Enhanced heavy and extra heavy oil recovery: Current status and new trends

作者：Sayed Gomaa, Khalaf G. Salem, A.N. El-hoshoudy · 发表于：Petroleum · 年份：2023 · DOI：10.1016/j.petlm.2023.10.001 · 被引用次数：84 · 研究领域：Enhanced Oil Recovery Techniques、Petroleum Processing and Analysis、Reservoir Engineering and Simulation Methods

Due to the increased demand for energy resources these days, especially due to the Russian-Ukrainian war, the focus of the major countries is turning strongly towards improving oil production, especially heavy and extra heavy oil, which represents 40% of the world oil reserve. This research focuses on presenting methods to maximize the productivity of currently used heavy oil, such as steam injection, cyclic steam stimulation, in-situ combustion, steam-assisted gravity drainage, and vapor extraction (VAPEX). The research also presents future trends to improve heavy oil and extra heavy-oil production through steam-solvent hybrid techniques, electromagnetic energy, sonication, and nanotechnology. All the presented techniques focus on how to reduce the oil viscosity and in-situ upgrade the crude oil properties. In turn, these enhance both the productivity rate and oil recovery and minimize the production cost.