Technical Program

Tuesday, 9 November

Session 1: Heavy Oil Global Perspectives

Session Chairs: Simon Bennett and Naz Gazi

The Heavy Oil ATW in Kuwait will provide in its opening session the challenges and opportunities for heavy oil developments and put in context the nature of the issues facing the industry in this area.
An outlook for heavy oil production will aim to provide an insight into the impact of heavy oil developments in areas such as demand for reservoir management, drilling, facilities and infrastructure as well as enhanced regulatory requirements.

The outlook may also address the affects upon overall crude pricing and quality and its impact on refining type and capacity. Differentiation of heavy oil developments to secure cost and price advantages through enhancements of the heavy oil value chain will be introduced since the technologies employed may in the future require different ways of working and different deliverables from petroleum engineers in order the enable developments.

In this session an overview of Middle Eastern experiences and opportunities in Heavy Oil developments can be presented as an introduction to subsequent sessions where the case histories can be presented.

Session 2: Field Development and Reservoir Management

Session Chairs: Yousif Ahmed and Gary Greaser

The oil industry has a long history of developing heavy oil projects using thermal and non-thermal technologies. Heavy oil field development has addressed many types of reservoirs; however, the Middle East heavy oil reservoirs present some additional challenges as many of these reservoirs are carbonate and fractured carbonate.

This session will discuss industry’s use of modeling and other forecasting techniques, new recovery technologies, and new well and completions designs for HO development options. Reservoir management programs are critical to the success of an active project including well surveillance and reservoir monitoring. Case histories and new development plans will be covered.

Wednesday, 10 November

Session 3: Production Operations Challenges

Session Chairs: Sultan Al Otaibi and Dr. Eissa Al Safran

The reserve of conventional oil is decreasing at alarming rate and it is leading to the price hikes for conventional crude. Finding alternative energy sources including Heavy Oil is therefore a major agenda of the day. Availability of HO is more than double than that of conventional oil. Thus there is an incentive to explore the heavy oil with a priority.

This workshop is arranged to address the problems related to production operation issues and to share the lessons learned through heavy oil production plants. In this session our focus will be mostly on the surface facilities for CSS, SF and SAGD although not limited to it.

Major issues with heavy oil production are associated with the efficient use of the process as indicated below:

3.1     Fluid Separation

1. High HO Viscosity, emulsion formation, lower density differences between water and HO leads to product separation problems
2. Rag layer in the oil water interface prevents the separation of oil and water

3.2     Water & Steam Management 

1. To maximize the recycling of the produced water to reduce the make up water requirement
2. Technology selection based on TDS and the quality of produced water for the boiler in use
3. Steam distribution network design for even steam distribution and avoid hammering
4. Using OTSG or Drum boiler

3.3     Corrosion and scale Solutions

1. H2S, CO2, and high TAN (Total Acid Number) may lead to corrosion problems
2. Asphaltene/resin/wax may lead to scaling problem in the heater/cooler

Session 4: Downstream Value Creation

Session Chairs: Khaled Al Mushaileh and Meena Marafi

This session will focus on downstream value creation for heavy oil.  Global refineries and global capability will be a key topic of discussion as well as future plans for maximizing downstream value from heavier crudes.  As upstream technologies become more efficient and global production of heavy crude becomes more economic, downstream processes and technologies must meet the challenge of maximizing the value of the heavier crudes.

This session will focus on emerging technologies, upgrading technologies, global capabilities, and refining efficiency gains for accomplishing this challenge and doing so while producing a final product which has minimal environmental impact.