Assisted recovery: the steam story

Journal Article · Sun Jan 31 04:00:00 EST 1965 · Calif. Oil World Pet. Ind.; (United States)

OSTI ID:6683831

Rintoul, B

Of California's some 40,500 oil wells, perhaps 3,000 felt, or were scheduled to feel, the impact of steam during the last 12 mos. Estimates of California's daily production from steam-increased output ran from 15,000 to 25,000 bpd. As to whether steam would get more oil out of the ground, the answer seemed to be an overwhelming yes, but there are other questions that remain unanswered. One is the number of times the operator may expect to go back into the same well (in the steam ''soak'' method currently accounting for the lion's share of the projects in California) and get economic increases in production. One engineer estimates 10 times as a reasonable figure. In general, steam soaks have been most effective in recovering the heavy oil, perhaps 15$ gravity and lower, found in shallow, massive sands. Generally, work has been limited to depths less than 3,000 ft. A partial summary, by fields, of steam soaks and steam floods under way or planned in California, is given. These data include a map and a generalized stratigraphic column showing where oil has been found.

• OSTI ID: 6683831
• Journal Information: Calif. Oil World Pet. Ind.; (United States), Journal Name: Calif. Oil World Pet. Ind.; (United States) Vol. 58:2; ISSN COWPA
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

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