Hot plate cooking in California

The first field test of the hot plate heavy oil recovery method became operational in July in California's Kern River field. If the technique is successful, it could have significant implications for the production of heavy oil. It is anticipated that the innovative method's application of steam to the Kern River oil sand will make it possible to recover ca 75% of the oil in place. That is substantially more than the average 50% recovery forecast for conventional steaming operations in the field. Beyond Kern River, the method would appear to have use in many of the world's heavy crude fields. Since the Kern River test was announced 2-1/2 years ago, there have been inquiries about the possibility of using the method not only in other fields in the US, but also in the Cold Lake area of Canada, at a field in Germany and in the Orinoco tar sands in Venezuela. The method was conceived as a means of making it possible to recover more oil in less time from fields like Kern River that contain hard-to-produce heavy crude. The average gravity of the Kern River oil is 13.