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. As conventional resources get thinner, attention is being focused on heavy oil and bitumen, which hold the promise of becoming useful fuels. Heavy oil reservoir characterization by timelapse seismic and rock physics in a cold production reservoir. Through june 2001, project work has been completed on the following activities. 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. Bitumenheavy oil oil sands american association of. A case study hemin yuan 1, dehua han, and weimin zhang2 abstract heavy oil reservoirs areimportantalternative energy resources to conventional oil and gas reservoirs. Seismic methods for heavy oil reservoir monitoring and characterization. Measuring and monitoring heavyoil reservoir properties kevin wolf tiziana vanorio and gary mavko.
Tonnneural network seismic reservoir characterization in a heavy oil reservoir. Bruce palmiere 2, carl reine 2, and douglas schmitt 3. Timelapse 4d seismic technology is a wellknown and effective technique for reservoir monitoring. However, due to the high viscosity, most production methods of heavy oil reservoirs in. Reservoir characterization and simulation studies also will aid in suitable. Pdf reservoir characterization and heavy oil production. Advanced reservoir management through computeraided access to production and geologic data to integrate reservoir characterization, engineering, monitoring, and evaluation topics. Petrophysics understanding well log measurements and properly calibrating all available data is a critical step in characterizing a reservoir. 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. Seismic characterization of heavy oil reservoir during. 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. The density and viscosity of the oil is the determining factor. 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.
Production monitoring, geophysical developments series, 2010. He is a registered professional engineer with apega and has authored or coauthored several technical papers and reports. More than 650 papers from the abu dhabi international. Reservoir characterization and monitoring of cold and. Reservoir charaterization and production monitoring. Hamidreza has taught several geomechanicsrelated and reservoir engineering courses at different universities including university of saskatchewan. Geophysical characterization of heavy oil reservoirs is therefore at the heart of production of this resource. Heavy oils reservoir characterization and production monitoring geophysical developments new release. Rock mechanicsgeomechanics symposium are both now available on onepetro.
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 production monitoring authors satinder chopra. Historically, we know of the tales of eternal fires where oil and gas seeps would ignite and burn. Steam drive production can be seismically monitored. In areas where oil is found in shallow reservoirs, seeps of crude oil or gas may naturally develop, and some oil could simply be collected from seepage or tar ponds. 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. Society of exploration geophysicists, geophysical developments 1, 169. About the authors sam zandong sun is currently a sr.
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. Crude oil with high viscosity typically above 10 cp, and high specific gravity. This presentation will focus mainly on the geophysical part of this picture. Reservoir characterization an overview sciencedirect. A mineral deposit that can occur in the tubing, the gravel pack, the perforations or the formation.
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. Geomechanics for heavy oil training course petroskills hogm. Heavy oils reservoir characterization and production. A significant portion of the worlds hydrocarbon reserves is found in heavy oil reservoirs. 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. Oil has been used for lighting purposes for many thousands of years. Measuring and monitoring heavy oil reservoir properties. Seismic monitoring of heavy oil cold production is. 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 reservoir characterization and production monitoring, published by the society of exploration geophysicists seg in 2010. Integration of reservoir characterization and performance analysis is needed to ensure technically and economically optimal field production and development. Seismic methods for heavy oil reservoir monitoring and. In this dissertation, a quantitative crosscalibration scheme between timelapse seismic. Petroleum reservoir characterization using downhole. This spe workshop will evaluate current projects and technologies which can be deployed to improve production, recovery, costeffectiveness and profitability. Reservoir characterization of plover lake heavyoil field. Scale deposition occurs when the solution equilibrium of the water is disturbed by pressure and temperature changes, dissolved gases or incompatibility between mixing waters. Seismic rock physics of steam injection in bituminousoil reservoirs.
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. This event is a hub for everything happening in the middle east region, certainly in respect to heavy oil production. Reservoir charaterization and production monitoring edited by. In this approach, 3d seismic acquisition is performed several times during the production period of a. He joined imperial oil in early 1994 where he has worked on a variety of projects. Reservoir monitoring and characterization for heavy oil. Reservoir characterization and steam monitoring in heavy oil. The impact of oil viscosity heterogeneity on production from heavy oil. Reservoir monitoring and characterization submitted by zandong. Reservoir characterization and heavy oil production cseg. Petroleum reservoir characterization using downhole microseismic monitoring s.
Seismic characterization of heavy oil reservoir during thermal production. Geophysicist with imperial oil resources and is presently working on timelapse seismic reservoir monitoring and characterization. Seismic monitoring of steamfloods in heavy oil reservoirs. This system was deployed at the british petroleum test facility in devine, texas for testing and. Reservoir characterization provides critical information on the threedimensional distribution and realization of the reservoir heterogeneity and petrophysical. Monitoring and predicting steam chamber development in a. Heavy oils are often found in shallow and highly unconsolidated reservoirs, or sometimes in deep, tight formations. Armacupb geothermal international conference and the 53rd u. The oil viscosity is a huge problem in regard to heavy oil as both recovery. The api classifies heavy oil as crudes with a gravity below 22. Case histories will include production operations, reservoir characterization, ioreor studies, heavy oil cases, and strategies for well intervention i. Reservoir characterization and heavy oil production. Pdf petroleum in general is found in subsurface reservoir formation. Alberta, canada and in venezuela exceed 600 billion bbl with a production potential.
Larry lines 1, joan embleton 1, mathew fay 1, steve larter 1, tony settari 1. Reservoir characterization and production monitoring, edited by chopra, lines, schmitt, and batzle, presents an integrated and general description. As conventional resources get thinner, attention is being focus. Its our second time in this show, we were visiting last year, and we exhibited this year. Often the high asphaltic content of these oils results in relatively higher oil density and viscosity. The result of reservoir characterization is the creation of the 3d sharedearth model. 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. An overview of heavy oil properties and its recovery and transportation methods. When hightemperature steam is injected into heavy oil reservoirs, the bulk. 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. To do so, surveillance and monitoring technologies are of significant added value to ensure healthy reservoir performance, identify opportunities, and proactively avoidlimit potential.
As heavy oil properties are different from conventional oil, its exploration and production requires special seismic strategies and rock physics models. Reservoir characterization of plover lake heavy oil field by. Heavy oil production is a developing technology for extracting heavy oil in industrial quantities. Scale deposits are the most common and most troublesome damage problems in the oil field and can occur in both production. Heavy oil reservoir characterization by timelapse seismic. Seismology seismic monitoring is an important tool in heavy oil reservoir characterization. An overview of heavy oil properties and its recovery and transportation methods 573 brazilian journal of chemical engineering vol. Reservoir characterization and production monitoring. Seismic methods in reservoir monitoring with applications to heavy oil production laurence r. 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. Heavy oil production in trinidad started more than 100 years ago and estimates to date are. Heavy oil is an important global resource with reserves comparable to those of conventional oil. An overview of heavy oil properties and its recovery and. Our research in heavy oil fields has involved the use of seismic monitoring.
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