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.

Systems and methods include a computer-implemented method for performing well placement and configuration. Two-dimensional (2D) target entry (TE) points are generated in an area of interest (AOI) for wells to be drilled in an oil reservoir, where the 2D TE points are positioned according to a defined well length resolution. A single lateral is designed for each well using the 2D TE points, where each single lateral is designed with a different length, completion zone, azimuth, and orientation. Using the single laterals, a dynamic reservoir simulation is executed for the wells to be drilled in the oil reservoir, including rotating between different three-dimensional (3D) configurations for each 2D TE. A 3D configuration for each 2D TE is selected for each lateral and based on executing the dynamic reservoir simulation.

An underground gasifier pre-control structure includes a flame retardant injection system. The flame retardant injection system includes a flame retardant injection shaft pipe channel drilled from ground to a coal seam and a flame retardant injection channel located in the coal seam. The flame retardant injection channel includes a first flame retardant injection channel and a second flame retardant injection channel at both sides of each gasifier and a third flame retardant injection channel located in a horizontal direction of an adjacent gasifier. The first flame retardant injection channel includes a horizontal section along a strike of the coal seam and a bypass section offset toward the gasifier. The flame retardant injection system forms a wet coal wall in the coal seam to achieve pre-control for the gasifier. The pre-control structure wets the coal masses at both sides of the gasifier and the gasifier does not spread toward both sides.

A steam operated flow control device and method is disclosed. In one mode, the flow control device enables steam to be injected into a subterranean formation region containing hydrocarbons. In another mode, the flow control device enables the hydrocarbons to be produced from the subterranean formation to the surface. The flow control device includes a piston disposed between a housing and a mandrel having aligned ports, which slides between a first position where one set of ports align with the ports in the housing and the mandrel and a second position where another set of smaller ports align with the ports in the housing and mandrel. The piston is operated by a bellows having a chamber which contains a fluid. The fluid responds to temperature and/or pressure variations.

The present invention relates to a liquid evacuation device for an extraction well. The device comprises a tank presenting a liquid accumulation area. The tank is connected to a gas evacuation tubing. An insulant limits a flow of fluid between a wall of the tank and a wall of the well, from a first space formed between the insulant and the well bottom to a second space formed between the insulant and the well head. A first opening on the tank enables circulation of a gas-liquid mixture from said first space to a third space formed in the gas evacuation tubing. A second opening on the tank enables circulation of fluid from said second space to the liquid accumulation area. The first opening is made between the liquid accumulation area and the connection to the evacuation tubing.

Microfluidic structures and methods for manipulating fluids, fluid components, and reactions are provided. In one aspect, such structures and methods can allow production of droplets of a precise volume, which can be stored/maintained at precise regions of the device. In another aspect, microfluidic structures and methods described herein are designed for containing and positioning components in an arrangement such that the components can be manipulated and then tracked even after manipulation. For example, cells may be constrained in an arrangement in microfluidic structures described herein to facilitate tracking during their growth and/or after they multiply.

A method for coupling hydraulic fracture network extension and production performance of a horizontal well in an unconventional oil and gas reservoir includes: establishing a complex hydraulic fracture network model of a fractured horizontal well in an unconventional oil and gas reservoir based on a fracture extension theory; constructing three-dimensional three-phase mathematical models of seepage for the fractured horizontal well based on an embedded discrete fracture model; and constructing a fully implicit numerical calculation model by a finite difference method through three-dimensional orthogonal grids, and solving iteratively, thereby accurately predicting a production performance characteristic of the fractured horizontal well in the unconventional oil and gas reservoir. The method combines a fracture extension model with a production performance prediction model to realize the coupled simulation and prediction of the hydraulic fracture network extension and production performance of the horizontal well in the unconventional oil and gas reservoir.

Thermal energy is extracted from geological formations using a heat harvester. In some embodiments, the heat harvester is a once-through, closed loop, underground heat harvester created by directionally drilling through hot rock. The extracted thermal energy can be converted or transformed to other forms of energy.

A method comprises introducing a sequestration fluid through one or more injection wells into an underground reservoir containing at least one native fluid. Each injection well includes one or more injection well reservoir openings through which the sequestration fluid flows from the injection well into the underground reservoir. The method further comprises simultaneously or substantially simultaneously withdrawing a portion of the at least one native fluid through one or more withdrawal wells. Each injection well includes one or more withdrawal well reservoir openings through which the portion of the at least one native fluid flows from the underground reservoir into the withdrawal well. The one or more withdrawal well reservoir openings are proximate to the one or more injection well reservoir openings.

A method and system are provided for the creation of vertical and horizontal freeze wells, in a dome-like pattern around the ore body, as a hydraulic barrier to ensure the ISR mining solution and the mined minerals do not flow out of the ore body. A method to formulate a suitable mining solution used for ISR mining, where the lixivant does not freeze when using the freeze dome containment method and where the resulting PLS has a high concentration of dissolved minerals and thus eliminates the need for the solvent extraction/ion exchange step during processing is also described.