Operational experience in steam injection control in vertical and deviated wellbores, such as the large steam flood projects in California and Indonesia, has shown that proper control of steam injection can have a significant impact on the steam-oil ratio (SOR), oil recovery and overall economics of a thermal recovery project.  A growing body of field evidence suggests that better steam injection control methods appear to be called for in order to improve the steam injection conformance, uniformity of the steam chamber growth, and increase the oil rates, thermal efficiency and recovery in a number of SAGD projects currently in operation.  However, SAGD operators recognized that the industry must first address a number of technical and economic questions and challenges in order to advance the technology of steam injection control to the point where it may be considered a viable alternative in such applications.  The common need to address these unconformities in order to advance alternative SAGD steam injection control methods became the motivation for the industry and C-FER to initiate the first phase of the SAGD Steam Injection Control JIP.

The first phase of the JIP was launched in the first quarter of 2008 and is focused on: (1) defining the state-of-the art of SAGD steam injection control and in-well and reservoir monitoring technologies; (2) reviewing of the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of the various devices and technologies that may be used for controlling steam injection in SAGD horizontal wells; and (3) completing model developments and analyses to gain a better understanding of the key factors which may affect the design and performance of these various devices in a range of SAGD applications (e.g. such as variations in well depth and horizontal length, device geometry and placement, injection rate, pressure, and steam quality). As of the end of the second quarter of 2008, there are eight SAGD operating companies participating in the JIP.

While the JIP is currently still in the first phase, C-FER and the participants are already considering the scope of work for the next phase of the initiative. Potential areas of focus for the second phase may be on: developing tools to assist operators in assessing the design and performance of selected steam injection control technologies; full or scaled testing of selected device(s) to quantify their performance and operating characteristics under SAGD conditions; and assessing the full project-scale impacts which steam injection control methods could have on life-cycle economics in a SAGD operation (eg. effects on a well and facility CAPEX and OPEX, cSOR etc.)

Contact: Todd Zahacy, Senior Consultant, Exploration & Production