Tips on maximising production from mature and #HeavyOil fields from TOTAL Petroleum

We recently asked Industry experts to answer the following questions:

Why are heavy oil projects so important in the Middle East right now?

What are the top technologies/techniques that you are currently implementing in your heavy oil projects?

What in your opinion is the ultimate issue or challenge facing heavy oil projects in the Middle East at this point in time?

Arnaud Breuillac | Senior Vice President Exploration and Production Middle East | TOTAL Petroleum shares his insights on these questions

1. Why are heavy oil projects so important in the Middle East right now?

Heavy Oil projects, most of them in the Americas, do have an impact on the global oil equilibrium, and hence on every oil producer and the Middle East. Heavy oil deposits exist in the Middle East and the advanced and specific technologies which have been developed by some operators can be applied in the region.

2. What are the top technologies/techniques that you are currently implementing in your heavy oil projects?

SAGD and polymer flooding are two of the many areas which are the most promising.

3. What in your opinion is the ultimate issue or challenge facing heavy oil projects in the Middle East at this point in time?

Like any highly technical and capital intensive project, the ultimate issue is its acceptability.

To read more advice from top industry experts on maximising production from mature and #HeavyOil fields, download our eBook, containing tips from: PDVSA, Iraq Energy Institute, University of Teeside and more.

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Arnaud Breuillac joined TOTAL in 1981 and occupied various positions in the Exploration Production Division in France, Abu Dhabi, United Kingdom, Indonesia and Angola as well as in the Refining Division in France. From 2004 to 2006, he was Vice President Middle East Iran. In December 2006, he became a member of the Management Committee of the Exploration & Production Division as Senior Vice-President, Continental Europe and Central Asia.