Conocophillips Company

Alex Filstein

Mason Ogg

Javier Sanchez

A method for producing heavy oil using solvent injection without gas interference at the electric submersible pump (ESP), the method including completing the injection well with two or more injector tubings, at a heel and toe, and optionally therebetween. Ideally, when gas locking of the ESP is detected, the operator switches to toe dominant injections, mitigating the gas locking problem, and producing oil at a faster rate than possible with evenly distributed injections.

ESP shielding via toe-dominant solvent injection

A method for producing heavy oil, the method including testing a plurality of samples either from a reservoir play or simulating a reservoir play in a temperature and pressure controlled gravity drainage experiment. Test injection fluids are injected into the samples at a reservoir temperature and pressure and Cumulative Oil Production (COP) or Recovery Factor (RF) or similar feature measured over time. An injection profile is obtained by selecting n injection fluids based on a best COP or RF at a given time T, wherein n is a number of fluid injection stages and switching to an n+1 injection fluid when a rate of change (ROC) in the COP or RF drops at least 25%-75%, but preferably 40-60% or 50%. The injection profile is then implemented in the reservoir to produce heavy oil. Optimized injection profiles for certain reservoirs are also provided.

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Houston, TX, United States of America

Alex Filstein