Primary production methods
Use the arrows to navigate between animations. Select icons to learn more about each method.
Natural reservoir pressure or simple mechanical pumps are the two most common approaches used to raise oil to the surface.. Most heavy oil reserves have to be pumped.
There are many factors which can make your selection of the most appropriate recovery method for heavy oil a challenge. These include viscosity, reservoir complexity, environment, economics and refining.
The solution is a combination of upfront engineering to analyze your field; engineering and design options; as well as reservoir and fluids characterization to understand the formation and oil characteristics throughout the reservoir. A field evaluation enables you to decide on and simulate the well construction and completion options which best fit your reservoir. This is combined with access to accurate reservoir monitoring and control systems and technologies, which will help manage your wells.
How can you best navigate your way through the numerous possibilities, while minimizing expenditure and risk, maximizing long-term production, and ensuring that you make the right decisions for you and your asset?
Several recovery techniques can be considered for heavy oil in primary production:
Horizontal and Multilateral Wells
Horizontal and multilateral wellbores provide a way to increase pay zone contact in your field with ever faster and more accurate drilling technologies, supported with appropriate completions systems to maximize production.
Cold Heavy Oil Production with Sand (CHOPS)
CHOPS can be very effective, even in thin beds where other methods are inefficient. CHOPS system design requires a good understanding of the production mechanisms based on operational experience. This understanding must include the consequences of high levels of sand production and the fact that very high drawdown can lead to water production, which will reduce recovery. In CHOPS, vertical wells are drilled into the zone of interest, and sand production is encouraged using special screens and slotted liners. Producing sand from unconsolidated formations produces ”wormholes” which facilitate oil flow to the surface by creating liquefied zones around the borehole surrounded by areas of high permeability.
