OIL SAND & IT’S IN-

SITU RECOVERY
TECHNIQUES
Oil Sand: Introduction
 Definition: Contain naturally occurring mixtures of sand, clay, water
and bitumen (dense and extremely viscous form of petroleum) -
unconventional petroleum deposit.
 Also called tar sands, crude bitumen or extra-heavy oil.
 Global reserves: More than two trillion barrels of tar sands - largest
deposits being in Canada and Venezuela - tar sands represent about
40% of Canada's oil production.
 API gravities range from 4° to 8°, easily the heaviest hydrocarbons
found – Viscosity is so high that they do not flow at all at reservoir
conditions; viscosity of Venezuela's Orinoco bitumen lies in the range
1000–5000 cP, while Canadian bitumen in the range 5000–10,000 cP.
 World production rate of conventional crude will soon peak at an
estimated 27 billion bbl/year. Consequently, persistent demand will
encourage more permanent and economically stable development of
oil sand production.
Problem Definition
 Extraction from oil sand reserves is very complex and
expensive. This is especially true in case of in-situ
recoveries, since mining operation is relatively simpler but
can be carried out only in shallow reservoirs, usually at
depths lesser than 50 -75 m. For deeper deposits, the only
convenient option available is in-situ recovery.
 Since the energy required and cost involved in the various

in-situ recovery techniques are of enormous proportions, it

becomes highly imperative that the most suitable as well as
economical production technique is selected for
implementation in the given field.
Production & Processing
 Oil sand extraction done by: (i) mining (ii) in-situ recovery.
 Methods for in-situ production include:
 Cyclic steam stimulation (CSS)
 Steam Assisted Gravity Drainage (SAGD)
 In-situ combustion
 Toe to Heel Air Injection (THAI)
 Tar/oil sands processed to generate oil similar to conventional crude
oil - more complex and expensive.
 Processing includes: (i) separation of bitumen from the other
constituents like clay, sand and water (ii) bitumen upgrading before
refining - being highly viscous, bitumen also requires dilution with
lighter hydrocarbons to make it transportable via pipelines.
In-situ Combustion
In – Situ Combustion
 Involves generation of heat by combustion within
the reservoir.
 Requires 2 vertical wells – 1 injector & 1 producer.
 Air or oxygen is injected into the injected wells to
sustain the combustion front.
 As the combustion front advances through the
reservoir, the oil ahead of the front becomes heated
and reduces the viscosity of native reservoir by
transferring the heat and mixing of flue gas.
Mechanism
The mechanism of in-situ Combustion in
decreasing order is as follows:

 Flue gas sweeping

 Field re-pressurization

 Oil swelling

 Viscosity reduction

 Stripping of light oil components of oil

 Thermal effect
Mechanism
When air is injected into an oil reservoir, two simultaneous
phenomena occur: displacement of oil and oxidation of oil.
According to the efficiency of displacement and the intensity of

oxidation, four main types of processes can occur.

1. Immiscible Airflooding (IAF) with High Temperature Oxidation
(HTO)
2. IAF with Low Temperature Oxidation (LTO)
3. Miscible Airflooding (MAF) with HTO
4. MAF with LTO
For heavier crude oils or tar sands, heat and steam generation and

subsequent viscosity reduction is the primary oil displacement

mechanism.
For this reason, in-situ combustion in a heavy oil reservoir should

operate in the high temperature oxidation reaction regime.

Reservoir Parameters suitable for in-situ
combustion
 Oil Content : High oil saturation & low water saturation
required.
 Pay thickness : between 5 ft. - 50 ft. Generally thickness
greater than 10 ft is desired to prevent excessive heat loss.
 Depth : > 200 ft.
 Oil gravity & viscosity : between 100 - 400 API
 Reservoir Permeability greater than 100md allows more
flow of viscous oil.
 Size of Reservoir : 100 acres(min.)
 Reservoir Confinement : No gas cap or water zone.
Advantages of in-situ combustion
 Universal availability of air
 Applicable in wide range of reservoir
 High swept efficiency with thermal front
 Economically and environmentally favorable
 Reservoir pressurization
 Improvement in viscosity and density contrast between the
residence oil and water.
 It is the ideal process for producing oil from thin formation.
 Formation permeability has minimal effect on this process
 Can be applied to a reservoir which has already undergone
water flooding or steam flooding
 Can be applied in both heavy and light oil reservoirs.
Limitations of in-situ Combustion
 Oil saturation and porosity must be high enough so that
heat loss to the rock will minimize.
 Not applicable in fracture reservoir because early
breakthrough may happen.
 Oil sweeping process takes place in upper part of the
layer hence, sweep efficiency is poor in thick reservoir.
 Requires more controlled process of air injection rate
or flux.
THAI™ Process
THAI™ Process
 The THAI™ process uses horizontal production wells paired
with vertical air injection wells to recover bitumen.
 Horizontal production wells are drilled to the desired depth.
Air injection wells are drilled to the ‘toe’ of the horizontal
wells.
 Steam is injected through the vertical and horizontal wells for
up to three months to heat the oil sands reservoir.
 Once the reservoir reaches the required temperature and
mobility, air is injected into the formation through the air
injection well. When oxygen in the air contacts the heated oil
sands, a combustion reaction starts.
THAI™ Process
 As additional air is injected into the formation, the
combustion front moves slowly from the toe to the heel
of the horizontal production well, partially upgrading
the bitumen, producing THAI™ oil.
 The THAI™ oil, along with water and gases that are

produced during combustion (primarily nitrogen and

carbon dioxide), drain into the horizontal well.
 Once at the surface, the produced fluids are treated and

the THAI™ oil is sent to market.

Suitable reservoir parameters used to model the
THAI™ process

 Oil Saturation = 50% - 80%

 Oil Quality = 8° API or greater
 Oil Viscosity At Reservoir Temp. = <250,000 cP
 Vertical Permeability = 0.5 D
 Net Pay = >10m
 Shale Content = Shale breaks are not expected to be
problematic
 Clay Content = Clay is beneficial to catalyze cracking
upgrading reactions.
 Thief Zones = Not expected to be problematic
THAI™ Advantages
 The THAI™ process offers a number of potentially significant
resource, economic and environmental benefits when compared
to other in situ oil sands recovery processes, including:
 Increased resource recovery
 Production of a partially upgraded bitumen product
 Reduced natural gas use
 Less water production
 Reduced diluents requirements
 Reduced greenhouse gas emissions and Smaller surface
footprint.
 Lower capital and operating costs.