The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Mar. 03, 2015
Filed:
Mar. 11, 2011
Wayne Reid Dreher, Jr., College Station, TX (US);
Tawfik Nasr, Katy, TX (US);
Wendell Menard, Katy, TX (US);
Thomas J. Wheeler, Houston, TX (US);
Wayne Reid Dreher, Jr., College Station, TX (US);
Tawfik Nasr, Katy, TX (US);
Wendell Menard, Katy, TX (US);
Thomas J. Wheeler, Houston, TX (US);
ConocoPhillips Company, Houston, TX (US);
Abstract
Heavy oil recovery from oil sand reservoirs is enhanced through the creation of subsurface high permeability pathways distributed throughout the oil sand reservoirs. The high permeability pathways may be boreholes that extend through the oil sand reservoir. A portion of the high permeability pathway may be packed with high permeability particulate to provide structural support and allow for high permeability throughout the boreholes. After establishing the high permeability pathways throughout the oil sand reservoir, solvent may be introduced into the oil sand reservoir. The solvent has the beneficial effect of lowering the viscosity of the heavy oil, which aids in the extraction of the heavy oil. Thermal recovery processes and other enhancements may be combined with these methods to aid in reducing the viscosity of the heavy oil. Advantages of these methods include, accelerated hydrocarbon recovery, higher production efficiencies, lower costs, and lower extraction times.