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Richard F. Meyer

Publications and source records attributed to Richard F. Meyer.

7 recordsLinked to original sources
USGS2010

Natural bitumen and extra-heavy oil

Natural bitumen and extra-heavy oil are characterised by high viscosity, high density (low API gravity), and high concentrations of nitrogen, oxygen, sulphur, and heavy metals. These characteristics result in higher costs for extraction, transportation, and refining than are incurred with conventional oil. Despite their cost and technical challenges, major international oil companies have found it desirable to acquire, develop, and produce these resources in increasing volumes. Large in-place resource volumes provide a reliable long-term flow of liquid hydrocarbons and provide substantial payoff for any incremental improvements in recovery. High oil prices during 2007 and 2008 spurred new development and production which, in turn, have intensified concern about environmental effects of production increases. Natural bitumen and extra-heavy oil are the remnants of very large volumes of conventional oils that have been generated and degraded, principally by bacterial action. Chemically and texturally, bitumen and extra-heavy oil resemble the residuum generated by refinery distillation of light oil. The resource base of natural bitumen and extra-heavy oil is immense and not a constraint on the expansion of production. These resources can make an important contribution to future oil supply if they can be extracted and transformed into usable refinery feedstock at sufficiently high rates and at costs that are competitive with alternative sources.

Book chapter↗
USGS2007

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

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.

Open-File Report↗
USGS2006

Siberian platform: Geology and natural bitumen resources

The Siberian platform is located between the Yenisey River on the west and the Lena River on the south and east. The Siberian platform is vast in size and inhospitable in its climate. This report is concerned principally with the setting, formation, and potential volumes of natural bitumen. In this report the volumes of maltha and asphalt referred to in the Russian literature are combined to represent natural bitumen. The generation of hydrocarbons and formation of hydrocarbon accumulations are discussed. The sedimentary basins of the Platform are described in terms of the Klemme basin classification system and the conditions controlling formation of natural bitumen. Estimates of in-place bitumen resources are reviewed and evaluated. If the bitumen volume estimate is confined to parts of identified deposits where field observations have verified rock and bitumen grades values, the bitumen resource amounts to about 62 billion barrels of oil in-place. However, estimates of an order of magnitude larger can be obtained if additional speculative and unverified rock volumes and grade measures are included.

Open-File Report↗
USGS1987

Prospects for heavy crude oil development

The problems of utilizing heavy crude oil and natural bitumens centre on their high viscosity which makes them difficult to produce, store, transport, and refine. These factors are reflected in costs. World reserves are substantial, however, perhaps as much as 7 trillion† barrels estimated to represent 0·9 trillion barrels of recoverable oil. Nearly 2·1 trillion barrels of heavy crude oil, more than 50% of the world's total reserve, are located in Venezuela largely in the Orinoco Oil Belt. About 75% of the natural bitumen, 2·6 trillion barrels, is located in Canada in the Athabasca, Cold Lake, and Peace River areas of Alberta. Most of the estimated undiscovered heavy crude oil in the world, approximately 630 billion barrels, is outside the US and Canada. Data required to determine the cost of finding natural bitumen and heavy oil are roughly the same as for other mineral commodities. Similarly for recovery costs. The variables are so extensive that dollar amounts have little meaning without qualification. Recovery depends on depth below surface. Near-surface deposits are recovered by mechanical mining. Deeper deposits must be won by thermal means. Transportation by pipeline is feasible only if the viscosity is lowered by partial upgrading, heating, or by the use of diluents. Part of the high cost of refining results from the major investment required for the large installations that are needed for economic rates of production.

Energy Exploration & Exploitation↗
USGS1985

Role of small oil and gas fields in the United States

With the maturation of oil and gas production operations in a province or country, fields found by new-field wildcats diminish in size. The actual economic size cutoff is a function of such factors as depth, water depth offshore, and accessibility to transportation infrastructure. Because of the constraint of resource availability, price is now the principal force driving drilling activity. The proportion of new-field wildcats to other exploratory wells has fallen in recent years, but success in new-field wildcats has risen to about 20%. However, only very small fields, less than 1 million BOE, are being found in large numbers. The 200 largest companies, based on lease revenues, drill 30% of all wells and 44% of the footage, and they make 83% of drilling expenditures. The 20 largest companies alone find 60% of the large fields and 20% of the small ones. Through 1979, almost 93% of known gas fields and 94.5% of known oil fields were small, yet they contain only 14.5% of the ultimately recoverable gas and 12.5% of the oil. However, small fields are less capital intensive than equivalent-capacity synthetic-fuel plants, they are extremely numerous, and they are relatively easy and inexpensive to find and put on production.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists Bulle↗
USGS1985

ESTIMATE OF WORLD HEAVY CRUDE OIL AND NATURAL BITUMEN RESOURCES.

The quantity of heavy hydrocarbons - heavy crude oil and natural bitumens - known or surmised to be present in the earth is large. The total is estimated to fall in the range of 5,879,712-5,942,139 million barrels. The portion of this that may ultimately prove recoverable is small, perhaps on the order of 500,000 million barrels of heavy crude oil and 200,000 million barrels of bitumen.

Conference Paper↗