Patent ID: 7849922

Claim:
A method of treating a tar sands formation, comprising: providing heat to a first section of a hydrocarbon layer in the formation from a plurality of heaters located in the first section of the formation; allowing the heat to transfer from the heaters so that at least the first section of the formation reaches a selected temperature; allowing at least a portion of residual heat from the heated first section to transfer from the heated first section to an unheated portion of a second section of the formation; heating the unheated portion of the second portion to an average temperature of at least 50° C. with the residual heat from the first section; mobilizing at least a portion of hydrocarbons in the heated second section by providing a solvation fluid to the second section of the formation; and producing a mixture from the second section, wherein the mixture comprises mobilized hydrocarbons and solvation fluid.