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S.M. Farouq Ali, P.Eng.
Honorary Professor of Oil and Gas Engineering       
University of Calgary

Abstract:

How Steam is Taming Those Difficult Oil Reservoirs

Canada has as much oil in place as the conventional oil in the world, but it also occurs under some of the most demanding conditions: very viscous to semi-solid consistency, bottom water, top water, thin sands, reservoirs under lakes, and other challenging situations. Using steam injection, the petroleum industry has come up with clever solutions to some of these previously unsolvable problems. Clever use of horizontal wells has permitted in situ oil recovery from formations with oceans of water below or above them. Other applications, such as "Steam-assisted Gravity Drainage" (SAGD), have made it possible to recover some of the most viscous oils. In particular, "Cyclic Steam Stimulation" (CSS) has allowed the commercial development of viscous oil that was out of reach not too long ago. Other instances of steam injection show the industry’s ingenuity in producing the so-called "unrecoverable" hydrocarbons at a profit.

Biographical Sketch:

S. M. Farouq Ali is Honorary Professor of oil and gas engineering at the University of Calgary, and also serves as a petroleum consultant. He holds B.Sc. (Hons.), M.S., and Ph.D. degrees in petroleum engineering, and has served as professor at the Pennsylvania State University and in Alberta for over 38 years. Dr. Farouq Ali has authored over 500 papers and supervised over 200 graduate theses, and carried out over 200 reservoir studies. A recipient of numerous awards and two honorary doctorates from universities in Russia, he received the Petroleum Society’s Distinguished Service Award in 2000 and APEGGA’s Summit Award in 2001. Dr. Farouq Ali is also a member of SPE and a registered professional engineer in Pennsylvania.