Heavy oil and natural bitumen resources in geological basins of the world

Abstract

Heavy oil and natural bitumen are oils set apart by their high viscosity (resistance to flow) and high density (low API gravity). These attributes reflect the invariable presence of up to 50 weight percent asphaltenes, very high molecular weight hydrocarbon molecules incorporating many heteroatoms in their lattices. Almost all heavy oil and natural bitumen are alteration products of conventional oil. Total resources of heavy oil in known accumulations are 3,396 billion barrels of original oil in place, of which 30 billion barrels are included as prospective additional oil. The total natural bitumen resource in known accumulations amounts to 5,505 billion barrels of oil originally in place, which includes 993 billion barrels as prospective additional oil. This resource is distributed in 192 basins containing heavy oil and 89 basins with natural bitumen. Of the nine basic Klemme basin types, some with subdivisions, the most prolific by far for known heavy oil and natural bitumen volumes are continental multicyclic basins, either basins on the craton margin or closed basins along convergent plate margins. The former includes 47 percent of the natural bitumen, the latter 47 percent of the heavy oil and 46 percent of the natural bitumen. Little if any heavy oil occurs in fore-arc basins, and natural bitumen does not occur in either fore-arc or delta basins.

Possible Involvement of Permian Phosphoria Formation Oil as a Source of REE and Other Metals Associated with Complex U-V Mineralization in the Northern Bighorn Basin?

“…Most heavy oil and natural bitumen is thought to be the residue of formerly light oil that has lost its light-molecular-weight components through degradation by bacteria, water-washing, and evaporation [83,84]. Meteoric water is the commonly accepted vehicle for bringing dissolved oxygen and microbes into contact with oil reservoirs, either along faults or fractures or by aquifers in hydrodynamic connection with the surface [84].…”

“…Meteoric water is the commonly accepted vehicle for bringing dissolved oxygen and microbes into contact with oil reservoirs, either along faults or fractures or by aquifers in hydrodynamic connection with the surface [84]. Generally, this is under aerobic conditions at depths of about 1524 m or less and temperatures below 80 • C [83]. Hydrocarbons are oxidized completely to carbon dioxide and water without intermediate products by many bacteria [84].…”

“…Some average chemical variations in conventional oil and bitumen that have been observed in studies from basins around the world show an increase in the metal concentration in bitumen compared to conventional oil. Based on studies from approximately 8500 deposits there is an increase in the metal concentration in bitumen compared to conventional oil [83]. [83].…”

“…Based on studies from approximately 8500 deposits there is an increase in the metal concentration in bitumen compared to conventional oil [83]. [83]. Hg however, is less concentrated in bitumen 0.019 ppm compared to an average of about 19 ppm in conventional oil [83].…”

Herramienta Numérica Para La Evaluación De Desplazamientos De Dos Fases en Medios Porosos Usando Tomografía Computarizada

“…Su refinación requiere de una mayor cantidad de energía y genera mayores problemas en su extracción y transporte (Speight, 1997). Sin embargo, se estima que las reservas mundiales de crudo pesado duplican las reservas de crudos convencionales (Meyer et al, 2007).…”