Process for producing oil

Abstract

Heavy oil or bitumen is recovered by injecting an oil recovery formulation comprising ammonia and steam having a vapor quality of from greater than 0 to less than 0.7, or injecting components thereof, into an underground oil-bearing formation comprising oil or bitumen having a total acid number of at least 0.1 and producing oil or bitumen from the formation after injection of the oil recovery formulation, or components thereof, into the formation.

Description

[0001]This application claims priority from U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 61 / 746,214, filed Dec. 27, 2012, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.FIELD OF THE INVENTION[0002]The present invention is directed to a process for producing oil. In particular, the present invention is directed to a process for producing a heavy oil or bitumen having a measurable total acid number.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0003]Large deposits of heavy oil or bitumen are present in some areas of the world. These deposits offer the opportunity to capture large quantities of oil, however, the nature of the heavy oil or bitumen renders recovering the oil difficult. Heavy oil and bitumen contain more high molecular weight hydrocarbons such as asphaltenes and resins than light crudes, which renders the heavy oil / bitumen much more viscous than light crudes. Viscous heavy oil or bituminous crudes are more difficult to mobilize and produce from a subterranean formation than crudes of lo...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

The present invention can be adapted and practiced in different ways. The specific embodiments shown are just examples. The described invention is not limited to the details provided and can be modified and used in different ways. The patent takes a wide range of numbers and ranges to include all possible variations. The invention can be implemented without certain elements or steps described herein. The terms used in the patent have their usual meaning. The patent aims to provide a flexible and adaptable invention that can be used in different ways.

Problems solved by technology

These deposits offer the opportunity to capture large quantities of oil, however, the nature of the heavy oil or bitumen renders recovering the oil difficult.

Viscous heavy oil or bituminous crudes are more difficult to mobilize and produce from a subterranean formation than crudes of low viscosity since the viscous crudes do not flow easily.

Injection of steam into the formation from the injection well in a SAGD process or a combination of high quality steam and ammonia, amines, or amines plus ammonia does not mobilize all of the bitumen or heavy oil in the steam chamber.

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