Patience is bitter but its fruit is sweet, page-17

With regards to the thinner sands, COP has some good tech that would aid recovery % if applied to Senegal...

http://blogs.platts.com/2015/08/10/conocophillips-alaska-viscous-crude/

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“The sand is the No. 1 problem [at West Sak],” Driscoll said. The sand breaks loose in the unconsolidated reservoir rock at West Sak and, entering wells, it can damage pumps and other machinery. Another serious challenge has been waterflood “breakthroughs,” where water breaks a channel through unconsolidated producing sands.

ConocoPhillips addressed this by injecting a polymer into the holes, sealing them. Waterflood breakthroughs, called “Matrix Bypass Events” by ConocoPhillips, have been cut by about a third since the technique was introduced two years ago, Driscoll said.

The company also successfully employed a fine-mesh screen inserted into an open-hole section of the well that is now reducing sand coming into producing wells. Previous efforts to keep sand out with screens or gravel “packs” also impeded the oil flow. The new screening technique slows and stops sand inflow but does not impede the oil, Driscoll said. While the effort to boost production employs these new techniques, they will also employ a tried-and-true method developed in the early years of viscous oil production.

The wells planned at IH-NEWS will be multilaterals with up to five producing legs. That method involves the use of several underground production wells, or legs, drilled off one vertical well to the surface. It was first developed by ARCO and BP, which purchased Milne Point, a field adjacent to Kuparuk, from Conoco in the early 1990s.

Just as shale and other tight oil plays were uneconomic not too long ago, if the technological and efficiency gains seen in those sectors are any indication, these new viscous deposits may provide greater returns down the road.

In addition, if success is seen in this area, then the technology may be transferable to other areas in the world where the majors may have similar acreage, and the half-billion dollar investment could be a bargain. —

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