SPE 25798 Society of Petroleum Engkleers

The Orinoco Heavy-Oil Belt Pilot Projects and Development Strategy

R.L. Trebolle, J.P. Chalot, and Rodolfo Colmenares, Lagoven S.A.
SPE Members

Copyright 1993, SoCiety of Petroleum Engineers, Inc.

This paper was prepared for presentation at the International Thermal Operations Symposium held in Bakersfield, CA, U.S.A., 8-10 February 1993.

This paper was selected for presentation by an SPE Program Committee following review of information contained in an abstract submitted by the author(s). Contents of the paper,
as presented, have not been reviewed by the Society of Petroleum Engineers and are subject to correction by the author(s). The material, as presented, does not necessarily reflect
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ment of.where and by whom the paper is presented. Write Librarian, SPE, P.O. Box 833836, Richardson, TX 75083-3836, U.S.A. Telex, 163245 SPEUT.

ABSTRACT to be investigated, comprising a region of 7000 km 2 and

The development of the.Orinoco extra heavy oil belt
(Faja Petrolifera), known as the largest extra-heavy
(8.5 "API) hydrocarbon accumulation in the world, has
become a major goal for the venezuelan oil industry
in the next decade.
The Cerro Negro area, contains 213 billion stb and
the current estimation for the primary recovery
factor is 12% of the stock-tank original oil in place
(STOIIP) .
c~ntains in the main member (Morichal formation) 157
billion bbls of STOIIP.
From 1979 to 1982 a total of 207 exploratory wells were
drilled and 155 wells for development including three
modules 0-16, J-20 and K-20 to determine the expected
performance profile for future commercial development.
The K-20 modern nine-well c~uster has tested 550 BOPD
each well in cold production. The feasibility study of
the Cerro Negro, was initiated to answer the following
questions:

Following the exploratory campaign, in the early What effects do reservoir parameters and well
eighties, three pilot projects were initiated design have on short and long term performance?
(0-16, J-20 and K-20) in the Cerro Negro Area. These Which reserves are needed to support a target
pilot~ consist of patterns of vertical producing plateau rate of 120,000 mil stb/d and at what
wells and clusters of highly deviated wells with well spacing?
different spacing, complet ion type, sand control, How to increase understanding of the recovery
stimulation Chuff and puff) and lifting process.
* mechanisms in order to contribute to the
Furthermore, since 1990 two horizontal wells were decision making process, and to partially
drilled, evaluated and monitored in cold production, minimise the risk associated with the future
using the neighboring vertical wells. capital expenditure required for reservoir
development?
The acquisition of an exceptionally large data set in
the exploration/appraisal step (207 wells) and the According the complexity of the development of this
three pilot projects (155 wells) not only provided a huge heavy oil accumulations it was considered in the
unique opportunity for thorough study each of the early 80's the necessity for starting an experimental
relevant disciplines involved in the reservoir project located in Cerro Negro (Fig. 1). This project
management and production facilities design, but also was based on the technological background accumulated
promoted a set of new technologies to be applied in by the venezuelan oil industry in the development of
the design of the commercial development of these the heavy-oil reservoirs during the last thirty years.
prolific extra heavy reservoirs.
DevelopBent of Heavy-Oil Reservoirs in Venezuela
INTRODUCTION
Before concentrating on the Orinoco Belt a brief
The Orinoco Belt located in south-eastern Venezuela summary of the experience obtained in the traditional
is probably the largest essentially untapped oil areas will be discussed as a mainframe for the paper
accumulation in the world. North of the Orinoco presented.
River, the Belt stretches over a length of some
700 km, covering an area of approximately 54000 km 2 In Western Venezuela, the main Bolivar Coast reservoirs
(greater than the size of Denmark). It contains an under exploitation CBachaquero, Lagunillas and Tia
estimated 1182 billion bbls of original oil in place Juana Post-Eocene) contain heavy crudes of 11Q to 15Q
(STOIIP), distributed in three areas as follows: API gravity, with in-situ viscosities ranging from 100
to 10,000 cpo The original oil in-place estimated for
Cerro Negro 213 billion STB these three reservoirs is 63 billion bbl of oil. The
Machete-Hamaca 469 billion STB actual recovery is 14% STOIIP mainly due to formation
Zuata 500 billion STB compaction and solution gas drive, enhanced by steam
soak in most of the reservoirs. Continuation of this
The Cerro Negro area was selected as the first area policy could bring the ultimate recovery to 8.2

207

billion bbl of oil (20% STOIIP) at an abandonment
pressure of 250 psi. Currently these fields produce
around 20% of the world heavy oil extraction by
thermal techniques.
The steam soak stimulation process was discovered
somewhat accidentally in 1959 in the Mene Grande
field, Venezuela, when a steam injection well was
backflowed to relieve the reservoir pressure. The
well flowed at rates of more than 100 bbl/d and
had a low water cut compared to unstimulated wells,
which had been pumped at rates from 3 to 10 bbl/d.
This discovery led to the now-weI I-known cyclic steam
or huff'n'puff process widely used in thermal
recovery. The main effect of heating the reservoir
is a reduction in oil viscosity in which enhances
production rate, but there are other minor effects,
such as a change in surface tension which is
manifested by changes in capillary pressure, relative
permeability and wettability.
In the heavy oil fields of the western Venezuela, the
success of steam soak is mainly due to an active
reservoir compaction drive (1,2), (Fig. 2) being
cheaper and operationally more simple than steam
drive.
Two large steam drive projects (M-6 and Jobo) were
started in the late 1970's and early 1980's. These
projects have demonstrated (3) that a total recovery
of 42% of the oil place can be obtained (Fig. 3).
However, the process is far less efficient than the
steam soak/compaction mechanism in terms of energy
balance and results in only about 2 bl of oil per ton
of steam injected, or a thermal efficiency of 3 bbl
of oil produced per bbl of oil burned.
Other thermal recovery techniques such as in-si tu
combustion have also been tried, but have mostly
failed because of mechanical and operational
problems.
Another interesting research program (the "Horizonte
Project") is under progress. This project combines
horizontal and vertical wells plus cyclic and steam
drive injection, to evaluate the efficiency of the
steam assisted gravity drainage process.
GEOLOGY
The oil-bearing sands in the Oil Belt were deposited
in a fluvial-deltaic environment of the Paleo Caroni
river (Fig. 4). They are 600 feet thick fn some
places, with an average of 377 feet in the the Cerro
Negro area. The top of the sand is at about 2600
feet, with the largest reserves occurring in the
Morichal member of the Oficina formation. The sands
are not homogeneous and their continuity varies from
70% to 90% through the area due to depositional
characteristics (Fig. 5). They are unconsolidated
and poorly sorted, with dispersed clay between
grains.
Most of the oil traps result from lateral facies
changes, sudden variations of the petrophysical
208
SPE.257 9~
parameters, and also by wedging-out of the fluvial sand
fills against the basement paleotopography (4). The
correlation of the electrical logs indicates a simple
geological structure consisting of a gently dipping
homocline, with an aquifer down structure in the north
and some zones of high water saturation.
The isopach of the Morichal Member has an average of
217 feet and varying from 25 to 320 feet.
The sands that account for the largest proportion of
the hydrocarbon acummulations are subdivided into five
lithostratigraphic units which can be regionally
correlated. These units vary with alternating
thicknesses of shales and sands. Geological studies
provide evidence that the basal unit was subjected to
erosion in the Cerro Negro and the Hamaca areas. The
tectonics indicate that the area has been subjected to
tensioned faulting the rigid block type without much
folding.
PETROPHYSICS
Conventional logging surveys were made in most of the
develo~ment wells (DLL-MSFL-GR-CAL-FDC-CNL-GR-CAL-IEL-
GR_Sp T ) and speci~l logs were t~ken in 21 wells (EPT,
WST) •
The petrophysical parameters were: Formation water
salinity: 7000 ppm Na~l; formation water resistivity:
0,74 Ohm.m 2 /m at 75 F; cementation exponent: 1.8;
tortuosity: 0.62; saturation exponent: 2.0; and grain
2
density: 2.65 gm/cm • The rock resistivity at 100%
water saturation is 2.0 Ohm.m 2 /m.
Shaliness (Vsh) has a significant influence on the
character of the reservoir rock due to the intimate
relationship between clay minerals and formation water;
shaliness from petrophysical analysis of the Morichal
member averages 5.58%. Clay minerals have beer
identified from core samples taken in wells PCN-ll anc
7 by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopi<
and cation exchange capacity analyses. The mosi
important clay minerals present are kaolinite (90%),
illite (5%) and smectite and chlorite (1-2%).
An extensive study of well Type 11FM-75 (5) was made.
The most significant log interpretation discovery was
that a geochemical model can be used not only to
identify kaolinite and illite clays, potassium feldspar
and quartz, but also to quantify porosity, eEC and to
estimate API oil gravity, by evaluation of vanadium
concentration and a correlation between API gravity and
Vanadium content. The addition of the NML tool allowed
identification of mobile water and it was concluded
that water greater than 6% of bulk volume would be
produced under normal reservoir conditions.
Reservoir Data
The Cerro Negro area contains a wide range of reservoir
characteristics and crude properties. In order to have
a representative description of the reservoir and
contained fluids a complete testing program has been
done since 1979 up to date.

Based on a study of the physical and chemical
properties of 288 crude oil samples from the whole
Faja area, including density, Sulphur (S), Vanadium
(V), asphaltene content, and viscosity at diff~rent
temperatures, four groups of crude oils were
identified. Type A crude oil occurs in the NE part
of Hamaca and Zuata and in the eastern part of Cerro
Negro with 13'API, 1. 6% of Sand 250 ppm of V. Type
D shows 8,5 ·API, 3.8% of Sand 450 ppm of V and
occurs to the north and cover the greatest part of
the area. The other two types fall between type A
and D already discussed.
The temperature dependance of the crude oil Viscosity
from different Venezuelan heavy oil crudes is
illustrated on Fig. 6. On the Morichal, the range
varies between 1000 to 8000 cp for the appropiate
temperature variations. Average reservoir properties
are listed in Table 1.
Coring and analysis of unconsolidated sands proved to
be difficult. Laboratory test reports showed that
cores from wells PCN-7/11 and CI-74 have high
porosity and permeability values.
An extension of the Kozeny-Carman relationship shows
a consistent behavior. However, the scarcity of the
data for the low porosity range makes it particularly
difficult to have an acceptable fit of the parabolic
semilogarithmic relation.
Permeabilities range from 2 to 18 Darcies, with a
mean of 4.5 Darcies from core analysis. The average
permeability values deduced from well test give
results slightly higher, around 14 Darcies.
DRILLING AND PRODUCTION
In the early stages vertical and directional wells
were drilled in the 0-16 and J-20 modules. Since
1990 the K-20 module nine-well cluster has been
operational. These wells were completed with
conventional sucker roads and without selective steam
injection. Other experiences in the Faja area with
the slant rig demostrated its flexibility and easy
handling, proving simpler to drill a slanted hole
than a conventionally deviated hole.
The wells are c<;>mpleted with a 10-3/4" fresh water
shutoff string at 500 feet, followed by the 7"
production casing cemented at top sand. The
production interval is completed gravel packed across
the open interval. The 5-1/2" liner is equipped with
portcollars, and nipples for selective steam
injection and expansion joints to compensate for
reservoir compaction.
Production is through 3-1/2" tubing using
conventional API pumps of 3-1/2". The surface unit
is a 40-80 HP beam pump and a maximum stroke of 144
inches. Same other units are in evaluation in the
Cerro Negro area. This permits production of up to
2.000 bbl/d of fluid when the wells are hot.
Continuous sucker roads are selected over
conventional ones to facilitate well service and to
minimize the resistance on the downstroke by avoiding
209
SPE25798
the necessity of centralizers to reduce wear at the
collared connections. Daily injection rates averaged
200 tons per well of 80% quality steam. The wells
tested flow back after steam injection at oil rates
between 1200 and 2000 bbl/d.
Since 1990 two horizontal wells were drilled (1.000 and
2.000 feet as horizontal section) and completed with a
7" slotted liner. Each well tested 1000 bbl/d in cold
production without any sand production. These wells
were tested with a WTD sensor that allows direct
pressure recording (6). A productivity index of
1.9 (bbl/d)/PSI was measured, twenty times higher than
the productivity of vertical wells completed in the
same sand and four times higher than the average
vertical well productivity in the area.
Well Perforaance
The fact that the reservoir is reasonably shallow and
has low initial pressure makes it a prime candidate for
thermal recovery.
The experimental production started in the Cerro Negro
in 1984, to investigate the following parameters:
* Spacings (150, 300 and 400 meters).
* Complet ions (open hole and cased hole gravel packs).
* Pumps.
* Vertical and directional drilling.
* Production methods (Cold and steam soaking).
There is a wide variation in production performance of
individual wells, both before and after injection, due
to differences in sand development and completion as
well as the mechanical condition of the wells.
The recent results (K-20) so far have been highly
encouraging achieving a 550 bbl/d each well on cold
production.
The initial cold oil production rate historY is
strongly related to completion. type and
transmissibility. Hence the wells have been grouped as
follows:
Group 1 Inside gravel packed - Whole Morichal Sand.
Group 2 Open hole gravel packed - Whole Morichal Sand.
Group 3 Inside gravel packed - Morichal Base Sand.
Group 4 Open hole gravel packed - Morichal Base Sand.
Wells from groups I and 3 with inside gravel packed
completions have an average production rate below 300
BOPD. ~hose from groups 2 and 4 show the advantage of
completing the wells with open hole gravel packs. The
exploratory campaign indicates that an average of
380 BOPD can be achieved if the wells are completed
""ith open hole gravel packs in the. whole Morichal
member and production could be as high as 1000 BOPD
(horizontal wells).
The average extra hot oil rate (qhot-qcoldl/qcoldl is
1. 27 with a extra accumulative hot oil production
equivalent to 60,000 stb. None K-20 wells have been
taken into account yet.
In order to investigate the effect of the spacing on
the performance of steam soak in the Cerro Negro Area

several infilled areas have been tested and pressure
analysis is available as shown in Table 2. Three
wells are presented, where sufficient accumulative
oil has been produced and pressure information is
available indicating that an oil recovery of 9% can
be achieved for a 300 psi abandonment pressure.
The decline cold oil rate for different spacing and
the average decline hot oil rate are presented in
Table 3.
COMPACTION/SUBSIDENCE DRIVE MECHANISM
The existence of compaction drive in the Cerro Negro
area would obviously have very important implications
on development programms, reserves and the cost of
produced oil.
During the exploration activity, 7426 feet of core
were taken, uniaxial and triaxial tests were
performed in order to estimate the magnitude of rock
compressibility, necessary for a prediction of
reservoir compaction. Careful interpretations and
analyses of geomechanical data from uniaxial
compression indicated rock compressibility values
range from 23 to 30 x 10 -6 psi-I.
The surpr~s~ng overconsolidation ratio for the
undisturbed samples, is in the range 1.3-1.5,
indicating that the sands have been exposed to higher
stress than the presently encountered. Erosion and
uplift only would correspond to 900-1500 feet
overburden removal which is improbable so other
mechanisms must account for the higher past maximum
pressure:
Changes in sea level, environment, chemical.
Dehydration.
Increase of horizontal stress due to tectonic
movement.
From this, the rate of compaction due to depletion in
the early production of the area will be very low due
to the low threshold pressures, estimated between 571
psi to 725 psi.
This non linear behavior is characteristic of a high
reservoir compaction as experimented in the
Bachaquero field during the last thirty years.
Presently this effect was related to change of
loading rate of -a unconsolidated sand reservoir (9)"
These analyses lead to conclude that the rate of
compaction due to depletion in the early production
period will be very low, and only when the threshold
pressure is reached the rate of compaction will be
appreciable. This effect is expected to occur when
cumulative production corresponds to 2% recovery.
Radioactive bullets were tested in wells CI-83, 84,
85 and 86 installing 3 to 5 -r~dioactive bullets in
Morichal and 2 bullets in underburden and overburden
shales with a minimum separation of 30 feet between
two bullets. Up to now, no subsidence was observed
after two topographic surveys covering the field
history. However, cumulative production is very low
210
SPE25798
and does not allow to detect levels of subsurface
compaction or surface subsidence.
Reservoir Si.ulation
Thermal simulation studies are mainly performed to
assist in: project design, determination of steam
injection rates and cumulative volumes, evaluate
completion practices and maximize extra oil steam
ratio. A single well radial model was used with 13
vertical layers and 10 blocks in the radial site. Two
shales are dividing the corresponding main sand units.
Hence the total number of grid block was 130. The grid
system modelled comprises an average well in the
Morichal sand with a 400 m spacing covering 13.3 MMb.
STOUP.
The objective was to match oil rate production and
decline rate from an average Cerro Negro well on cold
production. This well performance was matched by
slight adjustments to the permeability as can be shown
in Fig. 7.
The base case simulation assumed high rock
compressibili ty although matching oil rate decline,
points out that if compressibility is reduced it would
be impossible to achieve a fit.
Sensitivitv Study
The sensitivity study was performed on the following
parameters:
* Cold and hot production.
* Changes in compressibility values and
permeabilities.
* Changes in bottom hole pressure.
* Different Spacings.
* Changes in anisotropy (Kv/Kh).
The results are presented in Table 4 illustrating the
importance of spacing on recovery factors. These
results were corroborated on the field as can be seen
in Table 2. However, the spacing vs. recovery plot
shows an optimum spacing of 231 meters (Fig. 8).
Changes in compressibility corroborate the tremendous
importance of compaction on the recovery mechanisms.
Increase on permeability improves significantly the
recovery factor. However the permeability values should
not decrease below the 7 Darcies values from the core
analyses and the build-up pressure measurements.
The steam slug to be injected has to be optimised i.e.
doubling the amount of steam with selective injection
will yield better recoveries. On the other hand steam
soaking with 3 cycles treatment accelerates oil
production-around 2% of oil recovery factor and 2 extra
cycles would not increase significantly oil recovery
(Fig. 9).
Heavy Oil Production and Transnortation
Feed water for steam generation has excelent quality
requiring only filtration, oxygen removal and pH
 SPE25798

increase to protect boilers against corrosion. stimulating the wells by two or three cycles of steam-
Actually pH is kept around 9. soaking. Different schemes are under study to
stabilize the target (1) to extent the drilling (same
The wells are pumped with sucker-rod pumps. For spacing), (2) to infi.ll, (3) on a long term basis,
extremely viscous oils, production have to be horizontal and steam drive well technology could be
assisted by use of diluents injected into the casing. implemented, depending on results of the current pilot
projects, field production mechanisms and economics.
Associate gas production, with specific gravity of
0.65 has a relatively low net heating value of 840 The message is clear and enough room is available to
Btu/scf, although is considered enough to supply fuel optimize reservoir policies keeping up the
for the stimulation process. prestablished plateau rate.

Tl'ansportation from production areas to suitable CONCLUSIONS

refineries and processing plants is significantly The Orinoco Oil Belt represents one the more important
more difficult problem for heavy oils. Because most heavy oil accumulations in the world (1182 billion bbl
pipelines have viscosity specifications of < 100 cp of STOIIP). The geological and petrophysical results
the selected method for pipelini'¥f.theavy oil is based show high productive sand bodies for which no
on emulsification (Orimulsion). The mixing particular risk is expected during the production life
conditions are achieved with a very small quantity of of the projects.
a particular surfactant and 30% water.
The unconsolidated sand at shallow depth should
Future Plans and Eeano-ics experiment high compaction effect. This parameter is
currently considered as the main factor that will
In the past, economics have dictated that a high oil control the efficiency of the natural depletion phase.
price is necessary before heavy-oil production According the available information the primary
becomes attractive on an large scale. However, in recovery factor should vary between 9 and 12% of the
many areas of the world light and medium oil STOUP.
reservoir are becoming increasingly marginal and
require a' high front end capital, associated to a Through the evaluation of three pilot projects it was
high exploration/development risk as illustrated in possible to demonstrate the technical and economical
(10) for the North Sea fields. In contrast, large feasibility of a large scale development although there
accumulation of heavy oil onshore at shallow depths, is room to optimize the production performance in terms
such as Orinoco oil belt, compare favorably with many of drilling islant and horizontal wells), pattern
high-risk conventional oil plays. (spacing and well architecture) and drive mechanism
(primary, primary plus steam stimulation, steam-drive).
Table 5 summarizes this comparison as reported in It is demonstrated that Heavy Oil Transport an oil-
(11), between marginal north sea, typical heavy-oil in-water emulsion (Orimulsion™) has much promise for
development and the current performance of the cost reduction and efficient pipeline operations.
experimental project of the Cerro Negro field. The present economic climate and worldwide reserves
distribution may favor the large scale development
The envisaged project is based on a plateau rate of project of the Orinoco Heavy Oil accumulation.
50 MSTBD of Orimulsion achieved through 3 modules of
36 wells each. the initial CAPEX includes the cost Aclmowledgents
of a processing plant to emulsify the heavy crude.
These examples suggest the following comments: We express our appreciation to Lagoven S.A., Bitor
S.A., and PDVSA for permission to publish this paper.
* The Orinoco Belt project is midway between
the basic cases in terms of capital Although the preparation of this paper has been the
expenditure profile. joint contribution of many members of the company's
* The operating cost are significantly lower technical staff, special credit is due to Henrique
than a typical heavy oil crude project, Theron and Lagoven's Eastern Division for their
including the emulsification cost. technical contribution.
* The margin for this project are 66% higher
than a marginal (light/medium) development of 51 ItETRIC CONVERSION FACTORS
the north sea. °API 141.5/(131.5 + <API) g/cm 3
* The results for Orinoco Belt must be acres x 4.046873 E-Ol ha
3
considered as conservative as they do not bbl x 1.589873 E-Ol m
take into account the front-end loading cp x LO* E-03 Pa.s
investment due to exploration geology and OF °F-32l/1.8 °c
field development risks. ft x 3.048* E-02 m
2
md x 9.869233 E-04 m
For the future large scale development of the Cerro psi x 6.894757 E+OO KPa
Negro, it is planned to 'produce a plateau rate of SCF/STB x 1.78121 E-Ol m3~m3
120,000stb/d during 20 years. The initial drilling sq.mile x 2.589988 E+OO Km
plan will be 360 wells on a 400 m spacing and * Conversion factor is exact.

211
 S-PE25798

Referenqes

1.- De Haan, H.J. and van Lookeren, J: "Early

TABLE 2- INFILLED WELLS FIELD PERFORMANCE
results of the First Large Scale Steam Soak
Project in the Tia Juana Field, Western INITIAL ACTUAL CllU.ATIVE
Venezuela" JPT pp 101-10; Jan. 1969. NE..L SPACIN6 r.J PRODUCTION PRESSlIIE PRESSLflE OIL PRODUCED
MEtHoo (pall (pall lMMbbll

2.- Van der Knaap, W. and van der VIis, A.C.: "On CI-36 150 COLD 928 5B3 .183
the cause of Subsidence in Oil Producing CI-37 150 COLD 93!5 517 .167
Areas", paper presented at Third World Pet. CD-l 3DD IIDT B44 737 .111
Cong., Mexico City, April 2-8,1967.

3.- JH. Mc Gee: "The Jooo Steam Flood Project:

Evaluation of Results", JPT, Oct. 1987. TABLE 3- YEARLY DECLINE OIL RATE
4.- RV. Everett., MHeron, G. Prive, J. , COLD PRODUCTION
Schweitzer and H. Edmundson: "Faja Case
Study Results on Single Well, MFM-75", SPE, SPACIN6 lIIl MAXIMUM 1Il MINIMUM 1Il
Formation Evaluation, Sept. 1987. 400 15.8 8.7
300 23.9 15.1
5.- Santos, A. and Frontado, L. "Reservoir
Geology of the Cerro Negro Steam Injection 150 33.1 25.0
Area, Orinoco Oil Belt, Venezuela". Journal
of Petroleum Geology, 10 (2) pp 177-194,1987. HOT PRODUCCION

FIRST CYCLE 551

6.- JM. Mc Gee: "Horizontal Drilling Technology
Applied in the Orinoco Belt", Unitar V, SECOtII CYCLE 201
Caracas Aug. 1991.

7.- Sancqez, M. and Rajani B.: "Compressibilities

of unconsolidated oil sands from Orinoco Oil TABLE 4 - SENSITIVITY STUDY RESULTS SUMMARY
Belt, Venezuela" INTEVEP Internal Technical
Report. IECOVERY III
PAIWETBllI IWIBE MINIIOl IIAXIIOl
lIIIIFICATIDN MINIIOl IIAXIIOl
!WEE !WEE
8. - Rajani, B. and Sanchez, M. "Regional
lPACIJlB
Characterization of Geomechanical Properties 1!5D al 13.4 9.9
lIII
of Unconsolidated Sands of the Heavy Oil TNICIOESS
(fHtI 217 2B7 9.11 8.7
Belt, Venezuela" Paper NQ 167, Fourth IntI.
Unitar of Heavy Crude and Tar Sands ClIIIPfElISmILITY
lp81--' 118 X 10'" 131 X 10'" 4.7 9.9
Conference, 1989.
PBlEABILITY 3.11 17 I 10.11
lDw<:1..1
9.- De Waal an Smits: "Prediction of Reservoir
STEAIl SOAKIJlB 11.11 12.4
Compaction and Surface Subsidence Field IUIIEA IF CYa.ES
3 II
Aplication of a New Model". SPEJ, June 1988.

10.- Castle: "North Sea Score Card", SPE 15358.

Trans., AIME, 1986.
TABLE 5 - COMPARATIVE PROJECT COSTS
11. - Briggs, Baron, Fulleylove and Wright:
"Development of Heavy Oil Reservoirs", JPT, _INAL FIELD TYPICAL CIRENT I£AVY OIL
Feb. 1988. PIlDoJECT DI' CI!IlIlD _
IIDIITH SEA HEAVY OIL FIELD
TOTAL IECOVERY
10 8 m 7lJ 114 2IlII

TABLE 1- TYPICAL HEAVY OIL BELT PROPERTIES PLAT1!AU RATE

10 7 !lO
10 1 1lTB/ll
POROSITY 32 1 IIlITIAL CAPEl(
271
us • 1 IlILLIIlIl lIlI2 lIS
PERMEABILITY 2-18 Dercles
A*JAL CAPEl(
RESERVOIR DEPTH 2900 feet us • 1 MILLION 19 17
RESERVOIR TEMPERATURE 140 0 F
A*JAL DPEX
RESERVOIR PRESSURE .1150 psl us • 1 MILLION
lIlI 13 40

OIL GRAVITY 8-9 OAPI

COST DI' OIL I/Ilbl 18 13 8
GOR 70 acf/bbl
OIL FORMATION VOLUME FACTOR
BUBBLE POINT PRESSURE
1.06 rb/atb
800-960 paie
PlIICE I/blII 18 • 12 • 10

ROCK COMPRESSIBILITY 23-30 X 10 psi- l _IN ./bIII 3 8

RESERVOIR OIL VISCOSITY 8500 cpa I. Il!I'EIED TO 1IIllS PlIIC!l

212
 SPE25798

1"'/ I: 24CCf
CClACTO<

1-L-l
[jJ
C<lOI'OCT1OH OlE
10 PROOUCTION

o !IOO 1000 1500

301"
STAR'
PA<llllCT1C>I
~
\, \
U~
_PIf\.THRfSt«)LO
lH.......
,....
OIOOIClOOI~

-'-u··, .
HN

o SOO
•
I

o
lOOO 1500
6P (PSO
,"'
~POSITION
8U'UAl

J
EFFECTIVE PR(SSlR(

Fig. 2. - Compaction history of reservoirs blocks

Fig. 1. - Orinoco oil belt location

LAS
19~6 81M'" IGNEO·METAM BASEMENT eM :: TIDAL CHANNELS
co '" FlUVIO·DELTAIC CHANNELS Dl = LITTORAL DEPOSITS
II '" INTEA-01STRtBUIAFIIES PLAINS BI ::: INTERD15TRl8UTARY
AND SWAMPS. EMBAYMENT
BO ::: STREAM-MOUTH BARS. '" CREVASSE DEPOSITS
CA ::: ABANDONED CHANNElS l ::: LAGOONAL DEPOSITS
81 = INTER01STRlBUTARY EMBAVMENT

M-6 (4Z~. RECOVERY FACTOR) ,

...,.""'-''r-
1918
• --,

_ _ _- - / -- JOBO (44 -I. RECOVERY FACTOR 1

• FUTURE PROJECTS
BOLIVAR COAST

ORINOCO OIL BELT

Fig. 3. - Venezuelan thermal recovery history Fig. 4.- Cerro Negro sedimentology

213
 SPE25798

~ - - --- - - - - _.-
100000 l~ --
~-2 ;)\...
~~
::
. -r
:>
F-I

-2
v)
I:J
..
~ ~
SANDS AND SHALES fRAN S-
GAESSlvE, SOME CALCAREOUS.
GOOD TO MODERATE SORTING
~"
~~~\.
-- --

--
~

""'l -3 :: FINE TO MEDIUM GRAINED

s:. lil ...

~~~\
~
0-4 SANOS,cALC _$ANDS S1LT5 AND
z

m~
~

~~ -<
SHALES. BlOT~8ATEQCI1ANN.
\ ~ ~".\
~
iL~.BfS", TIOAL,027 % ~
... e " \. ':"
~;~~
r~<
10009
...
Z
U
,.
ai ~ CJ;tl
<; V;' ~S
THICKNESS 9lm l 300') SAN:lS
SHALES AND SILTS, CLAY-
. '.....
f--

~~~ACEOUS,CALCAREOU5
1100'
0
i .,0
0 J l 0-' in
>~

BIOTURBATEO.NAX.~ 32%.
~
~
-<:>.
:-,..
.~'~~~ --
...
.J
z
0
;:
.., Zl!o'
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.~ -9
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K.3.S97 Ind. S. 12 % VstlI5O/C1
~ " ~ I"" ~ ~,~. ",
0
.,0
,....a: ... ~~
VARIABLE GRAIN SIZE, POOR ;;:
"'ll ~
l~, . ~ ." ~"', ~, ~~ ~
0 TO GOOD SORTING
1O. . ore>
i ~~
0 ... >-
0 ( I "----?- b"- _.
:=::... . ". - -
.... ...
r'i-= .
THtCKNESS 122"'(400"
>-
.J
Z
U .,,. ~ '" .~
SANDS, WITH SILTSTONES,
AND SHALES.
.
"~
~
' . .'-
......
a: u: '-"
2~
CHAfliNELS MOSTLY FLUVIAL ,,~
0 ~'<:~ ~
...::c ~ ?
....i
-~".~.~~~
.J
0'3 0'" AND DElTAlC. g: 32%. e So -- --_.~- ._-

u (
1 "" ...~~
z.oo'
~g 30 %,K .5,616 mel. SW 100/0,
Vsh 6 % MEDIUM TO FINE
~~ -
~r:=
.
ii:
,.
0 GRAINED, WOOERATE TO
~ ,.Io.D~ ""
0-''''-
GOOO SOATING. f.) LENS
OPEN TO PRODuCTION
=== - - f-. .:">..., t~

{P£ I IGNEOUS METAMORPHIC BASEMENT TEMPERATURE,-"

Fig. 6.- Kinematic viscosity Vs temperature

Fig. 5.- Depositional characteristics
Venezuelan heavy crude oils

:: ~ _ _ ~OIFFER[NT
SPACINGS

12 r
11 r

HISTORICAL CQ.lI
00 ~ 400 BPD
QO D- 4OOtrMt••
2.5 < d < 4.7 K - 10 Dcrc&.
600 ~ - 136 X 10'-' p._1 I ~ CHANGES IN COUPRESSIBlllTY
NOS - 21,-!!!!.-_-.-J

i':~ ~
500

400

d - 3 X 10- 4 (reciprocal day_) i'r~

.~
300

200 S5" 10"

-------- -------- - -----~. 136 II 10"
COMPRESSl8LITY (10" p.la~·)

100 ~_L--'-......J_..L-'-_L--'-......J~-,----,-,-L-~=:::::=1=l:::';:=C:===-
o 2 3 5 7 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
nllE (YEARS) CHANGES IN PERl.4EABILlTY
"f
10 !

Fig. 7. - History matching representative field well model 7~ ---

....
.~--­
[~. __ .
PERt.lEASLITY (Oarel••)

Fig. 8.- Sensitivity study result

214
 SRt:25798

lila I. '00 ~P.!.

1,200
/I C~

,
I. 000
I\
, ..... ,
BOO
\
ODD f
\
'00
'- '-
200
0
0 I 2 J • 5 0 7 8
- - --
9 10 It 12 13 Sot 15 16 17 18 19 20
TIME (YEARS)

11.7

to 15 20
TJ.E (YEARS)

Fig. 9.- Steam soacking well simulation profile

215