Sub-Project #3: WELL AND

RESERVOIR OPERATIONS
TECHNOLOGY FOR TOE-TO-HEEL
AIR INJECTION (THAI)

Presenter Alex Turta

Bath, UK, March 14th, 2002

Petroleum Recovery Institute

! Objectives
OUTLINE
! Essential mechanisms of THAI process
! Main technological phases; reservoir and well
aspects
! Potential operational problems
! Design and evaluation of the field pilot
! Interactions with other sub-projects
! Deliverables

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 General Objective
To develop the wells and reservoir
engineering technical
requirements and specifications
needed for of a THAI field
piloting
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 Specific Objectives
! Design the key parameters for the THAI
process
! Screening criteria for THAI application
! Assess potential operational problems
! Design the field pilot, including
guidelines for monitoring and evaluation
of the pilot; expansion to the field scale
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THAI as a short-distance oil
displacement (SDOD) process

In je c t io n C o m b u s t io n M o b ile o il
w e ll fro n t zo n e

C o ld
H e a v y O il
A ir & W a t e r (im m o b ile )

Petroleum
S t a r t - u p r e Recovery
g io n Institute P r o d u c t io n w e ll

26
 Long-Distance Oil Displacement
Conventional In-Situ Combustion
case. K1>>K2
400 m
In-situ
combustion front

K1
20m

K2
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 Toe-To-Heel Air Injection (THAI).
Simplest Well Configuration, Bird View

vi vi
TOE

Horizontal well producer

HEEL
 How THAI is operated:
! Firsta linear in-situ combustion (ISC)
front is created between the two vertical
wells. Subsequently, the ISC front is
anchored to the toe of horizontal well
! Then, the ISC front is propagated from toe
to the heel
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 Injection Well
(Vertical or Horiz. Well)
Combustion Front

Horizontal Producer

Concept of Toe-to-Heel Air Injection Process

(THAI)
 Mobile Oil Zone (MOZ): The
Key Concept for THAI process
In reality, a better name is “Double
Mobile Oil Bank”. Why double?
o Oil is heated and mobile inside the
MOZ (flowing down in the borehole of
HW)
o MOZ itself moves along the HW

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 An Example of Application using
modules of 40m*1000m
(4 ha/module)

Conventional ! Extra-heavy oil &

tar sands
heavy oil
o HW-HW distance
o HW-HW distance
range: 2-10m.
range: 10-100m,
Similar to those in
depending on oil
SAGD and Vapex
viscosity
operations
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Commercial Operation of THAI
(conventional heavy oil)
M obile O il Zone (M O Z)
(oil draining to H W )
40m
w
ro

w
n

ro
w
t io

f lo

n
c

io
je

&

ct
In

du
io Second row

ro
st

P
bu

of horizontal
om

w ells (H W )
C

N ote: Short distance

oil displacem ent: only
HW length in M O Z
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1000m Institute
 Short-distance displacement in
SAGD/Vapex and THAI
Injection
!
Production
Production

Note: Two parallel horizontal

wells in SAGD/Vapex
Injection Production
(h>12 m)

Only one HW in THAI

(h>6m)

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 The four technological phases
of a THAI process
! Ignition (initiation of he ISC front)
! Linkage (communication) between injectors and the
toe of horizontal producer
! Propagation of the MOZ from the toe to the heel,
along the horizontal well (HW)
! Wind-up of the process /continuation of ISC front
propagation further down on structure)

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 IGNITION
Methods considered:
! Gas burner
! Electrical heater
! Steam injection alone or followed by
chemical ignition (linseed oil, etc)
! Other means

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 Developing the Communication
! Vertical injector (VI) to VI ; linear ISC front
generation
! Communication with the HW; anchoring of the ISC
front to the toe of HW
Note:
! VI-VI communication depends mainly on oil
viscosity; more complex for tar sands.
! Anchoring of the front: depends mainly on the
thickness of pay zone
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Developing the Communication -
continued
! For the conventional oils, with good oil mobility
at reservoir conditions, and pay thickness in the
range of 6m to 12 m, the communication may
develop automatically during the ignition phase;
no special operations necessary
! For extra-heavy oil with some energy level, but
poor oil mobility: cyclic steam stimulation of VI’s,
followed by limited steam injection
! For tar sands: steam circulation in both VI’s, then
limited steam injection
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 Propagation of the MOZ from the
toe to the heel, along the HW
! Dry THAI; only air injection
! Wet THAI: air + water injection – moderate wet
combustion
Key parameters: Dynamics of air injection rate
and water injection rate. Alternative air/water
injection or simultaneous air/water injection?
Of special interest is : profile of air inj. rate on
the last portion of HW
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Commercial Operation of THAI
(conventional heavy oil)
40m
w
ro
n

w
io

f lo
ct
je

&
In

n
io Second row
st
bu

of horizontal
om

wells (HW )
C

HW length
Petroleum Recovery
1000m Institute
 Wind-up of the process
(first row of modules)
! The first row of HW’s are converted from production
to injection; the second row of HW’s is open for
production
! Former VI’s are either closed or converted to water
injection. This has to be investigated?
! Horizontal sections of the first row HW’s are either
cemented or used for water injection; to be
investigated
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 Benefits of THAI Process
1. Immediate oil production (no waiting period)
2. MOZ occurrence = attenuation of the effect of heterogeneity;
old ISC process instabilities practically eliminated.
3. Increased injectivity; high perm in burned zone, and no flow
far away ahead of MOZ
4. Significant thermal oil upgrading (8 API) leading to a
spectacular increase of oil rate
5. Environmental benefits related to in-situ removal of Sulphur
and heavy metals
6. For a commercial line drive and fixed pattern: No. of necessary
wells is reduced to almost half compared to SAGD (use of HW
first as producers then as injectors)
7. PossibleRecovery
Petroleum to be applied
Institutefor oil reservoirs having a pay thickness in the
range of 6-12 m
 Field Pilot Design
Will consist of:
! Screening criteria; choosing the right reservoir
! Choosing the appropriate location on structure
! Establishing the sizes of the THAI module (s),
including the start-up volume.
! Designing the trajectories of HW (s)
! Providing the key parameters for the simulation of
the process (evolution of the air/water injection
rates)
! Providing the oil rate profile based on reservoir
engineering
Petroleum analysis and the simulation results
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 Well Completions
! For short periods of time (a few days probably) the
casing of the horizontal section of HW is submitted to
high temperatures (400-6000C). Special casing
necessary.
! Heavier the oil, higher temperatures can be
experienced, even up to 700-8000C
! The vertical section of HW, also, has to withstand high
temperatures; the ISC front has a certain tilting and
the ISC front may still intercept the vertical section of
HW.
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 Well Completions - continued

The last portion of horizontal section of

HW (close to the heel) has the most
demanding conditions, as some corrosion
may be experienced in the last period of
the process, due to the increase of O2
percentage up to 2-4%.

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 Monitoring (tracking of the ISC
front movement)
! A temperature transducer necessary to
be installed at the toe of HW; for the
control of the ISC front anchoring.
Minimum condition
! Optional: one/two observation wells
(vertical wells) for the assessment of
vertical/horizontal sweep efficiency
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Possible operational problems:
Safety
! Moderate wet ISC preferred, in order to avoid
explosions in the horizontal producer
! HW to be operated as a producer, until O2
percentage reaches a certain threshold value; then
either conversion to injector/shut in or other
protective measures
! Stand-by air capacity provided to avoid any air
injection stoppage; otherwise a slug of water
injection
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 Possible operational problems:
corrosion, pollution & coke deposit
! Measures to reduce corrosion in the injectors; mainly
for the HW’s converted from production to injection;
cooling?
! Pollution: CO may be a problem in low pressure THAI
processes; otherwise just non-saturated gas
hydrocarbons and CO2 are a concern
! Coke deposit in the borehole: periodical checking &
wet character of process whenever possible.
! Rebelious emulsions treatment. Necessary ????

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 THAI management; remedial and
preventative actions
! Contingency safety measures during ignition phase
and communication phase
! Periodical determination of produced gas composition
,with different frequency at different stages of the
process
! Periodical bottomhole temperature measurements in
the producers
! H2S content determination for the produced gases
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Evaluation of a THAI field pilot
! The laterally unconfined character of THAI; similar to
SAGD & Vapex; for a pilot, 2-3 adjacent modules will
be considered, as well.
! A-priori criteria for success: based on obtaining a high
oil rate, at a low air/incremental oil ratio and a good
incremental oil recovery
! Economic and Risk Analysis.
! Guidelines for expansion to full-scale THAI
application or stoppage of the piloting
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 Interaction with other sub-projects
! Will provide the basic information for SP # 5-surface
facilities (compressor station and oil gathering station)
! Will provide the profiles for air/water injection rates
for the field pilot simulation (SP #2); will use the
simulation results for the prediction of performance
! Reciprocal interaction with SP #1 mainly regarding
the communication development and the use of the
maximum possible air injection rate

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 SP3 Schedule
! First year: Screening criteria; Key design parameters
(generic design for 1000m *40m module –
conventional heavy oil reservoir and a tentative
design for 1500m* 10m module in oil sands)
! Second year: Communication phase investigation;
ignition; well completions (both for THAI and CAPRI)
! Third year: Operational problems, monitoring
evaluation; specific field pilot design
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 DELIVERABLES
! Procedures for ISC ignition and for development of
communication
! Methodology for design, operation, monitoring,
control and evaluation of a THAI field process
! Guidelines for the handling of the operational
problems
! Specific filed pilot design, including the guidelines
for the expansion to full scale operation

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