Heavy oil and tar sands recovery and upgrading. International technology

Abstract

This work provides an in-depth assessment of international technology for the recovery and upgrading of heavy crude oil and tar sands. The technologies included are currently in use, under development, or planned; emphasis is placed on post-1978 activities. The heavy oil technologies and processes considered include methods relating to the exploitation of heavy oil reservoirs, such as production from underground workings, all types of improved or enhanced recovery, subsurface extraction, and well rate stimulation. The tar sands section includes sizing the resource base and reviewing and evaluating past, present, and planned research and field developments on processes for mining, producing, extracting, and upgrading very heavy oils recovered from tar sands, e.g., bitumen recovery from tar sands where primary production was impossible because of the oil's high viscosity. 616 references.