HEAVY AND THERMAL OIL RECOVERY PRODUCTION MECHANISMS

This technical progress report describes work performed from April 1 through June 30, 2002, for the project ''Heavy and Thermal Oil Recovery Production Mechanisms.'' We investigate a broad spectrum of topics related to thermal and heavy-oil recovery. Significant results were obtained in the areas of multiphase flow and rock properties, hot-fluid injection, improved primary heavy oil recovery, and reservoir definition. The research tools and techniques used are varied and span from pore-level imaging of multiphase fluid flow to definition of reservoir-scale features through streamline-based history-matching techniques. Briefly, experiments were conducted to image at the pore level matrix-to-fracture production of oil from a fractured porous medium. This project is ongoing. A simulation studied was completed in the area of recovery processes during steam injection into fractured porous media. We continued to study experimentally heavy-oil production mechanisms from relatively low permeability rocks under conditions of high pressure and high temperature. High temperature significantly increased oil recovery rate and decreased residual oil saturation. Also in the area of imaging production processes in laboratory-scale cores, we use CT to study the process of gas-phase formation during solution gas drive in viscous oils. Results from recent experiments are reported here. Finally, a project was completed that uses the producing water-oil ratio to define reservoir heterogeneity and integrate production history into a reservoir model using streamline properties