Oil Sand In-Situ Recovery Techniques

B. Tech Project #53Mentor: Dr. Lalita Ledwani

Oil Sand In-Situ Recovery TechniquesAbstractObjective: To understand the operations and mechanisms involved in various oil sand in-situ recovery techniques, and their applicability in different reservoirs.We have focused on the SAGD technique in our project. Also prepared a MATLAB program to predict the performance of SAGD for given field data.Oil Sand: IntroductionDefinition: Mixture of sand, clay, water and bitumen - dense (4 to 8 API) and extremely viscous (up to millions of cP) unconventional petroleum deposit - also called tar sands, crude bitumen or extra-heavy oil.Global reserves: More than 2 trillion barrels of oil sands in world - largest deposits in Canada and Venezuela - oil sands represent about 40% of Canada's oil production.World production rate of conventional crude is speculated to peak soon. Consequently, persistent demand will encourage more permanent and economically stable development of oil sand production oil sand is oil of the future.Indian oil and gas companies such as ONGC Videsh have started collaborating with production companies in Venezuela and Canada for oil sand production in those countries. In-Situ RecoveryOil sand production is very complex and expensive - mining operation is simpler but can be carried out only in shallower (