CHORUS

CHORUS is a heavy-oil research consortium with 16 corporate members, 8 principle investigators, 1 research associate and 13 graduate students at the University of Calgary, University of Alberta and Colorado School of Mines and is a multidisciplinary project combining geology, geophysics and reservoir engineering for enhanced recovery of heavy oil.

The Project

To-date, thermal recovery methods have been utilized ot unlock both types of reserves. But with rising natural gas prices, producers are seeking alternative production methods that will minimize their operating costs. Cold Production is the most cost effective production method already being utilized in Canada and is gaining ground as a viable means to produce heavy oil due to the growing use of progressive cavity pumps (PCP). These pumps act like augers and suck both sand and oil into the well. With no natural gas required, unlike current thermal production methods, the biggest benefit of cold production is that it provides energy savings to producers. Numerical modeling of such complexity is of particular interest to the field operators. Ideal predictions can assist oil producers to not only design better pumping schemes for sand control, but also optimize oil production and ensure wellbore stability.

The correlation between seismic data and reservoir production data is very compelling. To better understand these correlations and the implications for enhanced oil recovery we have directed our research efforts toward integrating studies of geochemical, geological, geophysical and reservoir production data. This research is leading toward a greater understanding of reservoir properties and should enhance production from heavy oil fields.