Economic Analysis and Recommendations for Solar Thermal Technology in Overseas Heavy Oil Development

Heavy oil reserves and production potential in China’s international petroleum cooperation projects are significant. Traditional steam boiler thermal recovery methods are costly, have low thermal efficiency, and high carbon emissions, facing the challenge of rising costs due to carbon taxes. Therefore, achieving low-carbon development of overseas heavy oil is of great significance. Based on professional reports and literature analysis, analytical testing data, heavy oil reservoir numerical simulation, development plan and economic evaluation models, the application characteristics, potential distribution, and economic feasibility of solar thermal in heavy oil simulation development are systematically analyzed, optimization suggestions from the aspects of application mode, development plan, geothermal power generation, and business operation are proposed. The results show that solar thermal technology has advantages such as continuous and stable output, flexible allocation of heat and electricity, and low carbon emissions. Its installed capacity has rapidly increased in recent years, the cost has decreased rapidly, and has been successfully applied in the preheating of steam water and the preparation of high-temperature steam in the heavy oil development process. Based on the thermal recovery plan and production monitoring data of heavy oil development, the proportion of solar thermal steam can be intelligently planned for heat and electricity, and automatically adjusted. In overseas heavy oil development projects with excellent solar conditions and long remaining contract periods, solar thermal technology has significant economic benefits and carbon reduction effects compared to traditional gas boilers. In the operation of specific projects, the application mode of solar thermal technology should be selected based on the scale of injected steam, the availability of natural gas, and local electricity prices, and it should be well matched with the optimization of heavy oil thermal recovery development plans. At the same time, the full life cycle utilization of steam in conjunction with geothermal power generation should be considered, and the benefits of new energy tax incentives, price bidding mechanisms, and carbon trading should be fully utilized to innovate the business operation model and further enhance the overall value of overseas heavy oil projects.