A New Method of Extracting Heavy Oil: Toe to Heel Air Injection (THAI)

[phantom power]

THAI™ is a evolutionary new combustion process, that combines a vertical air injection well with a horizontal production well. During the process a combustion front is created where part of the oil in the reservoir is burned, generating heat which reduces the viscosity of the oil allowing it to flow by gravity to the horizontal production well. The combustion front sweeps the oil from the toe to the heel of the horizontal producing well recovering an estimated 80 percent of the original oil-in-place while partially upgrading the crude oil in-situ.

(...)

The material on the Petrobank web site indicates that it is expected that THAI will recover 70% to 80% of oil originally in place. If 10% of the oil originally in place is burned in the process, this would leave 10% to 20% of the oil originally in place in the ground. It is not clear from the published material regarding tests whether they are yet at the target level.

According to the Petrobank website, besides yielding 70% to 80% recoverable, THAI can be used in many areas where steam methods cannot:

• Thinner reservoirs, less than 10 meters thick
• Where top or bottom water is present
• Where top gas is absent
• Areas with "shale lenses" that act as barriers to steam
• In general, lower pressure, lower quality and deeper reservoirs than current steam-based processes

By comparison, recovery using current steam processes is estimated to be 20% to 50% in the high-grade, homogeneous areas where steam methods can be used.

http://www.theoildrum.com/node/2907

[MethuenProgressive]

1. Other than invading Iraq?

Oh wait, extracting the oil had nothing to do with it...

[GliderGuider]

2. This just screams "Desperation".

Oil shale, tar sands, mega-deep-water, Arctic refuges, remote Siberian fields, now fire flooding. They all have three things in common - low production rates, very high costs and low net energy. This amounts to the world oil industry saying "Estamos jodidos".

[kestrel91316]

3. You took the words right out of my mouth.....desperation indeed.

[eppur_se_muova]

4. So 10% is converted to CO2 WITHOUT ever producting energy??

Oil directly to GHG, skip the middleman.

[phantom power]

5. Heh. It *is* producing energy. Energy used to get the*rest* out.

They are burning oil in-situ, to provide energy for extracting that other 70%. So, yes, it's a sort of direct reduction in EROEI :evilgrin: