Heavy Oil Exploitation

Heavy crude oils have a unique chemical nature that creates many technical challenges. In this new book, four heavy oil and bitumen experts deliver a comprehensive look at the complexities of this alternative petroleum resource. With its high viscosity and complex hydrocarbon chemistry, heavy oil requires technical personnel to use innovative approaches to enable it to flow in a porous formation and also in the production circuit and finally to treat and convert it into valuable products. While plentiful deposits exist throughout the world, this heavy hydrocarbon requires upgrades in skill and process to extract, transport, and refine.

The idea for this book originated from a course for nontechnical professionals that we prepared and gave repeatedly over the past few years. The material was updated before almost every course as we learned more about the industry, especially from great student questions that required us to go back and research the topics in more depth. Like the course, this book attempts to encompass all aspects of heavy oil exploitation from geology to production to transport to upgrading. As such, the book provides a very broad overview of the full life cycle of heavy oil development. While the material does demand a basic understanding of organic chemistry as well as petroleum, mechanical, and chemical engineering, the intent is to provide an overview that would benefit both technical and nontechnical professionals working in the petroleum industry, as well as university students who require an introductory text on heavy oil exploitation. In line with providing a broad overview for both technical and nontechnical professionals, we have attempted to keep the technical details and use of equations or discipline- specific terminology to a minimum. Since technical terminology cannot be completely avoided, we have provided as many definitions as possible throughout the text. For those who are inspired to dig deeper into specific technical aspects of heavy oil exploitation, we have also attempted to provide as many valuable references as possible.

Features & Benefits

• Characteristics of heavy oil
• Traditional and newest recovery methods
• Construction and completion of a heavy oil well
• A discussion of gas lifting, pumping systems, and sand management
• Unique transportation and processing requirements
• Overview of upgrading and refining requirements

Audience

• Field level personnel
• Management
• Energy lending and finance professionals
• Anyone who seeks to understand how, or relies upon, energy markets
• Students

About the Authors

Abul Jamaluddin earned his BSc degree in petroleum engineering from King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals (KFUPM) and both MSc and PhD degrees in chemical engineering from the University of Calgary. He began his career as a research scientist and then led the oil and gas R&D programs at the Noranda Research Center, where his focus was heavy oil production. Jamaluddin moved to the service industry, first with Hycal Energy Research Laboratory Services and then Schlumberger. Currently, he is part of the leadership team at the College of Petroleum Engineering and Geosciences at KFUPM. Jamaluddin has been awarded 8 US patents and coauthored more than 40 technical papers in refereed journals as well as more than 100 conference papers. He teaches a fl ow assurance course in association with SPE ATCE. He was named the 2004–2005 SPE Distinguished Lecturer and Distinguished Member in 2012. Among his numerous professional recognitions, he received the Performed by Schlumberger Gold Medal, the JCPT best paper award, and two best paper presentation awards by the Petroleum Society of CIM and the Gas Processors Association of America.

David Hin-Sum Law obtained a BSc degree from the National Taiwan University in Taipei, Taiwan and MSc and PhD degrees from the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Canada, all in chemical engineering. He joined the Alberta Research Council (ARC) (now InnoTech Alberta) in Edmonton in 1987. During his 18 years at ARC, he was the leader of the Reservoir Simulation Group and coleader of the Thermal Gravity Strategic Area in an ARC-led international consortium on heavy oil recovery. David joined Schlumberger (SLB) in Edmonton in 2005. Until his retirement in 2015, he was the SLB heavy oil technical director with responsibility for establishing heavy oil expertise within Schlumberger and developing technologies for heavy oil application. David has 3 patents, 31 refereed publications, and more than 80 conference papers. He is a member of the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) Canada and was named a 2010–2011 SPE Distinguished Lecturer. He has actively served on various technical program committees for SPE Heavy Oil Applied Technology Workshops, Forums, and Conferences; Canadian International Petroleum Conferences (CIPC); and World Heavy Oil Congresses (WHOC).

Shawn David Taylor received bachelor’s and master’s degrees in chemical engineering from McMaster University and a PhD in chemical engineering from the University of Alberta. In 2001, he joined the DBR Group of Companies in Edmonton, Canada, which became a part of Schlumberger in 2002 and was eventually renamed the DBR Technology Center, where he became a program manager for the planning and execution of research projects focused on fluid characterization, primarily in applications related to heavy oil recovery and production. In 2016, Shawn joined Schlumberger-Doll Research in Boston, where he currently is a principal research scientist and program manager. He has produced more than 35 peer-reviewed journal publications, 60 conference presentations, and 13 patents and patent applications. He also taught short courses on asphaltenes and heavy oil exploitation and cosupervised four PhD students in heavy oil thermodynamics.

Simon Ivar Andersen obtained his chemical engineering degree from the Danish Engineering Academy and earned a PhD in chemical engineering from the Technical University of Denmark (DTU). In 1993, he joined the Department of Chemical Engineering at DTU, where he continued his research on asphaltene and wax flow assurance and enhanced oil recovery. In 1997, he was appointed associate professor in applied thermodynamics. In 2005, Simon joined the R&D division of Haldor Topsoe A/S. In 2010, he moved to Schlumberger’s DBR Technology Center in Edmonton, Canada, to become a scientific advisor and the reservoir fluid chemistry discipline manager responsible for developing new fluid characterization procedures and workflows. Simon is currently an advisor at the Danish Hydrocarbon Research and Technology Center. He has about 85 peer reviewed papers, 100 conference presentations, and 10 patents.

Details
Type: Hardcover
Size: 6x9
Pages: 307
Published: 2018
ISBN: 9781593703882