Challenges and future of chemical assisted heavy oil recovery processes

The primary method for heavy oil and bitumen production across the world is still in-situ steam-based technology. There are some drawbacks associated with steam-driven heavy oil recovery methods such as cyclic steam stimulation (CSS), steam flooding, and steam-assisted gravity drainage (SAGD). These cons include the high greenhouse gas footprint, low heavy oil/bitumen recovery, and difficulty in stop operation in emergency conditions. There exists a need for an improved method for recovering residual oils after applying steam injection. One of the potential technologies for doing this is chemical assisted heavy oil recovery, especially alkaline and surfactant additives. But the challenging question is how to develop a chemical-based oil recovery method considering long-term steam-rock interactions. Several associated issues of chemical additives, including adsorption behavior of surfactant at reservoir conditions and thermal stability of surfactant at steam chamber temperature, make this question more complex. This paper addresses all these concerns and provides solid knowledge regarding this technology. We delve into newly formulated chemicals for coupling with thermal oil recovery techniques that are still limited to lab-scale research, with the need for further studies. This critical review also provides the opportunities and challenges associated with chemical assisted heavy oil/bitumen production in a post-steam injection scenario. Finally, different aspects of such a method are covered in this review, along with practical information on field trials and best practices across the world.