OIL RECOVERY FROM BAZHEN FORMATION: PROBLEMS AND APPROACHES
A review of the approaches to development of Bazhen formation deposits is presented, the similarity and differences with Bakken oil field (USA) which played the key role in the “shale revolution” are analyzed. It is shown that the experience gained in the development of shale deposits having natural cracks is not applicable to the Bazhen formation where the main part of hydrocarbons is contained in closed pores in a practically impermeable matrix. This makes the hydraulic fracturing methods inefficient because they do not allow the principal part of the hydrocarbons to be involved in the recovery process. Thermal treatment methods are analyzed which allow the kerogen to be transformed in fluids. It is shown that the traditional scheme of thermal treatment is inefficient, and new technological schemes must be developed. An alternative approach separating the filtration paths of oxidizer and synthetic hydrocarbon fluids is offered; this method potentially reduces the losses of the hydrocarbons obtained due to pyrolysis of kerogen.