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No. 1998.

141

Use of Carbon Dioxide to Enhance Heavy Oil Recovery


Kayhan Issever and Ilhan Topkaya, Turkish Petroleum Corporation, Ankara, Turkey

Abstract Introduction
Immiscible carbon dioxide application to enhance heavy oil The use of carbon dioxide to enhance oil recovery from many
recovery has been experienced by Turkish Petroleum Corpora- petroleum reservoirs has been investigated for many years.
tion (TPAO) in several fields located at southeastern Turkey. Both laboratory studies and field applications have established
Because of the high molecular weight of heavy oil contained that carbon dioxide can be an efficient oil-displacing agent.
in these fields, the miscibility pressure is much higher than the The various mechanisms by which carbon dioxide can dis-
reservoir pressure. Therefore improved oil recovery by CO2 place oil from porous media have been of particular interest to
injection must rely on immiscible displacement which benefits the petroleum industry. Carbon dioxide can enhance the
from the oil swelling effect of CO2 after it goes into solution recovery of oil from porous rocks by:
and its viscosity — reduction effect. a. Solution gas drive.
Immiscible CO2 injection has been successfully applied b. Immiscible drive through swelling of oil and reduction of
since 1986 in the Bati Raman heavy-oil field. The Bati Raman its viscosity.
discovered in 1961,contains low gravity (12°API), high vis- c. Miscible effects through extraction of hydrocarbons from
cosity (600 cp) oil at an average depth of 1,300 m. and the the oil in the porous rock.1
00IP is 1.85x109 STB. The producing formation is a vuggy Miscibility between the oil and carbon dioxide will occur
and fractured limestone and exhibits areal and vertical heter- when the pressure is high enough to compress the CO2 to a
ogeneities. Due to the low reservoir energy and unfavorable
density at which it becomes a good solvent for the lighter
oil properties, the expected ultimate recovery though primary
hydrocarbons in the crude oil. Because of the minimum misci-
production was less than 2% of the initial oil-in-place. The
bility requirement, depth is an important screening criterion,
field oil production rate had declined to 1,500 STB/day after
and CO2 floods are usually carried out in reservoirs that are
25 years of production. CO2 injection allowed to establish a
more than 800 m. deep. Oil composition is also important in
plateau oil production rate of 12,000 STB/day and to double
achieving the miscibility between oil and carbon dioxide. A
the cumulative oil production within 10 years.
high percentage of intermediate hydrocarbons (especially C5–
An immiscible CO2 field pilot was completed successfully C12) is beneficial, and surveys show that the gravity exceeds
by TPAO, JNOC, and JEORA in Ikiztepe heavy oil field. The 30°API for most active CO2 floods.
CO2 immiscible process applied in an inverted 5–spot pattern
of 200 m by 200 m. The performance of this pilot test indi- Martin and Teber presented the results of 15 large CO2 mis-
cated that a CO2 immiscible process can be a viable EOR pro- cible floods in U.S. The SACROC project, started in 1972, is
cess for such reservoirs. the largest and oldest one applied in 49,000 acre to enhance
the recovery of 41°API oil. More than half of the large
Several wells in Amurlu heavy oil reservoir have been stim- projects were started during 1984–86. For field-scale miscible
ulated with CO2 — richgas using the huff-and-puff technique. CO2 floods, projected incremental recovery ranges from about
Two- to three-fold increase in the production rate of the wells 7–23% of the original-oil-in place (OOIP), and the net (i.e.,
have been observed. purchased) amount of CO2 required is estimated to be about
This paper concludes that, to get successful results with 2.5–11 Mcf/STB of incremental recovery, with an average of
immiscible CO2 injection, the application must be tailored for 6–7 Mcf/STB.2
each reservoir depending on its characteristics. Sound reser-
Since the pressure required to achieve miscibility between
voir management with careful monitoring, performance eval-
CO2 and heavy oil is high, the use of CO2 to recover addi-
uation and making necessary changes in the mode of
application is very important to get better results. tional oil from these reservoirs includes immiscible flooding
and individual well stimulation technique known as “huff 'n'
puff”.
Immiscible carbon dioxide application to enhance heavy oil
recovery has been experienced by Turkish Petroleum Corpo-
ration (TPAO) in several fields located at southeastern Turkey.
This paper presents the recovery mechanisms in immiscible

1
carbon dioxide application in heavy oil reservoirs and the dimensional, numerical models Kazemi proposed the follow-
results obtained from CO2 application in Bati Raman, Ikiztepe ing expression for the shape factor:
and Camurlu oil fields.
s = 4 ( 12 + 12 + 12 )
Lx Lx Lx (3)

Use of Carbon Dioxide to The rate of diffusion between fractures and matrix is related to
Enhance Heavy Oil Recovery mass transfer coefficients that are defined for both the liquid
and vapor phases:
Recovery Mechanisms
Because of the high molecular weight of heavy oils, the misci- Ji = com Ko Som (*xif - Xim) + cgm Kg Sgm (*yif - yim) (4)
bility pressure is usually higher than the reservoir pressure.
Therefore, the success of CO2 injection in heavy oil fields The mass transfer coefficients, Ko and Kg are determined by
should rely primarily on the oil-swelling effect of CO2 after it comparing Fick's first law of diffusion with Darcy's law for
goes into solution and its viscosity-reduction effect. Typical flow in a porous medium:
figures for heavy crude are 10–22% increase in oil volume and
viscosity reduction to less than 0.1 of original value at 120°F JA = -c DAB A ÑXB (5)
and 800–1,200 psi. Other immiscible mechanisms that
enhance oil recovery by CO2 injection are dissolved gas drive kA
and reduction of interfacial tension. Also the change in the q= ÑP (6)
m
carbonate-bicarbonate equilibria due to increase of the CO2 in
the formation water resulting in a possible improvement in Since the differential expressions for diffusion and for flow in
pore volume and permeability and finally the gravity drainage a porous medium are identical in form, the matrix shape factor
effect as experienced in all gas applications are the positive that applies to matrix flow should also apply to fracture to
factors to enhance the system performance. matrix diffusion. Therefore, the mass transfer coefficients for
However, in order a flood to benefit from these improved oil and gas are defined as follows:
characteristics, the reservoir oil must be contacted by CO2.
Field applications and pilot tests done by TPAO demonstrate Ko = Do sD x Dy Dz (7)
that a fissured network in the reservoir plays a significant role
in having the reservoir oil and injected gas to be contacted and Kg = Dg sD x Dy Dz (8)
allowing the gas to diffuse into the oil.
In a fissured system, the success of the injection process The diffusion coefficient determines the rate of CO2 diffusion.
relies on the diffusion of gas in the fissures into oil in the However, what is more important is the matrix shape factor, s,
matrix. The gas rapidly moves through the fissures, saturating which is a function of matrix block sizes. The smaller matrix
the fissure oil in the swept areas. Due to the very adverse sizes, which is indicative of denser fissure network, allows for
mobility ratio, the amount of free gas in the fissures remains increased contact area between gas and oil in order for diffu-
very low. But the difference in concentration of dissolved gas sion to take place. Therefore, it may be concluded that a
between the oil in fissures and the matrix allows for a signifi- denser fissured system enhances the fracture/matrix diffusion
cant diffusion of gas inside the oil phase. As the gas concen- which is the basic mechanism to enhance oil recovery in an
tration increases, the matrix oil swells and is expelled into the immiscible CO2 injection application.
fissure network. The speed of diffusion process is directly
related to the density of the fissure network. The diffusion
from the gas bearing fissure into the oil bearing matrix is illus-
trated in Figure 1.4 Bati Raman Heavy Oil Field
Matrix to fracture flow in a dual porosity system described
Reservoir Characteristics
by Warren and Root5 and Kazemi et al.,6 can be expressed in
terms of a fracture to matrix exchange transmissibility:7 Bati Raman field is located in the southeastern Turkey and
contains 1.85 billion STB low gravity (10–13°API), high vis-
kro co xi krg cg yi cosity (592 cp) oil at an average depth of 1,300 m. The pro-
q i = Tmf [( ) (Pf-Pm) + [( ) (Pf-Pm + Pcgof - Pcgom)] ducing formation is Cretaceous Garzan limestone of reefal
mg mg (1)
origin and the structure is an asymmetrical anticline oriented
in the east-west direction. The field is 17 km. long and 4 km.
Tmf = k s Dx Dy Dz (2) wide and the reservoir is limited in the north and west by an
oil-water contact at 600 m. subsea, in the southwest by a fault,
The parameter s is a “matrix shape factor”, which character- and in the south and southeast by a permeability barrier.
izes the matrix block surface per unit volume. For three-

2
Garzan limestone is a vuggy and fissured formation show- around the wellbore and when the well was put on production,
ing heterogeneities areally and vertically. Towards the east, the pressure declined sharply. Because of the high gas satura-
the formation becomes tighter and chalky. Average porosity is tion around the wellbore, a kind of “gas blockage” formed.
18%, and average core permeability's range from 10–100 md. After experiencing these facts, it was decided that a gas drive
However, permeability's obtained from well tests range from application would give better results and the process was con-
200–500 md, confirming the existence of secondary porosity. verted to a gas drive.8,9
The primary production mechanism is rock and fluid TPAO decided to expand the application to the whole field
expansion. Water drive effect is insignificant except for a very after evaluating the results of gas drive in the demonstration
weak aquifer influence at the central north flank wells. The area for 2 years. From 1988–1993, the application area was
original reservoir pressure is 1,800 psi and the solution GOR enlarged step by step, and as of January 1993, the whole field
is 18 SCF/STB. This low GOR results in a low bubble point was under gas injection. Within the scope of the project, infill
pressure of 160 psi. Before the start of CO2 injection, the aver- wells were also drilled to decrease the well spacing. From
age reservoir pressure had dropped to 400 psi, which was still 1987–1998, 88 infill wells were drilled.
above the bubble point pressure, after a cumulative production Daily oil production of the field has reached 13,000 STB in
of 32 MMSTB. May 1992, up from 1,500 STB prior to CO2 injection. The
The field had been developed on 62 acres/well spaced ini- production history of Bati Raman field is presented in Figure
tially. Before the project was initiated, 65 active wells were 3. As of January 1998, 34 million STB incremental oil has
pumping with a total production rate 1500 STB/D. been recovered from Bati Raman field by CO22 injection. The
The rapid decline in reservoir pressure suggested the need cumulative CO2 injection is 124 MMMSCF and cumulative
for a suitable EOR application to increase the ultimate recov- CO2 production is 68 MMMSCF.Some of the produced CO2
ery from the field. Initially it was estimated that the primary were started to be recycled in 1991 by the installation of recy-
recovery would be 1.5% of OOIP. cle compressors in the Bati Raman field. 25 MMMSCF of
After extensive laboratory studies, modeling and engineer- CO2 was reinjected by January 1998. The CO2 Flood Perfor-
ing studies, TPAO decided that an immiscible CO2 injection mance of Bati Raman field is presented in Figure 4.
would be the most efficient method as an EOR technique. The There are 212 production wells and 67 injection wells in
existence of a CO2 reservoir (Dodan) 85 km. away from Bati the field. The production capacity is 11,000 STB/day and the
Raman made the project feasible. daily injection rate is 30–40 MMSCF/D.
PVT data for CO2 saturated Bati Raman oil is shown in
Figure 2.
Evaluation of the Performance
For the evaluation of the performance of immiscible CO2
injection in Bati Raman, a full field, dual porosity simulation
Application model was built and history matched. About 6% of the initial
Initially a huff-and-puff application in a 5 km2 pilot area con- oil in place is expected to be recovered by the CO2 injection
taining 33 wells was planned. The objective was to inject process.3,4
enough gas into each well to raise the reservoir pressure in the
The success of the injection process is directly related to
vicinity of each well to 2,000 psi, 20% higher than the original
amount of oil contacted by the injected gas. During the first
reservoir pressure. After the oil is saturated at this pressure
seven years of application, that; in the western area 40–80%
and after a short stabilization period, the well would be put on
and in the central area 16–60% of the injected gas was back-
production. The well would remain in production cycle until
produced. A material balance calculation done in the applica-
an economic limit is reached, then would be put on injection
tion area during this period showed that most of the gas
cycle again.
remaining in the reservoir must be in solution in the reservoir
After having prepared surface and subsurface facilities in oil. Considering the gas solubility at the average reservoir
Bati Raman and Dodan fields, TPAO started to inject CO2 in pressure and the volume of gas in solution, it was found that
1986 from 17 wells in the demonstration area. Each well 10–30% of the reservoir oil has been contacted by gas. Such a
showed a different performance. The wellhead pressures of high sweep efficiency despite a very unfavorable mobility
some wells increased immediately, while the others stabilized ratio can be related to the fissured nature of the reservoir.
at 700–800 psi. For most of the wells, the injected gas was not In a dual porosity reservoir, the success of injection process
confined within the vicinity of the wellbore but instead moved relies on the diffusion of gas in the fissures into oil in the
towards the parts of the reservoir that prevented the increase matrix. The speed of diffusion process is directly related to the
of pressure to the desired level. In the other injectors, the density of the fissure network. In the central area where the
injected gas could not move away from the wellbore vicinity fissure network is assumed to be denser, the GOR in the pro-
because of the unfavorable reservoir conditions and it was ducers increases progressively, reaching an average 2,000
compressed as free gas. This caused a rapid pressure build up SCF/STB after three years. The percent of backproduced gas

3
does not exceed 60%. This behavior indicates a relatively high The immiscible CO2 process was applied in an inverted 5-
diffusion rate which delays the movement of the gas in the fis- spot pattern in an area 200 m by 200 m. The following factors
sure network. In the western area the fissure density is lower, were, important in the consideration for the immiscible CO2
the GOR increases rapidly after the breakthrough and stabi- process
lizes at 2,000–4,000 SCF/STB, and the percent of backpro-
1. The availability of a natural CO2 reserve in the neighbor-
duced gas reaches 80%. This indicates that a fair amount of
invasion of the fissure network by the gas is required to yield a ing Camurlu field.
significant contribution of the matrix to oil production because 2. Favorable degree of solubility of the «amurlu CO2 gas
of a lower diffusion rate. with the reservoir oil as indicated by the swelling tests.
The initial ratio of injected CO2 to incremental oil produc- 3. The degree of oil-viscosity reduction brought about by
tion was significantly high, because of the fill up time required such solubility. Results of swelling factor and viscosity
to pressure-up the depleted reservoir. The peak values over 20 reduction test are given in Figure 5.
MMSCF/bbl started to drop after February 1987, and now An inverted 5–spot pattern configuration was chosen for the
continuing at a very economical level of 3.5–4.0MMSCF/bbl. pilot. CO2 was injected through the center well, CI, and the
Bati Raman immiscible CO2 injection project, for more production was obtained through corner wells: CP1, CP2,
than 10 years of application, proves the effectiveness of CO2 CP3, and CP4. Also, an observation well, CO, was drilled to
to enhance heavy oil recovery. Sound project management for get periodic samples and was equipped with bottom hole pres-
making necessary changes in the mode of application, in time, sure monitoring devices.
is very important in the success of the project. Depending on Prior to starting the CO2 flood, three cycles of CO2 huff-
the reservoir response, the application was changed from and-puff were carried out through the injection well, CI, dur-
“huff-and-puff” to gas drive, and then enlarged to the whole ing May-October 1993. During this period 6.86 MMSCF gas
field. After starting to inject CO2 to the whole field, recycling was injected and 921 bbls of oil was recovered. Continuous
facilities were constructed in order to save Dodan reserves. CO2 injection was started with a limiting injection pressure of
For the future, no major change in immiscible CO2 injection 2,500 psi. The injectivity at CI increased from 0.9 MSCF/d/psi
in Bati Raman field is foreseen. The reservoir management to 3.8 MSCF/d/psi by March 1985 suggesting an improved
applied by TPAO to monitor the producing GOR's of the wells permeability to gas (from 0.2–0.3 md to 4–5 md) due to
will be continued, and an infill drilling program with horizon- increasing gas saturation within the reservoir. The CO2 injec-
tal wells will be applied in the Eastern area where the well tion was maintained at 0.8–0.9 MMSCF/D until the termina-
productivity is the smallest. tion of the project in March 1995. During continuous CO2
injection, a total of 339.42 MMSCF gas was injected which
resulted in the recovery of 17284 bbls of oil. The ratio of
injected CO2 to incremental production is 19.6 MSCF/bbl. Oil
Ikiztepe Oil Field production and gas injection performance of the pilot test is
Reservoir Characteristics presented in Figure 6.
Ikiztepe field is located in the southeastern Turkey and con- The performance history was simulated using a 3-D multi-
tains 127 MMSTB low gravity (10–12°API), high viscosity phase, multi-component simulator to develop a better under-
(936 cp) oil at an average depth of 1,350 m. The producing standing of the displacement and recovery mechanisms in the
formation is the Sinan limestone of Cretaceous age, and is immiscible CO2 flooding process applied. The history match
occasionally dolomitic and irregularly vuggy and fissured. and subsequent simulation studies indicated conclusively that
The average porosity is 15–23%, and the average permeability a good CO2 — reservoir oil solubility was the primary factor
is estimated to be within 50–400 md. The cumulative oil pro- that contributed to the improved oil recovery. If the pilot test
duction was 88 MSTB, due to the low oil mobility (high mo), were continued until existing conditions until an arbitrarily set
rapid decline rate and a high water cut. There is a thin gas limit of the well GOR = 16 MSCF/bbl was reached, the recov-
zone, of about 10 ft, but it is not strong enough to resist the ery would be 8.6% for 90% pure CO2.
rapid decline rate.
If a HC gas were used instead of CO2, the breakthrough of
injected gas at the producers would be much earlier than was
the case in the actual pilot performance. HC gas had much
Immiscible CO 2 Field Pilot lower solubility with the oil and was not as effective as CO2 in
An immiscible CO2 field pilot was carried out by Japan causing oil viscosity reduction and swelling. The recovery
National Oil Corporation (JNOC) and Turkish Petroleum Cor- with HC gas injection would be 3.5%. The evaluation of pilot
poration (TPAO) in collaboration with the Japan EOR performance indicates that the high solubility of CO2 in the
Research Association (JEORA) in Ikiztepe field (10). reservoir oil was the most dominant factor contributing to the
recovery.

4
Camurlu Oil Field Reservoir management with careful monitoring and perfor-
mance evaluation, and making necessary changes in the mode
Reservoir Characteristics of application is very important to get successful results.
Camurlu field is located in the southeastern Turkey, at Syrian Bati Raman immiscible CO2 injection project, for more
border, contains 380MMSTB low gravity (10–12°API), high than 10 years of application proves the effectiveness of CO2 to
viscosity (284 cp) oil at an average depth of 1250 m. The poor
enhance heavy oil recovery.
quality of the oil, the heterogeneity of the reservoir and the
presence of a large gas cap are responsible for the low primary
recovery estimated at less than 1%. The “Mus” formation,
located beneath the oil bearing Alt Sinan formation, contains a
CO2-rich natural gas (73%). Nomenclature
A Area open to flow, length squared
Dx x-direction grid cell size, length
q Molar flow rate, moles per unit time
CO 2 “Huff-and-Puff ” Applications Dy y-direction grid cell size, length
The existence of a gas cap, the high viscosity of the oil and the k permeability, md
heterogeneity of the reservoir were taken into consideration in
Dz z-direction grid cell size, length
the design of the project. For the pilot test, two wells located
as far as possible from the gas cap were selected. The test kr Relative permeability, dimensionless
involved well stimulation, with limited amounts of CO2 being m Viscosity, cp
injected during each cycle, instead of continuous injection in c Molar concentration, moles per unit volume
order to eliminate the risk of an early breakthrough of CO2 L Matrix block dimensions, length
into the gas cap.11
x Mole fraction in the liquid
Three cycles of CO2 injection were applied in both wells.
J Molar diffusion rate, moles per unit time
Following a soaking period, production started by the flow of
P Pressure, force per unit area
oil and gas, and then continued with pumping. It was observed
2.5 times increase in the production rates of the wells. S Saturation, dimensionless
Several other wells were also stimulated by cyclic CO2 Pc Capillary pressure, force per unit area
injection, and two- to three-fold increase in the production of D Diffusively, length squared per unit time
the wells were observed. y Vapor mole fraction
s Matrix block shape factor, dimensionless
*x Equilibrium vapor mole fraction
Conclusions *y Equilibrium vapor mole fraction
Since the pressure required to achieve miscibility between Subscripts
CO2 and heavy oil is high and exceeds the fracturing pressure A Component number in a binary fluid
of the formation, immiscible CO2 injection can be applied in B Component number in a binary fluid
heavy oil fields. f Fracture fluid property
Immiscible CO2 injection can be an efficient process to m Matrix fluid property
enhance heavy oil recovery. The main recovery mechanisms i Component number in a multicomponent fluid
are oil swelling, due to CO2 diffusion and solubilization into
o Oil phase property
the oil, and matrix oil gravity drainage enhanced by the oil
viscosity reduction due to CO2. g Gas phase property

In fissured reservoirs, diffusion of CO2 into oil is more effi-


cient due to large contact area. This increases the technical
success of the application. Acknowledgment
In order to get successful results with immiscible CO2 The authors wish to thank the management of Turkish Petro-
injection, the application should be tailored for each reservoir leum Corporation (TPAO) for permission to publish this
depending on its characteristics. paper.

5
References
1. Holm, L.W. and Josendal,V.A. “Mechanisms of Oil Dis- 7. Spivak, A., Karaouz, D., Issever, K., and Nolen, J.S.
placement by Carbon Dioxide”, Jour. of Petr. Techn., “Simulation of Immiscible CO2 Injection in a Fractured
December 1974, 1427. Carbonate Reservoir, Bati raman Field, Turkey”, paper
2. Martin, F.D. and Taber, J.J. “Carbon Dioxide Flooding” SPE 18765 presented at the SPE California Meeting,
Jour. of Petr. Techn., April 1992, 396. Bakersfield, April 5–7, 1989.
3. Combe, J., Faure, F., Issever, K., and Topkaya, I. “Bati 8. Karaoguz, D., Issever, K., Pamir, N., and Tirek. A.: “Per-
Raman Heavy Oil Field: Reservoir Management of CO2 formance of a Heavy-Oil Recovery Process by an Immis-
Injection in Fractured Limestone Formations”, paper pre- cible CO2 Application, Bati Raman Field”, paper SPE
sented at the Offshore Mediterranean Conference and 18002 presented at the SPE Middle East Oil Technical
Exhibition, Ravenna, Italy, March 19–21, 1997. Conference, Bahrain, March 11–14, 1989.
4. Faure, F., Bakiler, C.S., Kose, A., and Pellissier, G. 9. Issever, K., Pamir, N., and Tirek, A. “Performance of a
“Numerical Simulation of CO2 Injection in a Heavy Oil Heavy Oil Field Under Carbon Dioxide Injection, B.
Raman, Turkey”, paper SPE 20883 presented at the SPE
Fractured Reservoir-Case Study of Bati Raman Field,
Europec 90, The Hauge, The Netherlands, 22–24 Octo-
Turkey”, paper presented at the 9th European Symposium
ber, 1990.
on Improved Oil Recovery, The Hauge, The Netherlands,
Oct. 20–22, 1997. 10. Ishii, H., Sarma, H.K., Ono, Kenji, and Issever, K. “A
Successful Immiscible CO2 Field Pilot In A Carbonate
5. Warren, J.E. and Root, P.J. “The Behavior of Naturally
Fractured Reservoirs”, SPEJ, September 1963. Trans. Heavy Oil Reservoir in the Ikiztepe Field, Turkey”, paper
AIME, 228. presented at the 9th European Symposium on Improved
Oil Recovery, The Hauge, The Netherlands, Oct. 20–22,
6. Kazemi, H., Merrill, L.S., Jr., and Zeman, P.K. “Numeri-
1997.
cal Simulation of Water-Oil Flow in Naturally Fractured
Reservoirs”, SPEJ, December 1976. 11. Bardon, C.P., Karaoguz, D., and Tholance, M. “Well
Stimulation by CO2 in the Heavy Oil Field of Camurlu in
Turkey”, paper SPE/DOE 14943 presented at the SPE/
DOE 5th Symposium on Enhanced Oil Recovery, Tulsa,
OK, April 20–23, 1986.

6
Figure 1: Diffusion in an Oil Saturated Matrix Block in Contact with Gas Saturated Fissures

Figure 2: PVT Data for CO2 Saturated Bati Raman Oil

7
Figure 3: Production History of Bati Raman Field

Figure 4: Bati Raman CO2 Flood Performance

Figure 5: Swelling Factor and Oil Viscosity Reduction — Ikiztepe Oil

8
Figure 6: Oil Production and Gas Injection Performance — Ikiztepe 5-Spot Immiscible CO2 Injection Pilot Test

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