Methods are provided herein for an end-of-life recovery of mobilized hydrocarbons from a stranded hydrocarbon pay zone within a subterranean reservoir by way of a recovery well. In some embodiments, the stranded pay zone is located between mobilized hydrocarbon zones of thermal recovery operations. In some embodiments, the stranded pay zone is an upper stranded pay zone located above a mobilized hydrocarbon zone of a thermal recovery operation. In some embodiments, the stranded pay zone is a lower stranded pay zone located below a mobilized hydrocarbon zone of a thermal recovery operation. The methods herein involve commencing end-of-life recovery at an end-of-life stage after a production threshold is achieved for thermal recovery operations.

A process for producing diluent for use in a hydrocarbon recovery process includes heating a dilbit feed stream comprising hydrocarbons produced from a hydrocarbon reservoir and an added diluent, to a temperature of 350° C. or less, fractionating the dilbit feed stream after heating to produce a light fraction and a heavy fraction, the light fraction comprising the diluent, additional light hydrocarbons, and sour water, separating the sour water from a remainder of the light fraction, and stabilizing the remainder of the light fraction to provide recovered diluent and cooling the recovered diluent. A volume of the recovered diluent is greater than a volume of the added diluent.

A nozzle for mitigating against solvent flashing in a solvent-assisted hydrocarbon extraction process comprises a fluid passage extending between an inlet and an outlet, wherein the fluid passage comprises a converging region, a throat, and a diverging region, and wherein at least the converging region is provided with a gradually reducing internal diameter. Preferably, the angle of convergence of the converging region is equal to or less than about 5 degrees.

A method to produce in-situ steam comprising the steps of producing a laser beam in a steam generator segment positioned in a wellbore in a formation; introducing the laser beam to an activated carbon container, where the activated carbon container comprises activated carbon; increasing a temperature of the activated carbon with the laser beam to produce a hot activated carbon; introducing water to the activated carbon container through a water supply line; producing steam in the activated carbon container when the water contacts the hot activated carbon; increasing pressure in the activated carbon container as steam is produced until a pressure set point of an inter-container valve is reached; releasing steam through the inter-container valve to a steam container; increasing a pressure in the steam container until a release set point of one or more release valves is reached; and releasing steam through the release valve to the formation.

A method and a system for recovering oil from currently inaccessible oil containing geological units by activating the deep biosphere microbial seed bank. Nutrient and thermal enhancement of microorganisms in oil containing geological units allows for stimulation of inactive and/or dormant microorganisms such that they proliferate and produce gas. The oil viscosity that is decreased by heat, along with the gas pressure produced by activated microbes which allows previously inaccessible oil to flow toward production wells.

Processes are provided for conformance control in the production of hydrocarbons from reservoirs, involving the distribution of mobilizing injection fluids into a formation through a number of injection fluid distribution points spaced apart along an injection well. The volume and/or position of mobilizing fluid outflows at the distribution points is adjusted based on criteria that include selected reservoir parameters measured at spatially distributed measurement points in the reservoir. An operational system is provided so that these measurements provide a proxy for recovery chamber conformance.

Methods and systems are provided for optimizing bitumen production from a plurality of wells employing steam-based recovery techniques such as SAGD, using hyperspectral imaging of produced emulsion samples to estimate total bitumen content at each well as a means of determining steam injection adjustment to enhance production.

A method for forming a sleeve for wrapping around and insulating a joint of a downhole tubing string is provided. The method includes the steps of providing a mold, applying insulation around the mold, winding an interfacing material around the insulation; and applying a polymer onto the interfacing material to bind to the interfacing material to form the sleeve.

A method for producing heavy oil, the method including testing a plurality of samples either from a reservoir play or simulating a reservoir play in a temperature and pressure controlled gravity drainage experiment. Test injection fluids are injected into the samples at a reservoir temperature and pressure and Cumulative Oil Production (COP) or Recovery Factor (RF) or similar feature measured over time. An injection profile is obtained by selecting n injection fluids based on a best COP or RF at a given time T.sub.n, wherein n is a number of fluid injection stages and switching to an n+1 injection fluid when a rate of change (ROC) in the COP or RF drops at least 25%-75%, but preferably 40-60% or 50%. The injection profile is then implemented in the reservoir to produce heavy oil. Optimized injection profiles for certain reservoirs are also provided.

For hydrocarbon recovery from a reservoir of bituminous sands, steam and a multi-function agent are injected into the reservoir for mobilizing bitumen in the reservoir to form a fluid comprising hydrocarbons, water and the multi-function agent. The fluid is produced from the reservoir. The multi-function agent may comprise an organic molecule that reduces viscosity of oil and the interfacial tension between oil and water or a gas or rock in the reservoir, and has a partition coefficient favoring solubility in oil over water and a partial pressure in the reservoir allowing the organic molecule to be transported with steam as a vapor. The multi-function agent may comprise a solvent for reducing viscosity of oil and a surfactant for reducing interfacial tension, where both the solvent and surfactant are transportable with steam as vapor.