Overview of Tubular Goods Materials Selection in Thermal Recovery for heavy Oil and Oil Shales

The materials selection for heavy oil and oil shale thermal recovery is of interest for recent oil shale technology development. The thermal recovery of heavy oil and oil shale is not only a traditional oil and gas upstream production process but also a precursor of refinery process. The challenges for the downhole tubular goods not only come from the reservoir conditions, but also come from the production process, i.e., the technique to deliver the energy, temperature and process chemicals introduced. This leads to the variants of oil shale technology, in turn, makes materials selection more difficult. There is clearly no “one-size-fits-all” solution.

The service conditions of various thermal recovery technologies are reviewed to understand the fundamental requirements for the downhole tubular goods materials. The most popular heavy oil and oil shale technologies, i.e., steam stimulation method, electromagnetic heating method, in situ combustion method, as well as close –recirculating methods are explored in detail. The history of materials selection, failure mechanisms under each technology is investigated for the insights of materials selection for in situ oil shale technology.

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