Given the prediction that most of alberta oil production in the 21st century will come from existing heavy oil fields, there is a growing demand for the synergistic integration of geology, geophysics, and reservoir engineering in order to optimize production from these fields. Measuring and monitoring heavy oil reservoir properties. This event is a hub for everything happening in the middle east region, certainly in respect to heavy oil production. Monitoring and predicting steam chamber development in a. Pdf petroleum in general is found in subsurface reservoir formation. However, due to the high viscosity, most production methods of heavy oil reservoirs in. This spe workshop will evaluate current projects and technologies which can be deployed to improve production, recovery, costeffectiveness and profitability. Petroleum reservoir characterization using downhole. Scale deposition occurs when the solution equilibrium of the water is disturbed by pressure and temperature changes, dissolved gases or incompatibility between mixing waters. The oil viscosity is a huge problem in regard to heavy oil as both recovery. Timelapse 4d seismic technology is a wellknown and effective technique for reservoir monitoring.
Tonnneural network seismic reservoir characterization in a heavy oil reservoir. Reservoir characterization of plover lake heavyoil field. We deliver characterization models incorporating all the characteristics of the reservoir that are pertinent to its ability to store and produce hydrocarbons, including petrophysics, geology, geomechanics, and. Challenges of reservoir fluid characterization include overcoming the presence of fresh water in heavy oil and taking into account oil viscosity and permeability, accurate production and operational cost estimates, bringing in production on time, and accurately identifying infrastructure investments. Reservoir characterization and production monitoring, edited by chopra, lines, schmitt, and batzle, presents an integrated and general description of the development and production of heavy oil fields throughout the world, with particular emphasis on geophysical characterization of heavy oil fields. As heavy oil properties are different from conventional oil, its exploration and production requires special seismic strategies and rock physics models. Reservoir characterization and heavy oil production larry lines, joan embleton, and ying zou, university of calgary, calgary abstract given the forecasts that more than 95% of alberta oil production in the 21st century will come from existing oil fields, there is a growing demand for synergistic integration of geology, geophysics and reservoir engineering to optimize production from these fields. Reservoir characterization provides critical information on the threedimensional distribution and realization of the reservoir heterogeneity and petrophysical. Reservoir monitoring and characterization submitted by zandong. Armacupb geothermal international conference and the 53rd u. Petroleum reservoir characterization using downhole microseismic monitoring s. Reservoir characterization and monitoring of cold and. In 2005, canadian production of heavy oil and bitumen was approximately 1 million barrels per day bopd, and it is forecasted to be 4 million bopd by 2020 national petroleum council, 2007. An overview of heavy oil properties and its recovery and.
Production monitoring, geophysical developments series, 2010. Heavy oil is an important global resource with reserves comparable to those of conventional oil. Seismic monitoring of heavy oil cold production is. Geophysicist with imperial oil resources and is presently working on timelapse seismic reservoir monitoring and characterization. In this approach, 3d seismic acquisition is performed several times during the production period of a. Through june 2001, project work has been completed on the following activities. Pdf reservoir characterization and heavy oil production. Often the high asphaltic content of these oils results in relatively higher oil density and viscosity. Heavy oils reservoir characterization and production monitoring, published by the society of exploration geophysicists seg in 2010.
Heavy oils reservoir characterization and production monitoring geophysical developments is really a story about a professional as well as a businessman that makes us reflect on what our vision and purpose is. A mineral deposit that can occur in the tubing, the gravel pack, the perforations or the formation. Seismic rock physics of steam injection in bituminousoil reservoirs. Reservoir characterization and heavy oil production.
Our reservoir characterization team has the experience and techniques to build robust models that will be useful for both day to day field monitoring and longterm field development planning. Reservoir characterization and steam monitoring in heavy oil. Integration of reservoir characterization and performance analysis is needed to ensure technically and economically optimal field production and development. Seismic characterization of heavy oil reservoir during thermal production. In this dissertation, a quantitative crosscalibration scheme between timelapse seismic. Seismology seismic monitoring is an important tool in heavy oil reservoir characterization. Heavy oils reservoir characterization and production.
Heavy oils reservoir characterization and production monitoring geophysical developments new release. A case study hemin yuan 1, dehua han, and weimin zhang2 abstract heavy oil reservoirs areimportantalternative energy resources to conventional oil and gas reservoirs. Reservoir characterization and production monitoring authors satinder chopra. Abstract heavy oil reservoirs are typically not possible to characterize or monitor using seismic methods, since the key acoustic properties of heavy oil namely density and bulk modulus are too similar to those of water. Petrophysics understanding well log measurements and properly calibrating all available data is a critical step in characterizing a reservoir. Heavy oil production is a developing technology for extracting heavy oil in industrial quantities. About the authors sam zandong sun is currently a sr. Reservoir characterization and heavy oil production cseg.
Rock mechanicsgeomechanics symposium are both now available on onepetro. Advanced reservoir management through computeraided access to production and geologic data to integrate reservoir characterization, engineering, monitoring, and evaluation topics. Society of exploration geophysicists, geophysical developments 1, 169. Our research in heavy oil fields has involved the use of seismic monitoring. Seismic monitoring of heavy oil cold production is becoming an increasingly important reservoir characterization method, in which we need to take full advantage of elastic wave imaging. Estimated reserves of heavy oil are over 6 trillion barrels, three times that of conventional oil and gas factors that affect the difficulty of putting reserves into production include permeability, porosity, depth and pressure. Geomechanics for heavy oil training course petroskills hogm. The api classifies heavy oil as crudes with a gravity below 22. Heavy oil production in trinidad started more than 100 years ago and estimates to date are.
Seismic methods for heavy oil reservoir monitoring and characterization. As conventional resources get thinner, attention is being focused on heavy oil and bitumen, which hold the promise of becoming useful fuels. When hightemperature steam is injected into heavy oil reservoirs, the bulk. An overview of heavy oil properties and its recovery and transportation methods 573 brazilian journal of chemical engineering vol. Oil has been used for lighting purposes for many thousands of years. Reservoir characterization and simulation studies also will aid in suitable. Reservoir monitoring and characterization for heavy oil. In addition to high viscosity and high specific gravity, heavy oils typically have low hydrogentocarbon ratios, high asphaltene, sulfur, nitrogen, and heavy metal content, as well as higher acid numbers. The impact of oil viscosity heterogeneity on production from heavy oil.
Hamidreza has taught several geomechanicsrelated and reservoir engineering courses at different universities including university of saskatchewan. Bruce palmiere 2, carl reine 2, and douglas schmitt 3. Larry lines 1, joan embleton 1, mathew fay 1, steve larter 1, tony settari 1. The solution to heavy oil and paraffinclogged mature wells can often by heat, but heat is hard to economically introduce into a well. Seismic methods for heavy oil reservoir monitoring and. Steam drive production can be seismically monitored. Measuring and monitoring heavyoil reservoir properties kevin wolf tiziana vanorio and gary mavko. Reservoir characterization is an integral part of the formation damage assessment and mitigation tasks, because the magnitude and the extent of the reservoir formation damage are greatly influenced by the reservoir formation properties. As conventional resources get thinner, attention is being focus. We deliver characterization models incorporating all the characteristics of the reservoir that are pertinent to its ability to store and produce hydrocarbons, including petrophysics, geology, geomechanics, and geophysics. Heavy oils are often found in shallow and highly unconsolidated reservoirs, or sometimes in deep, tight formations. This system was deployed at the british petroleum test facility in devine, texas for testing and.
Bitumenheavy oil oil sands american association of. Geophysical characterization of heavy oil reservoirs is therefore at the heart of production of this resource. Reservoir characterization of plover lake heavy oil field by. Heavy oil reservoir characterization by timelapse seismic. Scale deposits are the most common and most troublesome damage problems in the oil field and can occur in both production. Reservoir charaterization and production monitoring. Seismic monitoring of steamfloods in heavy oil reservoirs. Heavy oil reservoir characterization by timelapse seismic and rock physics in a cold production reservoir. Alberta, canada and in venezuela exceed 600 billion bbl with a production potential. Reservoir charaterization and production monitoring edited by. Seismic methods in reservoir monitoring with applications to heavy oil production laurence r. This presentation will focus mainly on the geophysical part of this picture.
The result of reservoir characterization is the creation of the 3d sharedearth model. He is a registered professional engineer with apega and has authored or coauthored several technical papers and reports. The density and viscosity of the oil is the determining factor. Welcome to an interview with richard snow, chief scientist at pyrophase, whose new technologies are designed to economically heat the reservoir and allow the oil. To do so, surveillance and monitoring technologies are of significant added value to ensure healthy reservoir performance, identify opportunities, and proactively avoidlimit potential. Reservoir characterization an overview sciencedirect. Its our second time in this show, we were visiting last year, and we exhibited this year. More than 650 papers from the abu dhabi international.
Reservoir characterization and production monitoring, edited by chopra, lines, schmitt, and batzle, presents an integrated and general description. An overview of heavy oil properties and its recovery and transportation methods. Reservoir characterization and production monitoring. He joined imperial oil in early 1994 where he has worked on a variety of projects. Seismic characterization of heavy oil reservoir during.