Early results of the first large scale steam soak project in the Tia Juana Field western Venezuela

Conference · Sun Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1967

OSTI ID:6172082

De Haan, H J; Van Lookeren, J

The steam soak process, as a promising heavy oil production method, was discovered in Shell's Mene Grande Field in 1959. Both the Mene Grande and Tia Juana Fields are located on the E. coast of Lake Maracaibo. The project under discussion was started early 1964 and at end 1966 showed an oil recovery of 20 million bbl or 6% of the oil originally in place, for injection of 1 million (metric) tons of steam in 73 wells. Although the estimated primary reserves have been practically exhausted, the wells are still producing an average 250 bpd. It is shown that the observed improvement of the well inflow performance can be explained by means of a simple model, which takes into account transient pressure effects and gravity overlay of the steam zone. The effect of steam soaking is enhanced by the fact that hot wells suffer less from skin formation than cold wells. Comparison of subsidence with production shows that compaction is no longer the only production mechanism, as was the case prior to steam injection. The additional mechanisms are expected to increase the ultimate recovery. A further increase is foreseen as a result of the improvement in productivity. (10 refs.)

• OSTI ID: 6172082
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

02 PETROLEUM
020300* -- Petroleum-- Drilling & Production
DEVELOPING COUNTRIES
ENHANCED RECOVERY
EVALUATION
FLUID INJECTION
FLUID INJECTION PROCESSES
GROUND SUBSIDENCE
LATIN AMERICA
MATHEMATICS
OIL WELLS
PRODUCTION
PUMPING
RECOVERY
SOUTH AMERICA
STEAM INJECTION
STEAM SOAK PROCESSES
THERMAL RECOVERY
VENEZUELA
WELL COMPLETION
WELLS