The Fry In Situ Combustion TestPerformance
MARATHON OIL CO
G. A. CLARK
R, G, JONES
W, 1. KINNEY
R, E, SCHIISON
MEMBERS AIME
H. SURKALO
JUNIOR MEMBER AIME
R. S. WILSON
ABSTRACT
7hix priper discusses the resuhs oj the Fry ctmvcntkuud
or cacurrent in situ cum buwion test, which was. conduct-
ed in a 3.3.acre inverted five-spot. The depth oj the fornl-
ation was between 880 and 936 ft; the vii hati a specific
~raviry of 28.60 API and a viscosity o} abwit 40 cp at
the reservoir temperature of 65F.
Preceding the combustion test, air injection tests were
conducted which, in .conjunctiott with ,qeological studies,
were used 10 evaluate tbe characteristics o~ the reservoir.
Combustion was initiated on Oct. 13, 1961, with ignition
being accrtmplisbed by a 40 kw electrical heater.
The test phase oj the project ended on Ott, 1, 1963.
During the test, the average air injection rate wus !,520,-
000 scf/D. Tbrougbout the test, production of all flaids
gas, oil, and watc++vas tnonitored. Cuntalative oil pro-
duction credited to the project was 100,586 bbl, The cuinu-
Iative qir-oil ratio was 11,500 scf/bbl oil, and the oxygen
utilization eficicncy was 87 per cent.
. . INTRODUCTION
The Marathon Oil Co. conducted a successful in situ
combustion test, beginning Aug. 22, 1961, at the Fry unit,
Crawford Count y,- 111.The purpose of the project was to
test the feasibility of cocurrent in situ combustion as a
means of oil recovery in the Fry type reservoir.
Interest in in situ combustion as an oil recovery tool has
been stimulated mostly by the existence of large reserves
of heavy viscous crudes with low expected recovery, usual-
ly iess than 10 per cent. These are the so-called unrecov-
erable reserves, and most combustion tests to date have
been conducted in this type of reservoir.l- 1In contrast, the
Fry combustion test was conducted in a reservoir with a
relatively high gravity oil having a relatively low viscosity.
This paper discusses the performance of the test, The
geology of the reservoir and the field operations are dis-
cussed in separate papers.
TEST SITE
The F~ combustion test was carried out in a 3.3:acre
inverted five-spot portion of a Ienticular . body of Robinson
Orishmi manuscript received in Society cf Petroleum Enfrineem ofb
July 20, 1964. Revisal manuscript received Feb. ~, 1966, Paper tmeaental
ttt sPE SW Annuat Fsll ?kethw held in H-m% ~ct. 11-% 1964.
preferences given at end of paper.
FINDLAY, OHIO
TULSA, OKLA.
TERRE HAUTE, U4D.
LITTLE70N, COLO.
7EftRE HAUTE, /ND.
TERREHAUTE, INO.
sandstone,. Net sand was 50 ft thick, porosity averaged
19.7 per cent, oii saturation was 68 per cent of pore vol-
ume, and water saturation was 20 per cent of pore volume.
The oil in piace was estimated at 1,040 bbl/ucre-foot, or
171,600 bbl within the 3,3-acre pattern, The water in piaee
was 326 bbl/acre-foot, or 53,800 bbl. The oil has a speci-
fic gravity of 28.7 API and a viscosity of 40 cp at the
reservoir temperatu~ of 65F.
AIR INJECTION PERFORMANCE
Air injection took place in two phases, the phasis sep-
arated by ignition of the reservoir. In the pre-ignition
phase, air injection tests were conducted in the summers
of 1960 and 1961. These indicated that the Fry reservoir
was confined, and a high return rate of injected air couid
be expected. This proved to be an outstanding charac-
teristic of the project, as cumulative gas production was
95,3 per cent of the air injected. The differeitce between
the cumulative air injected and the total gas produced c?n
be largely accounted for by the quantity of air stored in
the reservoir, An estimated 16 X 10 scf of air remained
in the burned-out portion of the reservoir and an indetermi-
nate amount of gas was stored in the unburned hut pres-
surized reservoir, Hence, a complete material balance of
gases would account for nearly 100 per cent of the air
injected. At times during the test, the daily gas produc- .
tion rate was 98 per cent of the daily air injection rate.
Fig. 1 presents the air injection history of the Fry corn-
196t I*62 J 1962
Fit. 1AI?INJECTION ?kiwoammxs,
. .. ... . . . . . . .
 TASLE ICUMULATIVE 011, WATER, AND GAS PRODUCTION
bustion pru, showing the daily air injection rate, in-
jection pressure, injectivity (pseudo-itsjectivit y), and cumu- Gas 011 Water
Production Production Produ#lon
lative air injected, Wel I Loc.atlon (M __[bb~l - . [bbl]
A feature of the air injection performance was the de- L. B. Wampler
1. B, Wampler
No. 14*
No, 15
161,063,000
64,303,000
11,3s5
4,269
I ,755
4,316
crease in injectivity immediately upon ignition, In two Emma Fry .a[c 1 No, 15 240,902,00+1 20,115 2,500
Emma Fry a[c I No. 16 1 l3,s16,000- .. . 6,B40 ..-: 5 B20 .
weeks, injectivity dropped to about one-half the pre-igni- lat.alobev$ 4 W*lk** 580,084,0W
. . .
42,609 14,391
tion injectivity and remained at the lower level during the
Emma Fry ale 1 No. 7 I3s,0s0,000 13,SLII 17,73s
entire test. it should be emphasized, though, that the in- S. Welrlch No. 2 ,2:~;:J30; 3g#;; f,;;;
jectivity shown in Fig. 1 is the air injection rate divided 1. 8. Wampler No. 16***
1, S. Wampler No. 17f S:328:OO0 _._9a7 ..
42
_. _.. . ..
by wellhead pressure squared, and does not reflect changes Total above s wellsf$ . 977,77 s,000 94,349 3S,639
in the reservoir pressure. Because the reservoir was con- Culllsen & Wosoner No. 2 No gas prod, 4,293 13,141
fined, reservoir pressurization took place, increasing from Emma Fry a/c 1 No. 1 Ne gas prod. 2,146 62,2S4
Emma. Fry a/c 1 No. 4 1S,432,000 ;,;:? 17,237
the pre-combustion pressure of 20 psia to over 200 psia. Emma Fry QIC 1 No, 11 2,165,000 19,710
Considering this, the true injectivity increased. Emma Fry dc 1 No. 13
Luclnda 3mlth s/c 2 No. 3T?f
17, I 01,000
246,000
2:852 4,755

Luclndo Smith a/c 2 No. 6 16, S40,000 9,60s ?1,425

As Fig, 1 shows, the air injection rate and injection Luclnda Smith a/t 2 0. SHf 1,570,000
pressure remained nearly constant throughout the test. The Luclnda SmRh afc 2 c 0. 12 39,730,000 2,4i8 10,116
L. B. Wnmpler No. 4t~t t ,77$,000
average air injection rate was about 1.52 X 10 scf/D, and S. Welrlch No. l?~f 1,177,000
S. Welrlch No. 3 25,214,000 2,s66 68,112
the inject ion pressure, varied between 310 and 315 psig
Total obove 12 W~!k: 125,250,000 2S.74! 226,780
after Jan., 1962. Between Aug. 22, 1961 and Oct. 1, 1963.
--
. .- . .
total air injected was 1,156 MMscf, of which 1,116 Total 011 walls 1,103,028,000 123,090 G9

MMscf was injected after ignition on Oct. 13, 1961, Shut In on April 30, 19631 cenwwted to absetvatlen well.
*. WeII$ ef the 3,3.acro Iesl wttern, Irwerted fiVO. $P@.
The Fry combustion test demonstrated that the permea- **went on production Now. 7, 1962.
bility of air in the burned-out region of a reservoir is con- 7WmIt on praductlon June !9, 1963.
siderwbly higher than that ahead of the combustion front. ttWe4 IS producing lnto Fry c.ambustl.ampralect tank bat .
The pressure drop between the air injection well and the fttoll nd water prad.ctlcm not afiecled by cembwt!.n I.
$Wellz pradkclng into Fry unit tank battetr.
observation well, L. B. Wampler No. O-1, decreased as the
combustion front approached the latter and eventually
reached a stabilized value of 10 to 20 psi, With most of wells connected to the Fry project tank buttery w,as 94,349
the reservoir pressure change occurring near the air in- bbl, or 93,8 per cent of all production credited to the test.
jection well, the pressure at the combustion front was These wells also produced 88.6 per cent of total gas pro-
probably 10 to 20 psi less than the air injection pressure. duction. Fig. 3 shows the oil production history of the
Fry project tank battery and of the four pattern wells. The
GVER-ALL PERFORMANCE decline in production of the pattern weIls exhibits the de-
creasing capture efficiency of these wells as the combustion
In any oil recovery process, performance can be evalu- front moved out,
ated in two waysfirst, by the energy expended to recovet
a barrel of oil, and second, by the oil recovery efficiency. GAS PRODUCTION
Performance evaluation of the Fry combustion test in-
cludes not only the performance of the 3.3iacre test pat- As mentioned inthe discussion on air injection; gas pro-
tern, but the effect of the combustion test on the perform- duction was high in comparison to the air injected. From
ance of the 160-acre area within the peripheral water flood
of the Fry unit.
Table 1 presents the cumulative oil, water and ga.. pro-
duction to Oct. 1, 1963 of all wells stimulated by the com-
bustion test, Eighteen wells produced gas, and 16 wells
exhibited increased oil and water production.
Oil and water production from we[ls stimuhtted by the
combustion test were collected by the Fry combustion proj-
ect tank battery and the Fry unit tank battery. The, Fry
project tank battery collected production from eight wells
in the vicinity of the test pattern, as noted in Table 1. The
wells stimulated by combustion produced a total of 123,-
090 bbl of oil. Using the production history prior to initia- ~IG. 2~lR-oII. RATIO.

tion of the Fry combustion project, it is estimated that

100,586 bbl of this oil w% a direct result of the Fry com-
bustion test.
The air-oiI ratio is a measure of the energy demands of
in. situ combustion. Using the credited production of 100,-
586 bbl of oil and the air injection data, the air-oil ratio
is shown in Fig. 2. Presented are two curves, one showing
the current, or monthly averaged, air-oil ratio, and the
other. showing the cumulative air-oil. ratio,. At the end of
the test, the cumulative air-oil ratio was 11,S00 scf/bbI of
oil credited to combustion. ,
The cumulative oil production from the 3.3-acre pattern
welhr was 42,609 bbl, m 42.4 per cent of the oil credited Fm. 3-011. PRODLXT16N HISTORYPROJECT fASK EATTERY AND
to the test, The cumulative oil production for the eight PATTERN Wmrfi.

.. .. -,.- ,..
 ,.,

TABLE 2-AREAL GAS LNSIRIBUIION

the beginning of the test 10 Oct. 1, 1963, cunlufative g~
production was 1,103 MMscf, or 9S.3 per cent of the
cumulative air injected, The four pattern wells accounted
for 52,6 per cent of gas production.
Of interest during the test was the redistribution of gas
flow within the reservoir, as shown by Table 2. A major
factor in the changing gas movement was undoubtedly the
fluid movement and resaturation effect ahead of the com-
bustion front, the so-called fluid blockage effect. Fig. 4
illustrates the shift in g~ movement directionally with
time. To be noted is a decline in the percentage ,of gas
moving west, while. movement increased in the other di-
rections.
Finally, the geographical distribution of gas produc-
tion is of significance. Gas moved preferentially in an east
northeast-west southwest direction, and essentially parallel-
ed the trend of the sand body, as shown in Fig. 5. In
spite of the directional trend of gas movement, the major
effect of the combustion drive was within the vicinity of
the 3.3 acres, cotined largely to the area bounded by the
eight wells connected to the Fry project tank battery.
PERFORMANCE OF THE PATTERN WELLS
The performances of the four pattern wells are presented
in Figs. 6 through 9.
The gasproduction performance of L. B, Wampler No.
14 indicates that the combustion front moved most vigor-
ously in this direction in the beginning, but by Jan., 1962,
the gas production rate began decreasing, dropping from a
high of 540,000 scf/D to a low of 101,000 scf/D hsDec.,
1962. Thk probably illustrates a fluid block effect in this
directicn, which in turn diverted air elsewhere.
Even though gas production declined drastically at L. B.
Wamphw NO. 14, oil production declined only slightly,
with the result that the gas-oil ratio dropped from a high
of 27,600 to a low of 6,800 scf/bbl. Only when the tem-
..
perature increased as the combustion front approached
did the gas production rate, fluid production rates, and gm-
oil ratio increase, Within one month after the initial tem-
perature increase, the well was abandoned when fhe gas-
oil ratio exceeded 30,000 scf/bbl, and emulsions and cor-
rosion became severe.
Parallel performances are to be noted in the histories of
the north and east pattern wells. Initial high gas produc-
tion was followed with a decline in both gas production
rates and gas-oil ratios. In the case of the north pattern
well, Emma Fry a/c 1 No, 15, the oil production rate
appeared to be more sensitive to the gas production rate,
nearly paralleling any chang 1s. The gas-oil rafio, though
declining at times, showed less magnitude of change than
was the case for the west pattern well, In the case of the
east pattern well, Emma Fry a/c 1 No. 16, oil production
showed very littfe change during the entire course of the
test until temperature increase was noted.
A striking feature of the Fry combustion project was
the performance of two off-pattern wells, the S. Weirich
No. 2 weH to the north and the Emma FrY a/c 1 No, 7
well to the east of the 3.3-acre pattern. In the 25-month
period of the test ending Oct. 1, 1963, the S. Weirich No.
2 well produced 30,5S7 bbl of oil and 4,727 bbl of water;
the Emma Fry a/c 1 No, 7 well produced 13,881 bbl
of oil and 17,738 bbl of water. The performance of these
two wells reflects movement of the combustion zone to
tlie northeast parallel to the reservoir trend.
Emulsions did not become a problem in any WCIIuntil

.LEG~ND- -
OIL WELL
OIL AND GAS WELL
CORE HOLE
AIR INJECTION WELL
OBSERVATION WELL

CORE HOLE, OBSERVATION WELL

*2 *3 *
CULLISON - WAGONER I S WEIRICti
I
.
*
0.3,?,~~~, 0., *7 * *
I 4$,* I 14< A lA,.l\-#6
I 0.2
* .1
*4 ~ \y
*6
. . E WAJfPLER
*8
- *; I *4
A --October (before ignition)
I, 1961
B March 1,1962
c September 1,1962
D Maroh 1,1963
E Cjctaber 1,1983
RG, 4-CHANGE IN GAS PRODUCTIONDISTRIBUTIONWITIi TIME. Ftc. 3-LOCATION OF WELLS STIMULATED BY CohrrNrsTlom.

,. SW JOURNAL OF PET320LEUM TS3CNNOLOCY

. . .. .. . .. .. . .

. ... . ... .. .
.
the tempertiture exceeded 150F, When this happened at
the north and east pattern wells, the wells were not aban-
doned as was the case for the west pattern well, The pump-
ing equipment was raised 240 ft, and production main.
tained for six more months. As a result of raising the
pumping equipment, apparent combustion efficiency in-
creased, gas production decreased, temperature declined,
and oii and water production decreased. The effect of lift-
ing the pumping equipment can be seen in Figs. 8 and 9.
EFFECT OF COMBUSTION ON PRODUCED
RESERVOIR FLUIDS
Water and oii sarnpies were obtained from the obseti
vation weli, L. B, Wampler No, O-1, and the four pattern
weiis to determine the effect of the advancing combustion
fropt on the produced fluids.
Several weeks before temperature increase was noted at
a weii, changes in the water properties occurred. The pH
and the chioride ion concentration decreased, the pH
dropping from 6.6 to a low of 4.2. The chloride ion con-
tent decreased from 18,000 to 7,000 ppm. Simultaneously,
an increase in sulfate ion content and iron content were
noted, and the water coior changed from a iight yeliow
to a rusty brown.
The appearance and odor of the oii changed as the
combustion front approached a weii. Whereas the original
crude oii was biack in appearance and possessed a sweet
crude odor, the combustion-affected oil at first had the
odor of varnish or paint thhsner, Later, as front break-
through became imminent, the odor changed to that char-
acteristic of over-used crankcase oil subjected to high
temperature, Although the smell suggested the presence
of oxygenated hydrocarbons, fractional distillation and
infrared spectrographic ana!ysis of combustion-affected oii
indicated no detectable quantity of oxygenated hydrocar-
bons. There was, though, enrichment by unsaturated and
aromatic compounds.
Combustion-affected crude oil had oniy a siightly lower
specific gravity than the originai crude oii, but the viscosity
was reduced from 17 to 6 cp at 100F.
ASTM distillation of the produced crude and gas-liquid
chromatographic analysis indicated that oil affected by
combustion was stripped of light ends and enriched with
intermediate boiling compounds,
GAS ANALYSIS AND EFFICIENCY
OF COMBUSTION
The composition of produced gases was determined
FIC, 6-PERFoa)rANcE OF L. B. WAXIPLSR No,
.-
Frc. 7PERFORMANCE
OF L. B. WAIKI-ILER
No. 15.
MARCH. lgJ65
.. .
-. -
reguiariy, and the gas amiiyses for the pattern welis are
presented in Figs, 6 through 9. The cumulative oxygen
utilization efficiency for the project was 87 per cent and
varied from a low of 85 per cent to the east to a high
of 93 per cent to the south. .-.
Utilizing only data from the four pattern welis, the
hydrogen-carbon ratio of the consumed fuei was estimated
to be between 0,6 and 1,
The hydrocarbon content of the prod ucetl gases stabi-
lized during the test at between 1 and 2 per cent of com-
ponents ethane and higher. Methane was present oni y in
trace amounts,
EFFECT OF COMBUSTION ON RESERVOIR ROCK
Four cores ftom tbe bUrned-Out reservoir were siabbed,
photographed and studied in detaii to determine the ef-
fects of combustion on the reservoir rock.
Generaliy, the presence and location of the coked and
burned zones couid be determined by cursory examina-
tion of the siabbed core. The burned zone was characteriz-
ed by absence of oii staining and the presence of colors
that ranged from white through shades of yeilow or yel-
iow-brown to red-brown, in a generaiiy accentuated ap-
pearance of any stratification piane, Any layers, ianlina-
ticms, or pebbies of siderite (FeCO,) or sideritic shale
present before combustion were transformed to hematite
(aFe,O,), a deep reddish-brown mincrai, Hematite was
the probabie source of iron in the produced waler.
Although the coked zone wt+susuaiiy iess apparent than
the burned zone, the iower coked zone was more obvious
than the upper one, The dark grey-brown to black coior
that was characteristic of the coked zone was- generaii y
concentrated in a zone of oniy 0.1 to 0.2 ft, as shown in
Fig. 11. The upper coked zone was diffused over a 2-ft
interval in two of the weiis,
Microscopic examination of thin sections revealed dis-
tinctive characteristics of the coked and burned zones.
Comparing the coked rock and the burned reservoir rock,
it was determined that the coke was either deposited as
thin films around the grains or formed bridges between
grains, partiaily filiing pores. Although the coked rock ap-,
peared megascopicaliy to have Iittie or no porosity and -.
permeability, pore space was apparent microscopicuiiy, The --
burned portion of the feservoir did not appear in thin sec-
tions to be markediy different from the unburned portions,
with the exception that the burned rock had the appear-
ance of a more open or connected pore system.
To determine the combustion effect on permeability turd
porositjj, studies were made on the B zone of the reservoir.
1961 , 1963
1?62
14. Ftc. 8--PF.IIFORVASCF OF EMMA FRY~ic 1 No. 15.
Ftc. 9PERFORJIANCE OF l%JMA FRYA/c 1 No. 16. ,
3s1
. .
 TABLE 3-SUMMARf OF THICKNESS AND LITHOLOGY OF BURNED ZONE IN
Fifty determinations of porosity and permeability from a WELLS CORED THROUOM THE COMBUSTION FRONT

24-ft interval of the burned B zone were averaged nnd DMQc&lDy 1o11 Roswvolr hflti Utholot)k
Thkkoss ln~n~l Zono;tiwnsd
compared with averages of six of the unburned wells. The wall (ft)
unburned B zone from six wells had an average porosity of 1. B. WamM No, A 50 west 56.5 - 56.5 7.5of A
19.9 per cent with a range of 19.4 to 20.5 per cent. The 27,0of B
22.0of c
average porosity in the burned B zone was 22.3 per cent, If 1. S. Wemc.ler No. B 145 wed 53.0 25.0 23.6ofB
the small range in porosity across the Fry pattern is con- 1.5afc
Net 0.1 !75 Nwthmt 54,0 lt.o ll.o ofa
sidered, it is reasonable to conclude that combustion in- Emma FW dc I
53.0 2.0 2.0 nf B
1, B, Wamrdor No. 0-3 175 Northwe$?
creased reservoir porosity by 10 per cent.
Changes In permeabilhy caused by combustion are not
as apparent as porosity changes, However, using the same Combustion proceeded preferentially in the B sand of
averaging technique, it appears that the average perme- the reservoir. Table 3 lists the thickness of the burned
ability might have been increased from about 328 to 379 zone in each of the four wells cored into the burned-out
md, or hy 1S per cent. reservoir and the location of the burned interval, The
appearance of the core, oil saturation measurements, and
PROFILE OF BURNED RESERVOIR calculations from neutron logs were all considered in de-
fining the burned interval. Fluid saturation measurements
The layered nature of the Robinson reservoir at the indicated that oil was depleted from the unburned but
Fry site contributed to the control of the prolile of the heat-affected reservoir ahead of the combustion ,front.
combustion zone, The geologic studies suggested thrrt the Fig, 10 is a representation of the combustion protlle in
B zone was consistently more homogeneous, both hori- three directions, based on the above da: It should be
zontally and vertically, and it appeared to be the best zone noted, though, that the entire reservoir was burned out
in the reservoir. This contention was supported first by at L: B, Wtimpler No, A, The front moved preferentially
air injection tests and later by ignition performance, and through the B zone, particularly along the bottom of this
finally by the profile of the burned-out zone. The profile zone. The A and C zones burned, hut at is slower rate,
of reservoir burn-out was determined from data from
observation wells and four cores drilled into the burned- ,.
.. - .. ,
out reservoir.
The locations of the four cores drilled into the burncd-
uut reservoir are shown on Fig. 5. L, B, Wampler .4 tind
L. B. Wampler B were intended to help sfefine the com-
bustion profile to the west in conjunction with temperature
and neutron log data from the two observation wells.
L. B. Wampler Nos, O-1 and O-2. L. B. Wrunpler No.
0-3 and Emma Fry a/c l,,No. O-I were located such that
[heir direction from the air injection well is perpendicular
[o and parallel with the trend of the reservoir, respectively.
[t was expected thnt if rock fabric or anisotropy were tu
exert control on the front configuration it would he shown :
from the cores of these two WSIIS.

COKED

UNBU-RNE D
.... ... .. ...
SCALE IN FEET w
t
L,w

Frc. 1O--BLOCK DIAGRAM OF TSST SITE SBowuw PROFILESOF Frc. 11PHOTOGRAPH

OF SLABBEDCORESHOWINCBURNED,
BURXEDRESERVOIR. ~oKED, AND uwI~RN~:p ~n~~~.

JO IJRNAL OF PETROLEUMTECEENSILOGY

...
The textural features in the primary sedimentary struc-
tures that together contribute to the anisotropic nature
of this reservoir have apparently been effective in promot-
ing the movement of the front along the trend of the raser-
voir rock and in retarding movement across the trend.
The movement of the combustion front was not uni-
form in all directions, air flux and frontal velocity vary-
,,Ing. AS of Oct. 1, 1963, the estimated average air flux
was 0,80 to 2,9 scf/hour/$q ft, the low flux being toward
the south and the high flux being toward the ,northeast,
Corresponding frontal velocities were estimated to be 0.08
and 0.30 ft/day, respectively. These estimates for air flux
and frontal velocity are based on an assumed average
cylindrical front configuration; and, since the actual frontal
cross-section is roughly parabolic, true front velocities
and air fluxes are impossible to know at any one point.
CONCLUSIONS
1, In situ combustion was proved technically feasible
in the Fry type reservoir.
2, The air injectivity decreased immediately following
ignition. The injection rate and pressure were nearly con-
stant throughout the test.
3. Due to the confined nature of the reservoir, a high
rate of gas return was realized, being 95.3 per cent of the
cumulative air injected.
4, The overall oxygen utilization efficiency was 87 per
cent.
5. The cumulative air-oil ratio, based on the oil credit-
ed to the Fry combustion project, was 11,500 scf/bbL.
6. The burned reservoir was roughly parabolic in profile.
Combustion moved preferentially in the B sand, and was
influenced by the geologic characteristics of the reservoir,
Oil saturation was reduced considerably in the heated res-
ewoir ahead of the front.
MARCH, 196s
1
.
7, The crude oil produced differed little from that
normally produced. Changes in characteristics occurred
only with the temperature increase at a well. Specific
gravity decreased only slightly, but viscosity decreased
markedly. The appearance and the odor of the oil chang.
es were typical of oil exposed to high temperature.
8, Severe emulsion and corrosion problems did not oc-
cur until the temperature in the wellbore was 150F or
more,
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The authors wish to express appreciation to the manage-
ment of the Marathon Oil Co, for permission to publish
this paper. Thanks are due to the people in the Produc-
tion and Research Depts. for their contributions to the
success of this test,
REFERENCES
1. Gates, C, F. and Ramey, H. J,, Jr.: Field Rwaltx of SOuth
Belridgc Thermal Recovery Experlmrnt, ?rum., AIME ( 195tt )
213, 236.
2. Moq, J, T., White, P, D. and McNiel, J. S., Jr.: In Situ (bin.
bu~tlon ProcxssRemdts of a Fivti.Well Fiekl Experiment in
Southern Oklahoma, hns., AIhlE ( 1959) 216, 55.
3. Parrish, D. R., Rnusrh, R. W., 13ewer, K. W. and Wood, H. W.:
Underground Combustion m the Shunnon ImJl, Wyom [rig,
jour. Pet, Tech. (1962) 197.
4. Emery, L. W.: Resohs from u !Uult i.Well TImtnu I.liwowry
Test, Southcnskxn Kansas, jour. Pet, Twh. ( 1962) 671.
5. Hewitt, C. H. twd Nforgtm, J. T,: The Fry In Situ (hnhustion
TestReservoir Chmwcteristics, Juur. Pet. Tee/I. [ March.
1965) 337.
6, Clark, G. A., Jones, R. G., Kinney. W. L., %hilson, R. E., Sw
kale, H. wd Wikon, R, S.: The Fry in Situ Comhwtiml Tr~t
Field Operations, Jour. Pet. Tech. ( \lurrh; ..196,5) 343.
***
..-