Texaco Inc.

Yick-Mow Shum

Wann-Sheng Huang

Alfred Brown

Joseph C Allen

Ching H Wu

Method for producing viscous hydrocarbon products such as heavy crude oil or bitumen from tar sands, which products must be thermally converted into flowable condition. A discrete vertical subsection of a productive subterranean layer is marginated by a pair of spaced apart vertical wells and a horizontal well that lies substantially horizontal to the vertical wells. Controlled, pressurized flows of a heating medium such as steam are introduced to one of the vertical wells and to the horizontal well, whereby to establish a controlled thermal front. The latter is progressively urged by the pressurized steam, through the discrete vertical subsection and toward the other of the vertical wells at which hydrocarbon emulsion is produced.

Method for producing viscous hydrocarbons from discrete segments of a

A method is disclosed for recovering hydrocarbons from heavy oil and tar sand formations by a series of sequenced steps, wherein the production wells are initially steam stimulated. Thereafter, about 0.6 to about 1.2 pore volumes of steam of a relatively high steam quality are injected into the formation through the injection wells. An additional quantity of steam is then injected wherein the steam quality is decreased to a relatively low quality. Water injection and wet in situ combustion conclude the method.

Thermal injection and in situ combustion process for heavy oils

Steam breakthrough at the updip outcrop of a steeply dipping heavy oil reservoir is prevented by the injection of a hot water bank above the point at which the steam is injected into the heavy oil reservoir.

Method for steam injection in steeply dipping formations

The vertical conformance of a steam drive process is improved and steam override reduced by penetrating the zone between one injection well and one producing well, with an infill well which is in fluid communication with the bottom half or less of the formation, and producing petroleum from the infill well after steam channeling has occurred at the production well; then converting the infill well from a producer to an injector and injecting steam into the lower portion of the formation via the infill well and recovering fluids from the production well. Two separate communication paths are established, one between the surface and the upper half or less of the formation, and one between the bottom half or less of the formation in the producing well, or in the infill well, or injection well, or combination of two or more thereof. A fluid having lower mobility than steam is injected into the upper part of the formation via one or more of the communication means after steam override has begun, to resaturate the steam swept zone with the low mobility fluid to prevent further steam flow therethrough and force steam to flow into unswept portions of the formation.

High vertical conformance steam drive oil recovery method

A method for recovering low gravity viscous crude oil or bitumen from a subterranean formation comprising first injecting super heated steam, next initiating an in situ combustion by injecting air, followed by an in situ combustion wherein both super heated steam and air are injected, then simultaneously performing an in situ combustion by injecting air while also injecting water and finally injecting water.

Thermal recovery method

Polymer flooding is an effective means of increasing the sweep efficiency of a displacement process for recovering petroleum from a subterranean, petroleum containing formation; however, most polymers suitable for use in flooding operations hydrolyze or otherwise decompose at temperatures above about 150.degree. F to 200.degree. F, and the temperature of many subterranean petroleum-containing formations is in excess of 150.degree. F-200.degree. F. Polymers may be employed in tertiary recovery in formations whose temperatures are greater than the temperature stability limit of the polymer if the formation temperature is first reduced by introducing an aqueous fluid such as water at a temperature substantially below the temperature limit of the polymer into the formation for a period of time sufficient to reduce the formation temperature to a value at or below the temperature tolerance level of the polymer.

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Houston, TX, United States of America

Yick-Mow Shum