Phillips Petroleum Company

Conocophillips Company

Dennis C Wegener

David R Zornes

Michael L Fraim

Daniel R Maloney

Riley Bryan Needham

Michael E Vienot

Partha S Sarathi

Dave E Reese

A non-rigid carrier conveys a pump and/or the steam generator through a bore of the production tubing string to support enhanced oil recovery operations. An annular space separates the production tubing string and a wall of a wellbore intersecting a hydrocarbon-bearing subterranean formation. Using the non-rigid carrier, the steam generator is conveyed into the wellbore and operated to inject hot gases into the formation through the perforations in the casing. Afterwards, the steam generator is conveyed out of the cased wellbore and the pump is conveyed into the cased wellbore and operated to pump hydrocarbons to the surface. For cyclic injection operations, the pump may be retrieved to the surface and the steam generator may be returned into the well. The production tubing string, such as a production tubing, remains in the well while the pump and/or the steam generator are conveyed up and down the cased well. A base installed in the cased well receives either the pump or the steam generator.

Wireline retrievable dsg/downhole pump system for cyclic steam and continuous steam flooding operations in petroleum reservoirs

This invention provides an apparatus and process for producing heavy crude oil from a subterranean formation penetrated by a well bore. In accordance with the process, an aqueous alkaline chemical solution is introduced into or formed in the well bore penetrating the formation. The aqueous alkaline chemical solution mixes and reacts with produced heavy crude oil in the well bore and ultrasonic waves are emitted into the mixture whereby an emulsion is formed. The viscosity of the formed emulsion is less than that of the crude oil or the crude oil and water mixture flowing into the well bore which allows the oil to be more efficiently pumped to the surface and transported for further processing.

Heavy oil viscosity reduction and production

The present invention provides methods and apparatus for enhancing the production of liquid hydrocarbons from a subterranean formation penetrated by a well bore. The methods basically comprise placing one or more electric powered sonic energy transducers actuated by magnetostrictive actuators which preferably have drive rods formed of terfenol alloy in the well bore, and causing sonic energy to be emitted from the transducers in the form of pressure waves through the liquid hydrocarbons in the well bore and/or in the formation thereby causing the liquid hydrocarbons to flow into the well bore and to the surface more freely.

Methods and apparatus for enhancing well production using sonic energy

A method and apparatus for stimulating a subsurface, oil-bearing reservoir, in which a fuel is burned in the presence of a combustion-supporting gas to produce an essentially uncontaminated flue gas at a pressure significantly above the reservoir pressure, water is intimately mixed with the flue gas, the water is vaporized to produce a mixture of flue gas and steam and the operating parameters of the water vaporization and, particularly, the fuel combustion are controlled by passing the mixture of flue gas and steam through an iris-type shutter having a variable diameter opening and varying the diameter of the variable diameter opening.

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Bartlesville, OK, United States of America

Dennis C Wegener