UNIT V: HEAVY OIL AND OTHER UNCONVENTIONAL RESOURCES:

2 LECTURE HOURS
 Global, US, India occurrences
 Heavy Oil production techniques
 Geothermal and Volcanics/Basement Rock Reservoirs Introduction
What Makes Heavy Oil "Heavy?“

Heavy oil is a complex amalgam with compounds of high molecular weight

Over millions of years, heavy oil was formed as a result of the hydrocarbon deposits
being degraded by algae, which resulted in the loss of its lighter hydrocarbon fractions
—with the heavier fractions remaining.

By definition, heavy oil typically has a viscosity of 100 centipoise or greater

Extra heavy oil is generally referred to as heavy oil with a viscosity, a property that
defines ease of flow, in excess of 10,000 centipoise. Heavy oil ranges from oil that flows
by itself to bitumen—or tar sands “ultra heavy oil”—that is actually embedded in sand.
Located at depths less than 75 meters, tar sands are mined as a “solid” rather than
extracted in a liquid form.
Heavy crude oil is any liquid petroleum with an API gravity of less than
22.3°
API readings are based on the American Petroleum Industry's method of determining
the gravity of crude oil. The lower the API number, the heavier the oil and the higher
its specific gravity. In the case of oil sand hydrocarbons, also called extra heavy oil, the
API gravity can register as low as 10 (2-4 for ultra heavy oil).

Heavy oil usually contains significantly higher contents of asphaltenes

The presence of asphaltenes, chemically altered fragments of organic chemical
compounds, in oil can greatly complicate the production process. Subsequently,
certain asphaltene elements require that the heavy oil also undergo a special refining
process called deasphalting. The chemical composition of asphaltenes can consist of
various amounts of sulphur, oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen, carbon, and the heavy metals
nickel and vanadium and are widely recognized as soluble.
 Heavy crude oil (or extra heavy crude oil) is highly-viscous oil that cannot easily flow to
production wells under normal reservoir conditions.
 It is referred to as "heavy" because its density or specific gravity is higher than that of
light crude oil. Heavy crude oil has been defined as any liquid petroleum with an API
gravity less than 20°.
 Physical properties that differ between heavy crude oils and lighter grades include higher
viscosity and specific gravity, as well as heavier molecular composition.
 In 2010, the World Energy Council defined extra heavy oil as crude oil having a gravity of
less than 10° and a reservoir viscosity of no more than 10,000 centipoises.
 When reservoir viscosity measurements are not available, extra-heavy oil is considered by
the WEC to have a lower limit of 4° °API.[4] In other words, oil with a density greater than
1000 kg/m3 or, equivalently, and a specific gravity greater than 1 and a reservoir viscosity
of no more than 10,000 centipoises.
 Heavy oils and asphalt are dense nonaqueous phase liquids (DNAPLs). They have a low
solubility and a viscosity lower than, and density higher than, water.
 Large spills of DNAPL will quickly penetrate the full depth of the aquifer and accumulate
on its bottom.
HEAVY OIL AND TAR SANDS
Known for a long time and was easy to exploit for use in small quantities.
 In southern California oil was mined from the early 1860s to the 1890s because the
heavy oil would not flow to the wells.
 Tar sands are sandstone reservoirs which have been filled with oil at shallow depth
<2 km (<70–80◦C) so that the oil has become biodegraded. Reservoir rocks which
have been buried more deeply and then uplifted before the oil migration may be
sterilized at higher temperatures and are less likely to be biodegraded.
 Tar sand contains asphaltic oil rich in asphaltenes and resins. It has a high content of
aromatics and naphthenes compared to paraffins, and a high content of nitrogen,
sulphur and oxygen (NSO).
 Most of the hydrocarbon molecules have more than 60 carbon atoms and the boiling
point and viscosity are therefore very high.
 The viscosity of the biodegraded oil is very high and the oil must be heated so that
the viscosity is reduced before it can be produced by drilling wells.
Geological origin
 Most geologists agree that crude becomes ‘heavy’ as a result of
biodegradation, in which lighter ends are preferentially consumed by bacterial
activity in the reservoir, leaving heavier hydrocarbons behind. This hypothesis
leans heavily on the techniques of petroleum geochemistry. Poor geologic
reservoir sealing exposes the hydrocarbon to surface contaminants, including
organic life (such as bacteria) and contributes to this process.

 Heavy oils can be found in shallow, young reservoirs, with rocks from the
Pleistocene, Pliocene, and Miocene (younger than 25 million years). In some
cases, it can also be found in older Cretaceous, Mississippian, and Devonian
reservoirs. These reservoirs tend to be poorly sealed, resulting in heavy oil
and oil-sands.[
Chemical properties
 Heavy oil is asphaltic and contains asphaltenes and resins. It is "heavy" (dense and viscous)
due to the high ratio of aromatics and naphthenes to linear alkanes and high amounts of
NSOs (nitrogen, sulfur, oxygen and heavy metals).
 Heavy oil has a higher percentage of compounds with over 60 carbon atoms and hence a
high boiling point and molecular weight.
 For example, the viscosity of Venezuela's Orinoco extra-heavy crude oil lies in the range
1000–5000 cP (1–5 Pa·s), while Canadian extra-heavy crude has a viscosity in the range
5000–10,000 cP (5–10 Pa·s), about the same as molasses, and higher (up to 100,000 cP or
100 Pa·s for the most viscous commercially exploitable deposits).
 A definition from the Chevron Phillips Chemical company is as follows:
The "heaviness" of heavy oil is primarily the result of a relatively high proportion of a mixed
bag of complex, high molecular weight, non-paraffinic compounds and a low proportion of
volatile, low molecular weight compounds. Heavy oils typically contain very little paraffin and
may or may not contain high levels of asphaltenes.
Heavy crude oil is generally categorized in two ways:
Those that have over 1% sulfur (high sulfur crude oils), with aromatics and
asphaltenes. These are mostly found in North America (Canada (Alberta,
Saskatchewan), United States (California), Mexico), South America (Venezuela,
Colombia and Ecuador) and the Middle East (Kuwait, Saudi Arabia).

Those that have less than 1% sulfur (low sulfur crude oils), with aromatics,
naphthenes and resins, and these are mostly found in Western Africa (Chad),
Central Africa (Angola) and East Africa (Madagascar).
Heavy Oil Belt in Mehsana Block, India
 The Mehsana block in the Indian Cambay Basin contains heavy as well as light crude oils
(12{degrees}API to 46{degrees}PI). The heavy oils are not only reduced in their
economic value, but oil to source correlation is also difficult.
 On the basis of saturated biomarker composition, the heavy oils of Balol, Santhal, and
Lanwa have similar source organics and maturation levels as the lighter Sobhasan oils.
 The low API gravity and absence of n-alkanes are interpreted to be the consequence of
in situ biodegradation. To establish unequivocally whether in situ microbial alteration
has played a role in the genesis of these heavy oils in this basin, in-vitro biodegradation
studies have been carried out. Pseudomonas and thermophilic strains of Bacillus and
Aeromonas have been isolated from oil associated formation waters.
 The compositional differences existing in Mehsana Block oils, attributed to subsurface
bacterial attack, were successfully duplicated under laboratory conditions.
 In situ microbial transformation is responsible for occurrences of oils at different stages
of biodegradation, ranging from light in Sobhasan to heavy in Lanwa oil field of this
block. Water charging from the Lanwa side may be responsible for gradation in oil
properties from Lanwa to Sobhasan
 The northern part of the Cambay Basin located in Mehsana, Gujarat (India), is fenced by
a number of heavy oil fields reserving about 140 MMT OOIP. Balol and Santhal fields
form a part of this heavy oil belt with API gravity 15-18.
 The oil viscosity ranging from 50 to 450 cps at reservoir pressure of 100 kg/cm2 and
700C temperature. High mobility contrast between viscous oil and water has resulted
into low primary recovery.
 Subsequent Artificial lift methods resulted into high water production rather than oil.
Thus, it necessitated for in-situ combustion technique.
 In-situ combustion is a thermal enhanced oil recovery process. The technique is based on
the principle of reducing viscosity by heating of oil in the reservoir itself. It involves
ignition in the well and injection of air to sustain flame front. In this process a small
quantity of in-place oil burns, producing CO2, water vapours and heat. It helps in
lowering the viscosity of oil, which increases the oil mobility and displace it towards the
surrounding producers.
 Based on encouraging results, in-situ combustion technique was implemented on
commercial scale in 1997 at Balol and Santhal fields. It has not only given a new lease of
life to these fields but has also increased the oil recovery factor from 6-12% to 39-45%.
HEAVY OIL AND TAR SANDS

METHODS OF EXTRACTION
 Heating of reservoir. Heating can be achieved by soaking the reservoir with
injected steam.
 This is called cyclic steam injection.
 Burn some of the oil in the subsurface.
 Heat the oil electrically, possibly powered by a nuclear reactor to reduce
 the CO2 emissions from burning oil to produce heat.
 Freezing the ground at a distance from the well.
TAR SANDS
• Oil are also extracted from tar sand.
• The tar sands in Alberta, Canada (Athabasca) of Middle Cretaceous age (Aptian,
100 million years) contains 1.7 trillion bbl (270×109m3) of bitumen in place,
comparable in magnitude to the world’s total proven reserves of conventional
petroleum.
• The oil (tar) is very viscous and may be denser than water (API<10). Only about
20% is close enough to the surface to be economically mined and the rest must
be heated in place.
• A cubic meters of oil, mined from the tar sands, needs 2–4.5 m3 of water.
• Oil may be extracted by steam-assisted gravity drainage (SAGD).
HEAVY OIL RECOVERY METHODS
Extraction
 Steam is injected into many oil fields where the oil is thicker and heavier than normal
crude oil
 Production of heavy oil is becoming more common in many countries, with 2008
production led by Canada and Venezuela.
 Methods for extraction include Cold heavy oil production with sand, steam assisted
gravity drainage, steam injection, vapor extraction, Toe-to-Heel Air Injection (THAI),
and open-pit mining for extremely sandy and oil-rich deposits.

Mainly Three methods are used:

Primary Recovery Method
Cold EOR
Thermal Production Method
THERMAL OIL RECOVERY
Cyclic Steam Stimulation (CSS) Steam Assisted Gravity Drainage
(SAGD)
 FRACTURED BASEMENT/TRAP RESERVOIRS

Definition of basement Rock:

The basement rocks are considered as any metamorphic or
igneous( regardless of age) which are unconformably overlain by a
sedimentary sequence.
 Fractured basement (igneous / metamorphic / trap) are emerging as potential
hydrocarbon reservoirs worldwide.
 Significant volume of the world’s proven reserves have been found in naturally
fractured reservoirs. In some 370 fields world over, natural fractures are important for
production and a significant proportions of it are in basement settings.
 About 30 different, commercial hydrocarbon reserves have been reported from the
fractured basement.
 In India, almost all the major petroliferous basins have recorded occurrence of
hydrocarbons within the fractured basement / trap.
 Presently, four basins in the Indian context, i.e. Assam & Assam-Arakan, Krishna
Godavari, Cauvery and Cambay are on commercial production from fractured
Basement.
Fractured basement Oil – Where did it come from?
Fractured Basement Reservoirs:
 Reservoirs in fractured basements, where the oil and gas may be held within an extensive fracture
network on a variety of different scales rather than within the matrix porosity of the formation.
 These reservoirs present challenging problems evaluate their petrophysical properties and prediction
of reservoir behavior during production.
 Fractured reservoirs are much more difficult and expensive to evaluate than the more conventional
reservoirs.

Indian Examples

MUMBAI HIGH
 Mumbai High Field on Basement reservoirs habe been explored based on the seismic
identification of natural fractures and their origin and relationships to fault systems
and the tectonic, lithologic and stratigraphic variables that control the distribution of
hydrocarbons.
 Production of oil is being realized as Basement oil exploration in Mumbai High area.
The above figure (Figure.3.) depicts the perspective view of the basement top with the key wells
that have yielded hydrocarbons from fractured basement. The dark red patches in the north and
northwestern part of the map correspond to the Basaltic country and exhibit the highest
structural relief in Mumbai High. In general the intensity and spread of faulting is seen to be
higher in the southern part which is dominated by Granitic and metamorphic rocks.
Padra Field, South Cambay Basin
 Padra Field, located in the eastern margin of South Cambay Basin, is famous for oil
and gas production from unconventional fractured Deccan Trap reservoir.
 More than 70 wells have been drilled in the Field, and oil gas production is from
trap in the Olpad and Ankleshwar formations.
 It is well established that the reservoir porosity, permeability and hydrodynamic
behavior in trap are attributed to natural fractures present in it.
 Almost all the wells producing from trap are barefoot completions (100-150 m) and
are average to poor producers, and except a few wells, all are on SRP.
 A wide variation in well performance is observed in nearby wells in the Field, which
is the primary issue for a development program and exploration.
• Padra Field is unique for its oil and gas production from the unconventional
fractured Deccan Trap reservoir.
• It contains a very critical hydrocarbon accumulation and production behavior is
strongly controlled by faults and natural fracture systems.
• Both mega fracture/fault systems and natural fracture systems are prerequisites
for an ideal condition for hydrocarbon accumulation and production.
• Fracture analysis of the Deccan Trap reservoir in a few wells from FMI log data
suggests that a wide variation in fracture population across the Field exists due to
highly compartmentalized and faulted reservoir.
• A genetic relationship between field level fault systems and natural fractures also
exist, as they were formed in the same state of stress.
• This relationship can be utilized for planning infill development well locations with
optimum well paths for maximum fracture intersection and furtherexploration of
trap in the area
 Borholla & Champang
Field, Upper Assam Basin

 The fractured Basement reservoir is

very unconventional in nature.
 As the South Assam Shelf basin has
witnessed severe tectonic activities in
different phases, this poly-tectonic
phases of basin evolution have created
very complex fault and fracture
network within the Basement.
 At places where high fracture density is
available in the basement, it has shown
accumulation of hydrocarbons.
Way-forward for Basement Exploration
 The basement locales should have better structural disposition with appreciable
amount of over burden thickness (>2000m).
 The fracture density should be high.
 Robust entrapment condition should prevail i.e. top and lateral seal should be
intact and unaffected by younger tectonic disturbances.
 Basement upliftment during younger period is to be focussed for Basement
exploration in this area.
 Basement high to be more lucrative and less risk prone from hydrocarbon
exploration point of view.
Geothermal Energy
The word geothermal is derived from the Greek word geo which means earth and the
word thermal and the world thermal which means heat. The geothermal energy is
nothing but the heat from the earth and we can avail this to heat the buildings, generate
electricity and much more. Geothermal energy is a renewable source of energy because
the heat is continuously generating inside the earth.

This energy is the purest form of heat energy as it is stored in rocks and fluids. From this,
we can say that geothermal energy is the energy generated from the earth. This energy is
clean and at the same time renewable source which furnishes the energy to the countries
like the United States and much more across the world. It has the applications in
agriculture, space heating and in power production, at the same time, it is very cheap and
almost costless.
Geothermal Energy in India (cont)
 Geothermal provinces are estimated to produce 10,600 MW
of power (experts are confident only to the extent of 100
MW)
 Geothermal provinces in India: the Himalayas, Sohana, West
coast, Cambay, Son-Narmada-Tapi , Godavari, and Mahanadi
 Reykjavík Geothermal will assist Thermax to set up a pilot
project in Puga Valley, Ladakh (Jammu & Kashmir)
 First operational commercial geothermal power plant is likely
to come up in AP with a capacity of 25 MW by Geosyndicate
Pvt Ltd.
Energy within the earth:
 The earth has three layers within it namely core, mantle, and crust.
 The geothermal energy is produced in the earth’s core which is 4000 miles below
the surface which we live.
 In the core, the radioactive particles slowly decay in all the rocks that are present
in the core and due to it the temperature increases.
 The inner layer of the earth is called core, the core itself has two layers called solid
iron core and magma i.e. an outer layer of the core.
 Next, to the core, mantle layer is present and the outermost layers are called as a
crust, rock and water are heated in the crust up to 370 degrees Celsius.
Types of geothermal energy:
The geothermal energy was classified into three types and they are as follows:

Liquid dominant plant

Thermal energy
Enhanced geothermal

Liquid dominant plant: Liquid dominant plants or reservoirs have the temperature
of about 200 degrees Celsius and these are found close to the young volcanoes
surrounding the pacific ocean, also found in rift areas and hot spots. Flash plants are
used as a common way to produce electricity from the liquid dominant reservoirs.
These reservoirs do not require pumps and steam is isolated through the cyclone
separators, the liquid stays in the reservoir for using again. In southern California,
there is an area called Salton Sea field which gives the power of generating 200MWe.
Thermal Energy: The lower temperature sources generate the energy equal
to 100MBBL for a year. Some sources with temperatures of 30-150 degrees
Celsius are availed by not converting to electricity as greenhouses, fisheries and
for the purpose of industrial heating and bathing in nearly 75 countries. As of
2004, nearly 270 petajoules of geothermal heating were utilized. The heat for
all these purposes can also be taken from the co-production at a geothermal
electric plant. Water can be directly piped into radiators from the natural hot
spring or greasers.

Enhanced geothermal: The systems like enhanced geothermal system

transfer the water into the wells to get heated and again they are pumped back
out. The water is transferred under enormous pressure to increase rock
fissures, also makes the water to flow freely both in and out. To increase the
size of reservoir directional drilling can be used.
Uses of geothermal energy:

The three main uses of the geothermal energy are as follows:

 The direct use and district heating system which avail hot water from springs or plants
near the surface.
 The electricity generation is a power plant which needs the water and steam at high
temperature.
 The geothermal heat pumps avail water temperature near the surface of the earth to
manage the building temperatures above the ground.

The future of geothermal energy is very massive and it depends upon the
supply, demand, and utility of geothermal energy.
Advantages of geothermal energy:

 The geothermal energy is a renewable source of energy.

 It is a non-polluting and environment-friendly generating source of energy.
 It does not contain any wastage of by-products.
 The energy produced by geothermal energy can be availed directly.
 The cost to maintain or look after the geothermal plants is very low.
 At the same time, these plants do not occupy the large area.
 It is not dependent on the weather conditions like other renewable sources.

Disadvantages of geothermal energy:

 Only a few areas have the power of geothermal energy.
 The areas where geothermal energy is generated are very far away from the markets.
 The total amount of power produced by these plants is very low.
 It has the danger of the eruption of the volcano at any time.
 The total energy generated might sometimes justify the capital or does not justify the
capital of producing it.