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U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Performance analysis of a major steam drive project in the Tia Juana Field, western Venezuela

Conference ·
OSTI ID:6382673

On the basis of the favorable results obtained in early laboratory and small-scale field experiments it was decided to test the steam drive process on a larger scale in one of Shell's heavy-oil reservoirs on the E. coast of Lake Maracaibo. The project consists of 7 seven-spots, comprising 24 production and 7 twin injection wells at 133 m spacing. The latter wells are completed separately on the 2 main sand groups, so as to improve control of the vertical steam distribution. Steam injection commenced in Sept. 1961 and at end 1966, 10.3 million bbl or 21% of the oil initially in place (50 million bbl) had been produced for injection of 2.66 million (metric) tons of steam, corresponding with a cumulative oil/steam ratio of 3.9 bbl/ton. This brings the total recovery from the test area to 32% of oil in place, compared with an estimated ultimate primary recovery of 17%. The production rate at end 1966 was still 5,000 bpd at a steam injection rate of 1,450 tons per day.

OSTI ID:
6382673
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English