Publications

Several methods are used to increase the oil production rate of a well. One method is hydraulic fracturing. This method involves placing a propping agent to prop open the fractured zone. However, this method has limitation in heavy oil. The high viscosity prevents the heavy oil flowing to the fractured zone. As such a heating process is needed to decrease the viscosity of the heavy oil to enable flow. The conventional method used in the heating process is electromagnetic heating. This method refers to thermal processes for the improved production of oil from underground reservoirs. The source of heat is the electrical energy supplied from the surface. The weakness of this method is the small coverage area. The author wish to share experience that combines the electromagnetic heating process with hydraulic fracturing using iron sand as the electromagnetic proppant. The iron sand allows the heat conducted from the heat source in the well to move to the reservoir. The heat transfer allows a better reach in distance and heats up more oil than the electromagnetic heating process, thereby increasing oil production. The authors would like to present mathematical modeling to predict the incremental increase in heavy oil production as the result of using the electromagnetic proppant combined with electromagnetic heating.