Method for cutting steam heat losses during cyclic steam injection of wells. Fifth quarterly report

Technical Report · Wed Mar 01 04:00:00 EST 1995

OSTI ID:42506

The estimated Heavy Oil reserves of the Cat Canyon field, in Southern California, are about 27 MMB, of which only a little more than 1 MMB have been produced, since its discovery in 1908.This very slow recovery rate is due to several causes: (1) The 8 - 10 API oil is very viscous; (2) The main reservoir sand (Sisquoc of Late Pliocene, early Miocene Age) at depths ranging from 2,200 ft to 3,000 ft requires high-temperature, high-pressure steam (up to 600 F at 1,550 psia), resulting in high tubing heat loss with conventional well configurations; (3) The friable sand is very fine-grained and easily entrained by the produced viscous crude. Although cyclic steam injection methods have been used successfully in this field, their cost is increased by the large tubing heat losses. This problem may be alleviated by using our sequential cyclic steam injection process, but the high pumping cost resulting from the presence of sand in the pumped crude stream may only be addressed by a special type of oil pump, which requires two parallel tubings. The addition of a third tubing in the basic 10.75 inches. Cased well configuration, developed for the Midway-Sunset field is feasible, but the downhole flow connection between the twin tubings of the pump must be included in our Lower Special Casing Joints. In view of the interest expressed by a Cat Canyon Operator to field-test our Downhole Hardware and technology, the present Report describes the design modifications which have been made to the Top Lower Special Joint (TLSJ), presented in Report No. 3 in order to include this feature, thus allowing the use of a sand-tolerant pumping system, when necessary. These low-cost modifications will extend the range of applicability of our technology and facilitate its market penetration.

• Research Organization: S-Cal Research Corp., San Rafael, CA (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
• DOE Contract Number: FG49-93CE15600
• OSTI ID: 42506
• Report Number(s): DOE/CE/15600--T5; ON: DE95010371
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

02 PETROLEUM
ENHANCED RECOVERY
HEAT LOSSES
OIL WELLS
PETROLEUM
STEAM INJECTION