Visualization of the interactions between CO2 and Lloydminster Heavy Oil under Non-equilibrium Conditions

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Heavy oil represents about 15 percent of world hydrocarbon reserves, and up to 70 percent of total world**hydrocarbon reserve if including extra heavy and bitumen. Majority of the oil production in Canada is from the**Western Basin with the dominant of oil sands/bitumen and heavy oil. Various techniques have been in place to**develop these enormous resources and can broadly be classified in thermal (steam-based flooding and**non-thermal methods (chemical-based flooding).**The production of Lloydminster heavy oil has its long tradition dated back to the early 20th century. The oil**gravities are considerably low, ranging from 10 to 12 deg. API, and in the promising range for non-thermal**Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) applications. Carbon dioxide (CO2) gas is present in the atmosphere at a**concentration of 0.03 percent and has been used for decades in the oil and gas industry for EOR. For most of**the petroleum applications, CO2 exists either as a gas or as a supercritical fluid, i.e., a fluid with the density**close to that of a liquid but volume-filling like a gas. Considering the Lloydminster reservoir pressure (500 psi)**and temperatures (15 deg. C), the CO2 likely exists in the gas state where it may undergo dissolution with oil**resulting in oil swelling, oil-viscosity reduction and vaporization of intermediate to heavy components. The**objective of this proposed study is to visualize the CO2/oil interactions at reservoir conditions. A series of**laboratory experiments are to be conducted in a custom-designed cell with oil samples taken from the**Lloydminster formation. The experimental results give more clues on 1) The interactions at the CO2/oil**interface and volume changes at reservoir conditions, and 2) Asphaltene precipitation as a result of CO2**dissolution in oil.**The results of this research will offer the industry an alternative to enhance the oil production in the**Lloydminster formation and ultimately contribute to reducing greenhouse gas emission.