Method for producing viscous hydrocarbon using incremental fracturing

a technology of incremental fracturing and hydrocarbons, which is applied in the direction of fluid removal, insulation, borehole/well accessories, etc., can solve the problems of enlarge the fracturing zone, operator may also fracture the formation,

Inactive Publication Date: 2006-07-27
WORLD ENERGY SYST
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  • Abstract
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Problems solved by technology

The operator may also fracture the formation again to enlarge the fracturing zone.

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  • Method for producing viscous hydrocarbon using incremental fracturing
  • Method for producing viscous hydrocarbon using incremental fracturing
  • Method for producing viscous hydrocarbon using incremental fracturing

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Embodiment Construction

[0013] Referring to FIG. 1, well 11 extends substantially vertically through a number of earth formations, at least one of which includes a heavy oil or tar formation 15. An overburden earth formation 13 is located above the oil formation 15. Heavy oil formation 15 is located over an underburden earth formation 17. The heavy oil formation 15 is typically a tar sand containing a very viscous hydrocarbon, which may have a viscosity from 3,000 cp to 1,000,000 cp, for example. The overburden formation 13 may be various geologic formations, for example, a thick, dense limestone that seals and imparts a relatively high fracture pressure to the heavy oil formation 15. The underburden formation 17 may also be a thick, dense limestone or some other type of earth formation.

[0014] As shown in FIG. 1, the well is cased, and the casing has perforations or slots 19 in at least part of the heavy oil formation 15. Also, the well is fractured to create a fractured zone 21. During fracturing, the op...

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Abstract

A method for producing viscous hydrocarbon formations involves the use of a downhole burner. The well undergoes a mild hydraulic fracturing process that limits the fractured zone to a relatively small dimension so as to avoid intersecting any drainage zones of adjacent wells. The operator pumps fuel, steam and oxygen to the burner, which bums the fuel, causing the flow of hot, gaseous fluids into the fractured zone. The steam delivered from the surface cools the burner and becomes superheated as it enters the fractured zone. The operator allows the fractured zone to soak, then produces the oil. After the production declines, the operator may repeat the fracturing to incrementally increase the fractured zone, then repeat the injection and soak cycles.

Description

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION [0001] This application claims the benefit of provisional application Ser. No. 60 / 646,790 filed Jan. 25, 2005. FIELD OF THE INVENTION [0002] This invention relates in general to methods for producing highly viscous hydrocarbons, and in particular to injecting steam from a downhole burner into a fractured zone. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0003] There are extensive viscous hydrocarbon reservoirs throughout the world. These reservoirs contain a very viscous hydrocarbon, often called “tar”, “heavy oil”, or “ultraheavy oil”, which typically has viscosities in the range from 3,000 to 1,000,000 centipoise when measured at 100 degrees F. The high viscosity makes is difficult and expensive to recover the hydrocarbon. Strip mining is employed for shallow tar sands. For deeper reservoirs, heating the heavy oil in situ to lower the viscosity has been employed. [0004] In one technique, partially saturated steam is injected into a well from a steam generato...

Claims

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Application Information

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Patent Type & Authority Applications(United States)
IPC IPC(8): E21B43/24E21B43/26E21B43/25
CPCE21B36/02E21B43/2405E21B43/26
Inventor WARE, CHARLES H.
Owner WORLD ENERGY SYST
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