial bitumen zones?

The geology of the Saleski Upper Grosmont carbonateprovides a framework to achieve these advantages.


3Passive Reservoir Heating Concept

Region 1

Region 3

Region 5

12 m

25 m

12 m

Sub-economic

Sub-economic


4

Example SAGD Model

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

160

180

200

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

Time (years)

Oil

Rate

(m3/d

)o

r%

Reco

very

0.0

0.5

1.0

1.5

2.0

2.5

3.0

3.5

4.0

4.5

5.0

CS

OR

(m3/m

3)

Oil Rate Percent Recovery CSOR

Region 3 SAGD Recovery

Expanding Steam Chamber Average

Productivity of ~100 m3/d

Subsurface

Energy Balance GJ %

Heat Injected 2,285,990 100

Heat Produced 968,024 42

Heat Loss 1,317,966 58

Heat Retained 462,481 20

Heat Migrated 855,485 38

Migrated Below 461,540 21

Migrated Above 393,945 17

Energy Required 8.80 GJ/m3


5

10 cP

60 cP

SAGD Chamber atEnd of Steaming

2. T at End of Steaming

3. T at Abandonment

1. Steam Chamber at End of Steaming


6Passive Heat-Assisted Recovery (PHARM)

Unassisted PHARM Depletion

PHARM Depletion at Abandonment


7

Example SAGD Model - Passive Heating Recovery

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

160

180

200

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

Time (years)

Oil

Rate

(m3/d

)o

r%

Reco

very

0.0

0.5

1.0

1.5

2.0

2.5

3.0

3.5

4.0

4.5

5.0

CS

OR

(m3/m

3)

Region 3 Oil Rate Region 5 Oil Rate Total Oil Rate CSOR

PHARM Recovery Enhancement

(8.80 – 6.64)

25%Efficiency

Gain

Subsurface

Energy Balance GJ %

Heat Injected 2,285,990 100

Heat Produced 1,007,236 44

Heat Loss 1,278,754 56

Heat Retained 461,906 20

Heat Migrated 816,848 36

Migrated Below 458,944 20

Migrated Above 396,072 16

Energy Required 6.64 GJ/m3


8

Impact of Passive Recovery Volumes

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

Time (years)

Pe

rce

nt

Re

gio

n5

/Re

gio

n3

Pro

du

cti

on

PHARM Zone Contribution Percentage


9

Temperature Profile across Lower Zone

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

160

180

200

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

Time (years)

Te

mp

era

ture

(C)

Below Lower Marl Mid Lower Zone Base Lower Zone

PHARM Heating Profile


10

Temperature Profile across Lower Zone

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

160

180

200

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

Time (years)

Te

mp

era

ture

(C)

Below Lower Marl Mid Lower Zone Base Lower Zone Base Lower Zone with PreHeat

PHARM Heating Profile after Pre-Heat


11

SAGD Model - Passive Heating Recovery

0.0

0.5

1.0

1.5

2.0

2.5

3.0

3.5

4.0

4.5

5.0

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

Time (years)

CS

OR

(m3/m

3)

Region 3 Region 5 Regions 1 & 5

PHARM CSOR Enhancement

43% Region 5 Recovery




12Solvent Based Gravity Drainage with PHARM

The application of solvents for bitumen recovery has received widespreadindustry interest as an additive to reduce steam requirements – currentlyunder commercial development with ESSO (LASER) and Encana (SAP).With PHARM, the straddle formation is pre-heated, eliminating the needfor direct steaming.

“What would be the advantage of solvent injection athigher initial reservoir temperatures?”

Solvent Injector


13

m = 43,550 (kφ/µ)0.51

Grosmont Oilwith PHARM

@ 150 C

Solvent Drainage Rate(After Nenniger, “How Fast is Solvent Based Gravity Drainage”, CIPC 2008-139)

m

Solvent Bitumen


14

Grosmont Solvent Viscosity/Productivity

1

10

100

1,000

10,000

100,000

1,000,000

10,000,000

0 50 100 150 200 250 300

Temperature (C)

De

ad

Oil

Vis

co

sit

y(c

P)

or

Pro

du

cti

vit

y(m

3/d

)

Oil Viscosity Example Productivity

m = 43,550 (kφ/µ)0.51

Example with Solvent in Heated Reservoir

Expanding 25m Steam Chamber

Average Productivity of 100 m3/d


15

Grosmont PHARM Permeability Thresholds

0.0001

0.0010

0.0100

0.1000

1.0000

10.0000

100.0000

1,000.0000

10,000.0000

100,000.0000

1,000,000.0000

0 50 100 150 200 250 300

Temperature (C)

Dra

inag

eR

ate

Perm

eab

ilit

y(m

d)

5

25

50

75

100

150

200

250

300

Production

Rate

(m3/d)

Reservoir Quality with PHARM and Solvent


16PHARM Bitumen over Water

Solvent over bottom water:

1. Preheating from top down

2. Buoyancy of diluted bitumen

3. Pressure maintenance indepletion chamber.

ISC over bottom water:

1. Utilize waste, thin bitumen

2. Maximize combustion/heating

3. Ready air injection at contact


17

Regional Grosmont &Wabiskaw-McMurray

Pay Thickness


18Upper Grosmont Stratification


19Dominant Grosmont D and C Facies


20CT Imaging of Grosmont Core


21Breccia Triple Porosity System

Breccia Porosity

1. Matrix

2. Grainstone

3. Vug/Fracture


22Accelerated Solvent Dispersion


23Key PHARMing Advantages

1. PHARM provides multiple opportunities for improved bitumenrecovery in layered reservoirs.

2. Within a pre-heated reservoir, the application of solvent issignificantly enhanced, permitting the drainage of otherwiseinaccessible lower grade reservoir.

3. PHARM can provide an effective means of producing bitumen overunderlying bottom water.

4. Extensive karsting within the Upper Grosmont can provide achannel network for enhanced dispersion of reservoir fluids uniqueto a carbonate environment, providing a greater effectiveness forPHARM processes.


24

This Laricina Energy Ltd. (the “Company”) Presentation is confidential and should not be distributed to any person other thanattendees to whom this Presentation was initially presented to by the Company. Some of the statements contained in thisPresentation may be forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements may include, but are not limited to, statementsconcerning estimates of exploitable original-bitumen-in-place, predicted recovery factors, steam-to-oil ratios and wellproduction rates, estimated recoverable resources, expected regulatory filing, review and approval dates, construction andstart-up timelines and schedules, company project potential production volumes as well as comparisons to other projects,statements relating to the continued overall advancement of the Company’s projects, comparisons of recoverable resources toother oil sands projects, estimated relative supply costs, potential cost reductions, recovery and production increases resultingfrom the application of new technology and recovery schemes, estimates of carbon sequestration capacity, costs for carboncapture and sequestration and possible implementation schedule for carbon capture and sequestration processes or relatedemissions mitigation or reduction scheme and other statements which are not historical facts. You are cautioned not to placeundue reliance on any forward-looking statements as there can be no assurance that the plans, intentions or expectationsupon which they are based will occur. By their nature forward-looking statements involve numerous assumptions, known andunknown risks and uncertainties, both generally and specific, that contribute to the possibility that the predictions, forecasts,projections and other forward-looking statements will not occur. Although the Company believes that the expectationsrepresented by such forward-looking statements are reasonable, there can be no assurance that such expectations will proveto be correct and, accordingly that actual results will be consistent with the forward-looking statements. Some of the risks andother factors that could cause results to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements contained inthis Presentation include, but are not limited to geological conditions relating to the Company’s properties, the impact ofregulatory changes especially as such relate to royalties, taxation and environmental changes, the impact of technology onoperations and processes and the performance of new technology expected to be applied or utilized by the Company; labourshortages; supply and demand metrics for oil and natural gas; the impact of pipeline capacity, upgrading capacity and refinerydemand; general economic business and market conditions and such other risks and uncertainties described from time to timein the reports and filings made with security regulatory authorities, contained in other disclosure documents or otherwiseprovided by the Company. Furthermore the forward-looking statements contained in this Presentation are made as of the datehereof. Unless required by law the Company does not undertake any obligation to update publicly or to revise any of theincluded forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. The forward-lookingstatements contained in this Presentation are expressly qualified by this advisory and disclaimer.

Forward-Looking Statements Advisory

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