Reservoir and operational parameters influence in SAGD process

Thermal processes are used to improved heavy oil recovery, and they could be based on the steam injection, i.e. cyclic or continuous injection. The continuous injection has many variations, and has been studied both theoretically and experimentally (in pilot projects and in full field applications). One of the technologies that is being studied is one variation of the continuous injection, the steam assisted gravity drainage (SAGD). This process uses two horizontal wells: the steam injector at the top of the reservoir and the producer in the bottom. The purpose of this design is to create a steam chamber, providing a better sweep of the reservoir. This process comes as a quite an efficient alternative to recover heavy oils and bitumen. In this study a homogeneous model was idealized to analyze the effect of permeability barriers and vertical permeability on cumulative oil. A steam optimization was done for some reservoir parameters. It was found that heterogeneity and vertical permeability had a major influence on oil recovery and that optimal steam rate varies depending on the reservoir characteristics. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.