EORTech Synthetic Energy Corporation



Progress

In the 1960s, Texaco successfully produced several hundred thousand barrels of crude from the Charco Rendondo reservoir with conventional secondary efforts. It also conducted an experimental, five-spot, intensive steam flood on a small area of the reservoir and reduced residual oil saturation to approximately eight percent, indicating excellent crude mobility. However, Texaco was unable to produce the entire reservoir with the same economic success. Low injection pressures constrained by a shallow reservoir, along with the short length of the vertical injection and producing bores, limited daily production and potential financial returns.

In the 1990s, Synthetic Energy Corporation undertook a series of efforts to implement the EORTech process at Charco Redondo. It began by creating a 10' x 10' mined decline down the dip axis of the reservoir, followed by six equally spaced 20' x 50' drilling rooms. Two bores were drilled from each room, stretching 3,000 feet in each direction along the strike axis, to yield 6,000 feet of horizontal, open-hole bore at each location. These bores were used alternately as injectors and producers. The two-phase heating system was implemented by injecting through tubing that travels the entire length of the bores.

A patented heat generation facility (combustor) was developed over the early life of the project, which evolved from a 24-hour, manually operated unit into one that is automated and managed by a computer from a control room. The combustor combines air and natural gas under pressure, producing a flame which is cooled by a controlled water stream, yielding a low-grade steam at any temperature and pressure dictated by the computer. It does not require treated water. All heat is being generated on the surface at Charco Redondo, but heat generation for future, deeper projects will be done in the underground rooms to minimize heat loss.

Injection and producing operations at Charco Redondo were ongoing from April 2007 to May 2008, during which 28,750 barrels of crude were produced, yielding $2,357,294 in gross revenue. An engineering study conducted by International Reservoir Technologists indicated the original oil in place at the site as 23 million barrels, 55 percent of which should be recoverable utilizing EORTech.