Heavy Liquid Hydrocarbons: Their Production and the Resulting CO₂ Footprint

Tony Kovscek Stanford University Energy Resources Engineering email:[email protected]

First, a little quiz … Where does imported oil originate?

Jan - Jul 2007

4%
0%
1%
1%

Domestic Production

1%
1%
1%
1%
4%

3%
3%
36%
6%

7%
9%
9%

12%

Energy Information Administration, www.eia.doe.gov

Where does imported oil originate?

4%
0%
1%
1%
1%
1%
1%
1%
4%

Domestic Canada

3%
3%

6%
36%

Mexico Saudi Arabia Venezuela Nigeria Algeria Iraq Angola Colombia Kuwait

Saudi Arabia

7%

Libya

Mexico

United Kingdom Ecuador Brazil

Canada

9%
9%

Equatorial Guinea Other

12%

Energy Information Administration, www.eia.doe.gov

Who has large proved oil reserves?

Oil and Gas J., 2003

300 250 200 150 100
50
0

Reserve≠Resource

Reserve is energy that you can recover economically with existing technology.

Who has large proved oil reserves?

Oil and Gas J., 2003

300 250 200 150 100
50
0

Today’s Presentation

• What has Canada got?

– What is heavy oil? – What is heavy oil? – Why do you care about heavy oil?

• Heavy-oil recovery methods are energy intensive

– Alberta Canada Oil Sands – Kern River, CA

• CO₂ foot print for heavy oil production

– energy needed to produce heavy oil – implications for CO₂ production

• Summary

USA-Alaska 80 Bbbl
Middle East 1400 Bbbl conventional oil
Canada 2732 Bbbl

USA-Continental 137 Bbbl

Venezuela 700-3000 Bbbl

Say that world consumption is 25 Bbbl/yr, R/P = 240 years

What is heavy oil?

• heavy oil: about as dense as water (1000 - 930 kg/m³) tar or bitumen: more dense than water (> 1000 kg/m³)

• rules of thumb
-water 1 cP -100,000 cP for 10°API at 30°C -100 cP for 20 °API at 30 °C

• well productivity

1

J ~

µ_oil

Why do you care about heavy oil ?

World oil production, Hubbert-Style peak oil
World oil consumption

30 25 20 15 10
5

conservative prediction best prediction

actual data

QuickTime™ and a
TIFF (LZW) decompressor are needed to see this picture.

2001
2020

0

• 1800
• 1850
• 1900
• 1950
• 2050
• 2100
• 2150

yea²r⁰⁰⁰

Shell Global Scenarios to 2025, www.shell.com

Why do you care about heavy oil?

Sustained Growth Scenario (Shell)

World Population

Heavy Oil Fills the Gap

How do we recover heavy oil?

• Primary (heavy-oil solution gas drive) • Secondary (water injection) • Tertiary

more desirable?

-steam injection -in-situ combustion -vapor extraction -electrical heating

• Strip mining

Aurora Mine
Oil Sands Development

QuickTime™ and a
TIFF (Uncompressed) decompressor are needed to see this picture.

http://www.syncrude.com

open-pit mine

Syncrude: •Base mine–3.1 miles by 4.3 miles by 197 ft. deep •North mine–9 miles by 1.2 miles by 262 ft. deep •Aurora mine–3 miles by 1 mile by 229 ft. deep

open-pit mine 2 tonnes oil sand (basis)

http://www.syncrude.com

240-400 tonne capacity

open-pit mine 2 tonnes oil sand (basis) truck to a roll crusher

http://www.syncrude.com

open-pit mine
2 tonnes oil sand (basis) truck to a roll crusher

http://www.syncrude.com

reject some solids, slurry and pipeline open-pit mine

http://www.syncrude.com

2 tonnes oil sand (basis) truck to a roll crusher reject some solids, slurry and pipeline

extraction

Extraction: • hot water • NaOH

sand water

• vigorous mixing • get about 75% of OBIP

bitumen

open-pit mine

http://www.syncrude.com

2 tonnes oil sand (basis) truck to a roll crusher reject some solids, slurry and pipeline

extraction separation

bitumen

sand open-pit mine

http://www.syncrude.com

2 tonnes oil sand (basis) truck to a roll crusher reject some solids, slurry and pipeline

extraction separation pipeline to upgrader

Upgrading and hydrotreating: • cracking (add H₂ using CH₄) • coking (carbon rejection) • S and N₂ removal

open-pit mine
2 tonnes oil sand (basis) truck to a roll crusher reject some solids, slurry and pipeline

extraction

• Light sweet crude

separation

•>1 MMbbl/day output total Canada

(Syncrude, Suncor, PetroCanada) • 39% of Canadian oil production (2005)

• 1/8 gasoline in Canada, Syncrude • Syncrude cumulative > 1 Bbbl

pipeline to upgrader 1 barrel of syncrude (1 bbl = 42 gal=0.16m³)

Operating Costs and Oil Production

Syncrude only

QuickTime™ and a
TIFF (LZW) decompressor are needed to see this picture.

Canada Oil Sands Trust, http://cos-ar.beta.zu.com/annual_report/2006/

0.4 tonne CO₂/bbl 940 lbs CO₂/bbl

Oil and CO₂ Production

crude oil

2 tonnes sand = 1 barrel

220 lbs CO₂ / bbl 4.4 BTU of oil / BTU CH₄

http://www.syncrude.com

Where will the natural gas come from?

Image source unknown

CO₂ Implications

• By 2015, annual CO₂ emissions from upgrading operations are estimated to be 94 Mt

• By 2050, perhaps 2000 Mt per year • Canada’s Kyoto emissions goal is about 500 Mt per year

• Alternative to natural gas for processing is nuclear power (hydrogen and steam), Alberta Energy Corporation 5 Mar 07 press release, CANDU reactor for N. Alberta

Kern River (Kern Co., CA)

Lost Hills

• 99
• I-5

N. B.

South Belridge
Bakersfield 58

Kern River

Cymric
Elk Hills

Buena Vista MWSS

Stanford

miles

• 0
• 16

Bakersfield

Kern River

• Discovered 1899 by a farmer digging a water well.
Hit oil at 40 ft (or 70 ft) below ground (bgs)

• Original oil = 3.8 Bbbl • Producing interval: 500-1300 ft • Geology:
– Alternating sand and shale sequences – at least 7 major units – Dispersed silt in the sand zones
• Thickness: 30-90 ft net • Dip: 4 ° to the southwest

Why heat a heavy oil reservoir?

1

Oil viscosity versus temperature

productivity ~

µ

oil

10000
1000
100
10

Viscosity(cP)

1

• 0
• 100
• 200
• 300
• 400

temperature (°F)

Steam Injection

acknowledgement: U.S. DOE, SCNGO, http://www.netl.doe.gov/scngo/index.html