Abstract
Faja Petrolifera del Orinoco (F.P.O) is by far the largest known heavy and extra heavy oil accumulation worldwide, located at north of Orinoco river in Venezuela contains about 1300 MMMBN of OOIP and 297 MMMBN of recoverable reserves. Exploitation of FPO has been done until present mainly by cold production, reaching recovery factors, is best cases, of about 10% of OOIP. PDVSA in recent years has conducted studies of quantification and certification of reserves, based on recovery factors that consider EOR projects. In situ combustion, the older member of thermal oil recovery family, is a method with a high thermodynamic efficiency that has allowed reaching recovery factors over 50% in some fields, accomplishing technical and economical success. This work presents a state of the art of combustion process and a review of the reservoir characteristics and field performance of successful applications in Venezuela and the rest of the world. These data were used to establish an application window, without weighting the size or significance of the reservoirs. This window, combined with data from reservoir characterization for the first six blocks of the FPO Junín area, was used to visualize the most prospective areas for the application of the process using parameters of thickness and water saturation in a commercial reservoir characterization software, followed by a qualitative evaluation of pressure, viscosity, temperature and depth, calculating this way the volume of oil and associated areal space occupied. Results obtained define Junín Blocks 5 and 6, specifically in areas of Basal Sands and Oligocene as the ones with the most potential, therefore, detailed studies should be performed to assess the technical and economical feasibility of the process implementation in these areas.