Mainstream Options for Heavy Oil:Part I-Cold Production

Abstract

Abstract Heavy oil production has enjoyed a resurgence as both major and junior operating companies diversify their portfolios and pursue new opportunities. The key factors for the renewed interest are:Improved profitabilityTechnological advances have improved productivityEnormous reserve sizeLow geological riskLow capital investment required for non-thermal projects In addition, immediate concerns about environmental issues such as sand disposal and gas migration appear to have been resolved to the extent that there is no immediate threat to the operating environment. The key risk factors remain oil and gas prices, land prices, and economic means of sand disposal. This paper focuses on "cold production" as one of the most attractive new technologies used to produce heavy oil in the Lloydminster area. Steam assisted gravity drainage (SAGD) will be the focus of a future paper. Introduction Western Canadian crude oil production is approximately 320,000 m3/d. Of this amount, 50﹪ is comprised of heavy crude and bitumen. While bitumen demand has been essentially flat since the mid- to late-1980s, heavy oil production has doubled from 56,000 m3/d to 112,000 m3/d in the last ten years(1). Why Heavy Oil?