An enhanced oil recovery technology as a follow up to cold heavy oil production with sand

摘要

Lloydminster area that straddles Alberta and Saskatchewan border contains vast amounts of heavy oil deposits in thin unconsolidated formations. Cold Heavy Oil Production with Sand (CHOPS) has been successfully implemented in these reservoirs. However, primary recovery is still low averaging below 10%. How to economically recover the large amount of remaining oil in place is a challenge. Therefore, an effective follow up recovery process is required.