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Conceptual mine design and economic evaluation of mining-assisted heavy oil production of Bati Raman heavy oil field

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Abstract

This study aims the investigation and application of the Mining-Assisted Heavy Oil Production (MAHOP) method of Turkey’s largest oil field (1.85 billion barrels of initial oil in place), Bati Raman heavy oil field. Unlike the other Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) methods, recovery of the oil will be done by both tunneling operations and conceptual Steam-Assisted Gravity Drainage (SAGD) oil production. In this method, galleries will be excavated at the bottom of the reservoir, and steam injection will be done with the fan-shaped boreholes which are drilled at the top of these openings. This research focuses on three main aspects: evaluating and understanding the conceptual mine design, ventilation and cooling network design, and economic evaluation of the MAHOP for Bati Raman field. According to the conceptual mine design, 1.07 billion barrels are expected to be produced in 20 years of mine life, and operational expenses are estimated to be 25 $/barrel with 1.4 billion dollars of initial capital expenditure. The Net Present Value (NPV) and Internal Rate of Return (IRR) calculations for this project indicate a positive economic outcome, with an NPV of $5.15 billion and an IRR of 31.5% for the oil price of 42 $/barrel. Therefore, based on the findings of this study, the implementation of MAHOP in the Bati Raman oil field could be economically feasible. This study may serve as a guide for other similar heavy oil or depleted fields’ economic evaluation.

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Abbreviations

AOSTRA :

The Alberta Oil Sand Technology and Research Authority

API :

American Petroleum Institute

Bscf :

Billion standard cubic feet

CAPEX :

Capital expenditures

CSS :

Cyclic Steam Stimulation

EOR :

Enhanced Oil Recovery

GA :

Genetic algorithm

ICA :

Imperialist competitive algorithm

IRR :

Internal Rate of Return

KWR :

Kilowatt Refrigeration

MAHOP :

Mining-Assisted Heavy Oil Production

NPV :

Net Present Value

OPEX :

Operational expenditures

PSO :

Partial Swarm Optimization

SAGD :

Steam-Assisted Gravity Drainage

SOR :

Steam Oil Ratio

TBM :

Tunnel Boring Machine

UTF :

Underground Test Facility

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Funding

This material is based on the work (TUBITAK Star Intern Researcher Program-119M085) supported by the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mining Engineering, Middle East Technical University, Ankara, Turkey

    Volkan Satar, Yucel Baran Tuncer & Hasan Ozturk

Authors
  1. Volkan Satar
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  2. Yucel Baran Tuncer
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  3. Hasan Ozturk
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Correspondence to Volkan Satar.

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Satar, V., Tuncer, Y.B. & Ozturk, H. Conceptual mine design and economic evaluation of mining-assisted heavy oil production of Bati Raman heavy oil field. Arab J Geosci 16, 529 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12517-023-11646-0

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