Current status and future trends of hybrid thermal EOR processes in heavy oil reservoirs

Hybrid thermal recovery processes have become a primary technique used to improve the recovery performance of post steamed heavy oil reservoirs and been used to exploit marginal heavy oil reservoirs effectively. Related research projects at home and abroad have been conducted in many heavy oil fields. Based on the objective to develop heavy oil reservoirs efficiently, the major technical issues after the steam-based process, and three important hybrid thermal recovery techniques are analyzed systematically in this paper. These are, the hybrid thermal-NCG (non-condensable gas) process, the hybrid thermal-chemical process and the hybrid thermal-solvent process. Simultaneously, the mechanisms and application performance of these hybrid thermal processes are also included. In addition, the issue of adaptability screening for hybrid EOR processes is proposed based on the research of the development trend of hybrid processes in the world. In order to promote the large-scale thermal recovery operation and effective development of the whole life-cycle heavy oil reservoir, the development trends of hybrid thermal recovery process are predicted, and the novel technologies for heavy oil reservoirs are also analyzed.