Rosneft has developed a new technology for extracting high-viscosity oil

MOSCOW, Sep 27 – PRIME. Rosneft has developed and tested a technology for the displacement of high-viscosity oil, which will increase the profitability of production at the fields, the company said.

“Specialists of the Tyumen Oil Research Center (part of the research and development unit of Rosneft) have developed and successfully tested a technology for displacing high-viscosity oil from core samples. An innovative technological solution will increase the pace and increase the profitability of production at the company’s fields,” Rosneft said in a statement. “.

High-viscosity oil contains a large amount of heavy hydrocarbons and is characterized by low mobility in reservoir conditions, and it is impossible to extract it by traditional methods. To ensure the flow of oil to the well, various types of stimulation are used: thermal or polymeric.

Rosneft specialists studied the possibilities of extracting high-viscosity oil from loose rocks with a high content of clay minerals. Displacement was tested using hot water, thermopolymer, alkali, and steam at extremely high temperatures up to 330 degrees Celsius. The technology with the use of thermopolymers turned out to be the most effective.

“In the future, thermopolymer flooding will be applied in horizontal wells in the development of fields containing oil with a viscosity of more than 500 centipoise (cP). Successful implementation of these measures will open up great potential for the development of high-viscosity oil reserves,” the company said.