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1981•Interstate Oil Compact Comm. Com. Bull.; (United States)Requires access

Conoco's South Texas Tar Sands Project

E.L. Oshlo

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Abstract

A description is given of activities and first pilot results of the South Texas Tar Sands Project. Included is a description of a new process for which a patent has been applied. The process, known as Fracture Assisted Steamflood Technology, or FAST, is a blend of high pressure steam flooding and horizontal fracturing techniques. 169,000 barrels of tar were produced before shutdown in June 1980, with a ratio of 10.6 barrels of steam injected per barrel of tar. The primary application of FAST is in reserviors that contain extremely viscous tar or are thin enough that heat losses to the confining strata are a problem. Commercialization of the project is expected to require large amounts of lead time, capital and manpower. Tar sands activities are said to be synfuels projects rather than an extension of heavy activities. (JMT)

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What this paper is about

A description is given of activities and first pilot results of the South Texas Tar Sands Project. Included is a description of a new process for which a patent has been applied. The process, known as Fracture Assisted Steamflood Technology, or FAST, is a blend of high pressure steam flooding and horizontal fracturing techniques. 169,000 barrels of tar were produced before shutdown in June 1980, with a ratio of 10.6 barrels of steam injected per barrel of tar. The primary application of FAST is in reserviors that contain extremely viscous tar or are thin enough that heat losses to the confining strata are a problem. Commercialization of the project is expected to require large amounts of lead time, capital and manpower. Tar sands activities are said to be synfuels projects rather than an extension of heavy activities. (JMT)

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Available abstract

A description is given of activities and first pilot results of the South Texas Tar Sands Project. Included is a description of a new process for which a patent has been applied. The process, known as Fracture Assisted Steamflood Technology, or FAST, is a blend of high pressure steam flooding and horizontal fracturing techniques. 169,000 barrels of tar were produced before shutdown in June 1980, with a ratio of 10.6 barrels of steam injected per barrel of tar. The primary application of FAST is in reserviors that contain extremely viscous tar or are thin enough that heat losses to the confining strata are a problem. Commercialization of the project is expected to require large amounts of lead time, capital and manpower. Tar sands activities are said to be synfuels projects rather than an extension of heavy activities. (JMT)

Key concepts: Oil sands, tar (computing), Waste management, Commercialization, Petroleum engineering, Steam injection, Steam-assisted gravity drainage, Environmental science

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