San Ardo: showcase for thermal recovery
At San Ardo there are 23 steam generators, including 9 operating for Mobil Oil Co. and 14 for Texaco Inc., and 9 air compressors, including 3 operating for Mobil and 6 for Texas Co. Both Mobil and Texaco, the field's two big producers, are using two principal recovery tools: steam and fire. Steam involves the injection of steam into the oil-producing zone, where it soaks until its heat has been transferred to the crude, reducing the viscosity of the oil and making it easier to recover. Fire, or underground combustion, involves the burning in place of a part of the oil in order to lower the viscosity of the remaining oil and create a drive that will sweep oil to adjacent wells through which it may be recovered. Thus, the mark of the steam project is the steam generator and the mark of the fire flood is the air compressor. At last count, there were 772 wells on production in the San Ardo Field. Production in a year's time has risen almost 20,000 bpd - from 29,000 bpd a year ago to a present 48,000 bpd. Steamflooding accounts for the bulk of the increase.
- OSTI ID:
- 6569656
- Journal Information:
- Calif. Oil World Pet. Ind.; (United States), Vol. 59:4
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
OIL WELLS
IN-SITU COMBUSTION
STEAM INJECTION
CALIFORNIA
COMPRESSORS
ENHANCED RECOVERY
PETROLEUM
PRODUCTION
STEAM GENERATORS
VISCOSITY
BOILERS
CHEMICAL REACTIONS
COMBUSTION
ENERGY SOURCES
FLUID INJECTION
FOSSIL FUELS
FUELS
IN-SITU PROCESSING
NORTH AMERICA
OXIDATION
PROCESSING
RECOVERY
THERMAL RECOVERY
THERMOCHEMICAL PROCESSES
USA
VAPOR GENERATORS
WELLS
WESTERN REGION
020300* - Petroleum- Drilling & Production
020700 - Petroleum- Economics
Industrial
& Business Aspects