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Recently, oil prices and oil demand are rising and are projected to continue to rise over the long term. These trends create great potential for enhanced oil recovery methods that could improve the recovery efficiency of reservoirs all over the world. The greatest challenges for enhanced oil recovery involve the technical uncertainty with design and performance, and the high financial risk. Pilot tests can help mitigate the risk associated with such projects; however, there is a question about the value of information from the tests. Decision support can provide information about the value of an enhanced oil recovery project, which can assist with alleviating financial risk and create more potential opportunities for the technology. The first objective of this study is to create a new simplified method for modeling oil production histories of enhanced oil recovery methods. The method is designed to satisfy three criteria: 1) it allows for quick simulations based on only a few physically meaningful input parameters; 2) it can create almost any potential type of realistic production history that may be realized during a project; and 3) it applies to all nonthermal enhanced oil recovery methods, including surfactant-polymer, alkali-surfactant polymer, and CO₂ floods. The developed method is capable of creating realistic curves with only four unique parameters. The second objective is to evaluate the predictive method against data from pilot and field scale projects. The evaluations demonstrate that the method can fit most realistic production histories as well as provided ranges for the input parameters. A sensitivity analysis is also performed to assist with determining how all of the parameters involved with the predictive method and the economic model influence the forecasted value for a project. The analysis suggests that the price of oil, change in oil saturation, and the size of the reservoir are the most influential parameters. The final objective is to establish a method for a decision analysis that determines the value of information of a pilot for enhanced oil recovery. The analysis uses the predictive method and economic model for determining economic utilities for every potential outcome. It uses a decision-based method to ensure that the non-informative prior probability distributions have an unbiased, consistent, and rational starting point. A simple example demonstrating the process is discussed and it is used to show that a pilot test provides some valuable information when there is minimal prior information. For future work it is recommended that more evaluations are performed, the decision analysis is expanded to include more input parameters, and a rational and logical method is developed for determining likelihood functions from existing information. / text

Orientador: Osvair Vidal Trevisan / Tese (doutorado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Faculdade de Engenharia Mecânica e Instituto de Geociências / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-25T03:02:30Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Laboissiere_Philipe_D.pdf: 6727238 bytes, checksum: ea2c2123c6debfbac0f638ef74e8cea7 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014 / Resumo: No método de recuperação WAG, a alternância dos fluidos injetados promove alterações de saturações no meio poroso. Associados a estas alterações ocorrem dois fenômenos muito relevantes à movimentação de fluidos na rocha: (1) o trapeamento capilar de CO2 durante o processo de embebição, e (2) a histerese nas curvas de permeabilidade relativa. As informações sobre o aprisionamento de CO2 e os efeitos de histerese cíclica são chaves para a previsão de comportamento dos reservatórios carbonáticos submetidos à injeção alternada de água e dióxido de carbono (CO2-WAG) e estocagem de CO2. Os objetivos deste trabalho são divididos em duas partes. A primeira é investigar, em escala de laboratório, a influência de diferentes condições de pressão e temperatura sobre a máxima saturação de gás trapeada em escoamento bifásico. A segunda é investigar, também em escala de laboratório, os efeitos de histerese cíclica (gás e água) da permeabilidade relativa em escoamento trifásico. Com esta finalidade, foram realizados testes em rochas carbonáticas, consideradas heterogêneas. As coquinas utilizadas são de afloramentos análogos ao do pré-sal, procedentes da Formação Morro do Chaves, da Bacia Sergipe-Alagoas, Brasil. Amostras semelhantes às utilizadas no trabalho tiverem sua composição mineralógica, geometria dos poros e propriedades petrofísicas caracterizadas por lâminas delgadas e por tomografia computadorizada. No trabalho é desenvolvida uma metodologia experimental para caracterização de experimentos em rochas carbonáticas, de forma a permitir adequada investigação do método WAG em escala de laboratório. O monitoramento das distribuições de saturações durante os ensaios de deslocamento foi realizado através de tomografia computadorizada, juntamente com criteriosos procedimentos para obtenção dos balanços de materiais. A metodologia é apresentada em duas etapas que contemplam, em uma primeira instância, a montagem de um aparato (A) para o estudo sobre trapeamento bifásico de N2 ou CO2 em uma amostra (A) longa (76 cm); e, em uma segunda, a montagem de outro aparato (B) para conduzir o teste de histerese trifásica em uma amostra (B) curta (21 cm). As amostras foram preparadas e os testes seguiram com os procedimentos considerados padrões para os estudos propostos. Para a investigação do trapeamento bifásico (água-gás) e da variação dos coeficientes de trapeamento de Land, foram realizados deslocamentos de drenagens e embebições em diferentes condições de pressão (700 a 7000 psi) e temperatura (22°C e 65°C) para avaliar a influência das propriedades rocha-fluido na saturação residual de gás em meio poroso. Para a investigação da histerese cíclica da permeabilidade relativa trifásica e da redução da permeabilidade relativa ao gás e à água, foram realizadas sequências de deslocamentos de drenagem e embebição em meio poroso saturado com óleo e na condição de água irredutível. Os resultados da investigação sobre o trapeamento do gás pela água revelam que os efeitos combinados de aumento de viscosidade e densidade do gás em condições de pressão e temperatura elevadas aumentam a saturação máxima de gás trapeada. Os coeficientes de trapeamento de Land obtidos neste trabalho foram caracterizados através da determinação local das saturações via tomografia computadorizada, apresentando variação local do coeficiente. Eventos de dissolução-precipitação nos testes envolvendo CO2 e salmoura carbonatada alteram a estrutura dos poros e podem modificar a capacidade de trapeamento da amostra, funcionando como um mecanismo auxiliar. O efeito de histerese em processo WAG fica claro na análise dos dados experimentais de permeabilidade relativa à água e ao gás do teste trifásico, destacando-se o comportamento da permeabilidade relativa ao gás. Através da adequada caracterização da histerese em regime permanente foi possível determinar o expoente (?) de redução da permeabilidade relativa ao gás do modelo de Larsen. Conclui-se que os parâmetros de histerese bifásica e trifásica são dependentes do processo de injeção, que é uma característica da injeção WAG. Os parâmetros devem ser medidos na pressão e temperatura de reservatório do campo em estudo, para assim, serem representativos em ajustes de histórico experimental e para uma adequada previsão do comportamento do processo WAG em escala de campo / Abstract: In the WAG recovery method, alternating the injected fluids promotes changes in the saturation of the porous media. Associated with these changes, two phenomena occur, which are very relevant to the movement of fluids in the rock: (1) capillary trapping of CO2 during an imbibition process, and (2) hysteresis in the relative permeability curves. Information regarding CO2 trapping and cyclic hysteresis effects is key for predicting the behavior of the carbonate reservoirs subjected to water alternating gas (CO2-WAG) and CO2 storage processes. The objectives of this study were divided in two parts. First was to investigate, at laboratory scale, the influence of different pressure and temperature conditions on the maximum trapped saturation of gas in two phase flow. The second was to investigate, also at laboratory scale, the effects of cyclic hysteresis (gas and water) of three-phase relative permeability in three phase flow. To this end, tests were conducted on carbonate samples that were considered to be heterogeneous. The samples used were coquinas from outcrops that are analogous to pre-salt samples, coming from the Morro do Chaves formation, in the Sergipe-Alagoas Basin, Brazil. The mineralogical composition, pore geometry and petrophysical properties of samples similar to those used in this study were characterized by thin sections and computed tomography. In this study, an experimental methodology was developed to characterize carbonate rocks in such a way as to allow adequate investigation of the WAG method at laboratory scale. Monitoring of the saturation distributions during the displacement tests was conducted through computed tomography, along with detailed procedures for obtaining material balances. The methodology is presented in two steps that include, first, the assembly of an apparatus (A) for studying two-phase trapping of N2 or CO2 in a long sample (A) (76 cm) and, second, the assembly of another apparatus (B) to conduct the three-phase hysteresis test on a short sample (B) (21 cm). The samples were prepared, and the tests followed the procedures considered to be standard for the proposed studies. To investigate the two-phase trapping (water-gas) and variation in Land trapping coefficients, drainage and imbibition displacements were carried out under different levels of pressure (700 to 7000 psi) and temperature (22°C and 65°C) in order to evaluate the influence of the rock/fluid properties on the residual saturation of the non-wetting phase in the porous media. To investigate the cyclic hysteresis of three-phase relative permeability and reduction in both water and gas permeability, sequences of multiphase drainage and imbibition displacements were carried out in porous media saturated with oil and irreducible water. The results of the investigation of two-phase trapping show that the combined effects of increased viscosity and density of the gas in high pressure and temperature conditions increase the maximum gas trapped saturation. The Land trapping coefficients obtained in this study were characterized by determining local saturations through computed tomography, presenting a local variation of the coefficient. Dissolution-precipitation events involving CO2 and carbonated brine altered the pore structure and can modify the sample¿s trapping capacity, serving as an auxiliary mechanism. The effect of hysteresis on the WAG process becomes clear when analyzing the experimental data from the three-phase test, in particular the behavior of the gas relative permeability. Through proper characterization of hysteresis in steady state, it was possible to determine the reduction exponent (?) of the gas relative permeability using the Larsen and Skauge model. It was concluded that the parameters of two-phase and three-phase hysteresis are process dependent, which is characteristic of WAG injection. The parameters should be measured under the conditions of the reservoir in study in order to be a representative in adjustments of experimental history matching and to properly predict realistic behavior of the WAG process at field scale / Doutorado / Reservatórios e Gestão / Doutor em Ciências e Engenharia de Petróleo

Even in times of renewable energy revolution fossil fuels will play a major role in energy supply, transportation, and chemical industry. Therefore, increasing demand for crude oil will still have to be met in the next decades by developing new oil re-serves. To cope with this challenge, companies and researchers are constantly seeking for new methods to increase the recovery factor of oil fields. For that reason, many enhanced oil recovery (EOR) methods have been developed and applied in the field. EOR methods alter the physico-chemical conditions inside the reservoir. One possibility to achieve this is to inject an aqueous solution containing special chemicals into the oil-bearing zone. Polymers, for example, increase the viscosity of the injected water and hence improve the displacement of the oil to the production well. The injection of surfactant solutions results in reduced capillary forces, which retain the oil in the pores of the reservoir. Some surfactants form viscoelastic solutions under certain conditions. The possibil-ity to apply those solutions for enhanced oil recovery has been investigated by some authors in the last years in low salinity brines. Reservoir brines, however, often contain high salt concentrations, which have detrimental effects on the properties of many chemical solutions applied for EOR operations. The Triphenoxymethane derivatives, which were the subject of study in this thesis, form viscoelastic solutions even in highly saline brines. The aim of this thesis was to investigate the efficiency and the mode-of-action of this new class of chemical EOR molecules with respect to oil mobilization in porous media.

Even in times of renewable energy revolution fossil fuels will play a major role in energy supply, transportation, and chemical industry. Therefore, increasing demand for crude oil will still have to be met in the next decades by developing new oil re-serves. To cope with this challenge, companies and researchers are constantly seeking for new methods to increase the recovery factor of oil fields. For that reason, many enhanced oil recovery (EOR) methods have been developed and applied in the field. EOR methods alter the physico-chemical conditions inside the reservoir. One possibility to achieve this is to inject an aqueous solution containing special chemicals into the oil-bearing zone. Polymers, for example, increase the viscosity of the injected water and hence improve the displacement of the oil to the production well. The injection of surfactant solutions results in reduced capillary forces, which retain the oil in the pores of the reservoir. Some surfactants form viscoelastic solutions under certain conditions. The possibil-ity to apply those solutions for enhanced oil recovery has been investigated by some authors in the last years in low salinity brines. Reservoir brines, however, often contain high salt concentrations, which have detrimental effects on the properties of many chemical solutions applied for EOR operations. The Triphenoxymethane derivatives, which were the subject of study in this thesis, form viscoelastic solutions even in highly saline brines. The aim of this thesis was to investigate the efficiency and the mode-of-action of this new class of chemical EOR molecules with respect to oil mobilization in porous media.

Chemical enhanced oil recovery (cEOR) aims to increase the oil recovery of mature oil fields, using aqueous solutions of surfactants and polymers, to mobilize trapped oil and maintain production. The interfacial tensions (IFTs) between the injected aqueous solution, the oil droplets in reservoirs, and other possible phases formed (e.g., a “middle phase” microemulsion) are important for designing and assessing a chemical formulation. Ultralow IFTs, less than 10^-2 mN·m^-1, are needed to increase the capillary number and help mobilize trapped oil droplets. Despite this fact, phase behavior tests have received more attention than IFTs for designing and evaluating surfactant formulations that result in high oil recovery efficiencies, because incorporating reliable IFTs into such evaluation process is avoided due to difficulties in obtaining reliable values. Hence, the main thrusts of this dissertation are to: (a) develop robust IFT measurement protocols for obtaining reliable IFTs regardless of the complexity of water and oil phase constituents and (b) improve the existing surfactant polymer formulation evaluation and screening processes by successfully incorporating the IFT as one of the critical parameters.<br>First, two robust tensiometry protocols using the known emerging bubble method (EBM) and the spinning bubble method (SBM) were demonstrated, for determining accurately equilibrium surface tensions (ESTs) and equilibrium IFTs (EIFTs). The protocols are used for measuring the dynamic surface tensions (DSTs), determining the steady state values, and establishing the stability of the steady state values by applying small surface area perturbations by monitoring the ST or IFT relaxation behavior. The perturbations were applied by abruptly expanding or compressing surface areas by changing the bubble sizes with an automated dispenser for the EBM, and by altering the rotation frequency of the spinning tube for the SBM. Such robust tension measurement protocols were applied for Triton X-100 aqueous solutions at a fixed concentration above its critical micelle concentration (CMC). The EST value of the model solution was 31.5 ± 0.1 mN·m^-1 with the EBM and 30.8 ± 0.2 mN·m^-1 with the SBM. These protocols provide robust criteria for establishing the EST values.<br>Second, the EIFTs of a commercial single chain anionic surfactant solution in a synthetic brine against a crude oil from an active reservoir were determined with the new protocol described earlier. The commercial surfactant used here has an oligopropoxy group between a hydrophobic chain and a sulfate head group. The synthetic brine has 9,700 ppm of total dissolved salts, which are a mixture of sodium chloride (NaCl), potassium chloride (KCl), manganese (II) chloride tetrahydrate (MnCl₂·4H₂O), magnesium (II) chloride hexahydrate (MgCl₂·6H₂O), barium chloride dihydrate (BaCl₂·2H₂O), sodium sulfate decahydrate (Na₂SO₄·10H₂O), sodium bicarbonate (NaHCO₃), and calcium chloride dihydrate (CaCl₂·2H₂O). The DSTs curves of the surfactant concentrations from 0.1 ppm to 10,000 ppm by weight had a simple adsorption/desorption equilibrium at air/water surface with surfactant diffusion from bulk aqueous phase. Such a mechanism was also observed from the tension relaxation behavior after area perturbations for the oil/water interfaces while DIFT measurements. The CMC of the commercial surfactant was determined to be 12 ppm in water and 1 ppm in the synthetic brine used. From the initial tension reduction curves from DST and DIFT measurements, the equilibrium timescales were shorter with brine than with water, because the adsorbed surfactant on the oil/water interfaces were partitioned into oil phases. For both DST and DIFT results suggest that the adsorbed surfactant layer at interfaces were typical adsorbed soluble monolayers.<br>Third, the phase and rheological behavior of a commercial anionic surfactant in water and in brine are important for large scale applications. A phase map of the surfactant at 25 °C at full range of surfactant concentration was obtained. The supramolecular structures of the various phases were characterized by dynamic light scattering (DLS), cryogenic transmission electron microscopy (cryo-TEM), conductimetry, densitometry, and x-ray scattering. The identified phases evolved as the surfactant concentration was increased; they were a micellar solution phase, a hexagonal liquid crystalline phase, and a lamellar liquid crystalline phase. In addition, the characterization results provided detailed information about supramolecular structure parameters such as micellar sizes and their aggregation numbers, and liquid crystal spacings. The phase and rheological behavior trends identified here were of great importance because the trend was similar to that of single chain monoisomeric surfactant. Thus, this study provides a potential universality of phase behavior trends of surfactant-water systems despite of the multicomponent nature of surfactants.<br>Fourth, the EIFTs of the pre-equilibrated mixtures of surfactant, brine, and oil were determined and compared to the EIFTs prior to pre-equilibration, in order to systematically identify the most relevant IFT for oil recovery. The EIFT between surfactant solutions and oil without any pre-equilibration prior to tension measurements is defined as the un-pre-equilibrated EIFT (EIFT_up). The EIFT between oil and water phases after the pre-equilibration of surfactant, brine, and oil is defined as pre-equilibrated EIFT (EIFT_p). The EIFT_p’s were generally higher than EIFT_up’s. In addition, the effects of three mixing methods and the water-to-oil volume ratio (WOR) on the EIFT_p were evaluated. Out of three mixing methods, (A) mild mixing, (B) magnetic stirring, and (C) shaking vigorously by hand, method C produced mixtures which are the closest to the equilibrium state. The mixtures produced by method C had the largest decrease of the surfactant concentration during pre-equilibration due to the surfactant partitioning into oil phases. Moreover, the WOR affects the EIFT_p significantly due to the preferential partitioning of surfactant components into oil phases. More specifically, the WOR and the EIFT_p were found to be inversely correlated, because the amount of partitioned surfactant increased as the oil volume fraction increased. The EIFT_p’s were different from the EIFT_up’s at the same total surfactant concentrations in the aqueous layer evidently because of preferential partitioning of the various surfactant components.<br>Finally, the effect of surfactant losses due to adsorption into the rock surface on the pre-equilibrated EIFT (EIFT_p) were evaluated to improve surfactant formulation protocols. Here, five types of EIFTs were identified, along with robust protocols for determining them. These are: (I) the un-pre-equilibrated equilibrium IFT (EIFT_up); (II) the un-pre-equilibrated EIFTs in the presence of rock (EIFT_up,rock); (III) the pre-equilibrated EIFTs (EIFT_p) in the presence of oil; (IV) the pre-equilibrated EIFT in the presence of rock and oil (EIFT_p,rock); and (V) the effluent EIFT (EIFT_eff). The EIFT_up is the EIFT of the aqueous surfactant/brine solution against an oil drop without any pre-equilibration. The EIFT_up,rock is the EIFT between an oil drop and the surfactant solution after pre-equilibration with a rock sample to account for adsorption losses. The EIFT_p is the EIFT between the pre-equilibrated water and the oil phases from surfactant/brine/oil mixtures. The EIFT_p,rock is the EIFT between the pre-equilibrated water and the oil phases from surfactant/brine/oil/rock mixtures. The EIFT_eff is the EIFT from an effluent sample mixture of a laboratory-scale core flood test. Among the five types of EIFTs, the EIFT_p,rock was found to be the most important for the highest oil recovery performance in core flood tests, because it captures the most important surfactant partition processes, the partitioning to the oil phase and the partitioning by adsorption on the rock surface. Among three surfactant formulations tested with core flood experiments, the one with the lowest EIFT_p,rock (~0.01 mN·m^-1) had the highest oil recovery ratio (78%), and the one with the highest EIFT_p,rock (~0.2 mN·m^-1) had the lowest oil recovery ratio (55%). The other EIFTs correlated less with the oil recovery performance. Identifying surfactant formulations that have low or ultralow EIFTs, especially ultralow EIFT_p,rock’s, are critical for screening formulations appropriate for core flood tests and target field applications, and for predicting oil recovery performance. These works are a significant contribution for improving (a) the surfactant formulation evaluation protocols, and (b) the utilization of reliable IFTs and phase behavior test protocols for oil recovery and many other surfactant and colloid sciences applications.<br>

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For a stress-sensitive or stress-dependent reservoir, the interactions between its seepage field and in situ stress field are complex and affect hydrocarbon recovery. A coupled geomechanics and fluid-flow model can capture these relations between the fluid and solid, thereby presenting more precise history matchings and predictions for better well planning and reservoir management decisions. A traditional reservoir simulator cannot adequately or fully represent the ongoing coupled fluid-solid interactions during the production because of using the simplified update-formulation for porosity and the static absolute permeability during simulations. Many researchers have studied multiphase fluid-flow models coupled with geomechanics models during the past fifteen years. The purpose of this research is to develop a coupled geomechanics and compositional model and apply it to problems in the oil recovery processes. An equation of state compositional simulator called the General Purpose Adaptive Simulator (GPAS) is developed at The University of Texas at Austin and uses finite difference / finite control volume methods for the solution of its governing partial differential equations (PDEs). GPAS was coupled with a geomechanics model developed in this research, which uses a finite element method for discretization of the associated PDEs. Both the iteratively coupled solution procedure and the fully coupled solution procedure were implemented to couple the geomechanics and reservoir simulation modules in this work. Parallelization, testing, and verification for the coupled model were performed on parallel clusters of high-performance workstations. MPI was used for the data exchange in the iteratively coupled procedure. Different constitutive models were coded into GPAS to describe complicated behaviors of linear or nonlinear deformation in the geomechanics model. In addition, the geomechanics module was coupled with the dual porosity model in GPAS to simulate naturally fractured reservoirs. The developed coupled reservoir and geomechanics simulator was verified using analytical solutions. Various reservoir simulation case studies were carried out using the coupled geomechanics and GPAS modules. / text

The purpose of this work was to study polymer degradation mechanisms as well as ways to mitigate it. In the area of chemical stability, defined as divalent cation tolerance of acrylic polymers as hydrolysis increases, use of the n-vinyl pyrrolidone (NVP) monomer helps to preserve viscosity and tolerate higher calcium concentrations over those polymers without NVP. Also, ethylenediaminetetraacetate tetrasodium salt (EDTA-Na+4) is shown to sequester calcium ions at alkaline conditions (pH>10) and, in the case of lab-aged post-hydrolyzed poly(AM-co-AMPS), helps to retain full viscosity at all calcium concentrations when EDTA is present at a stoichiometric equivalence of calcium. Many discrepancies exist in the literature concerning the presence or absence of degradation under various field or laboratory conditions. Carbonate and bicarbonate, which are typically present in natural waters but often neglected in lab-prepared brines, prove to be a hidden variable in resolving why Shupe (1981) saw no loss in viscosity when sodium dithionite was added to polymer in the presence of oxygen (with bicarbonates) but others (Knight, 1973 and Levitt and Pope, 2008) observed severe degradation under similar conditions (but without bicarbonates). A commercial HPAM polymer (Flopaam 3630S) has been shown to be stable in the presence of ferrous iron in the absence of oxygen, clarifying an apparent discrepancy in the literature between the results of Yang and Treiber (1985) and Kheradmand (1987). Dissolved oxygen (DO) levels, and not redox potential (ORP) measurements, are often reported in polymer stability research on oxidative degradation. ORP is shown to be a better measure of the onset of degradation because oxygen is initially being consumed and may not appear until substantial degradation has occurred. Although generally believed to be a detriment to polymer stability in the field, aeration of iron-laden source water prior to hydration of polymer may be beneficial in certain cases where exposure to air in unavoidable. Also, a novel process of safely producing sodium dithionite in the field proves to perform better in terms of long-term polymer stability in anaerobic conditions than the traditional method of using a solution made from powder dithionite. Finally, a pre-sheared 5 million Dalton HPAM is successfully injected into a 3 mD carbonate reservoir core plug. Remarkably, permeability reduction factors remain at values close to unity. However, pressure data from ASP tertiary corefloods suggest that polymer is not feasible for field injections. / text

Canada and Venezuela contain massive unconventional oil deposits accounting for over two thirds of newly discovered proven oil reserves since 2002. Canada, primarily in northern Alberta province, has between 1.75 and 1.84 trillion barrels of hydrocarbon resources that as of 2013 are obtained approximately equally through surface extraction or enhanced oil recovery (EOR) (World Energy Council, 2010). Due to their depth and viscosity, thermal based EOR will increasingly be responsible for producing the vast quantities of bitumen residing in Canada’s Athabasca, Cold Lake, and Peace River formations. Although the internationally accepted 174-180 billion barrels recoverable ranks Canada third globally in oil reserves, it represents only a 9-10% average recovery factor of its very high viscosity deposits (World Energy Council, 2010). As thermal techniques are refined and improved, in conjunction with methods under development and integrating elements of existing but currently separate processes, engineers and geoscientists aim to improve recovery rates and add tens of billions of barrels of oil to Canada’s reserves (Cenovus Energy, 2013). The Government of Canada estimates 315 billion barrels recoverable with the right combination of technological improvements and sustained high oil prices (Government of Canada, 2013). Much uncertainty and skepticism surrounds how this 75% increase is to be accomplished. This document entails a thorough analysis of standard and advanced EOR techniques and their potential incremental impact in Canada’s bitumen deposits. Due to the extraordinary volume of hydrocarbon resources in Canada, a small percentage growth in ultimate recovery satisfies years of increased petroleum demand from the developing world, affects the geopolitics within North America and between it and the rest of the world, and provides material benefits to project economics. This paper details the enhanced oil recovery methods used in the oil sands deposits while exploring new developments and their potential technical and economic effect. CMG Stars reservoir simulation is leveraged to test both the feasible recoveries of and validate the physics behind select advanced techniques. These technological and operational improvements are aggregated and an assessment produced on Canada’s total recoverable petroleum reserves. Canada has, by far, the largest bitumen recovery operation in the world (World Energy Council, 2010). Due to its resource base and political environment, the nation is likely to continue as the focus point for new developments in thermal EOR. Reservoir characteristics and project analysis are thus framed using Canada and its reserves. / text