Simulation Studies

of
Thin Oil Reservoirs
Mid Review
Abhimanyu(01)
Dinesh(05)
Deepak(16)
To
Dr.Pushpa Shamra
(Dept. of Petroleum Engineering and Earth Sciences,COES,UPES)

Steam Assisted Gravity

Drainage(SAGD)

The continued depletion of conventional petroleum resources.

Increased interest in unconventional resources.
Heavy oil production from extremely viscous reservoirs requires thermal production
techniques, such as Steam Assisted Gravity Drainage (SAGD).

Process of SAGD

In the SAGD process,

Two parallel horizontal wells are drilled near the bottom of the reservoir

Steam is injected into the upper well. The steam forms a chamber, which heats the reservoir.

The viscosity of oil decreases dramatically as temperature is increased. This less viscous oil
drains along the chamber edges and is produced from the lower well.

The primary measure of SAGD process efficiency cSOR =

cSOR is affected by upper Heat Loss to overburden and presence of gas zones.

Model Description

Simulator to be Used : CMG STARS

Figure 3:

Table 1:

Cross-sectional view of model perpendicular

scale).

Grid, rock, reservoir, and oil properties.1

x-dimension

1500 ft

kh

y-dimension
z-dimension
Well length

80 ft
40 ft
1500 ft

kv

Reservoir Properties
Initial pressure
542 psi
Initial temperature
72.5 F

Initial So
85 %

Initial Sw

15 %

Grid System
Total no. blocks
3360

to length of wells (not to

Rock Properties
30 %
3500 md
1750 md

Oil Properties
Components
Water, Oil, Gas
Initial composition
100 mole % oil (dead)

65 mole % oil (live)

0 mole % gas (dead)

35 mole % gas (live)

Viscosity

Thin Oil Columns

One area of reservoirs that holds great potential is those with thin oil columns (< 50 ft).

The primary downfall of thin reservoirs is early and excessive heat loss to the overburden.

Thinness or low thickness prevents the development of a steam chamber of significant height
for efficient oil drainage.

SHEN process of Single well SAGD (SW-SAGD). For 39 ft reservoir thickness.

Drawbacks :

Rapid STEAM CONDENSATE FORMATION

Less simulated flow rate and recovery, oil drainage is slow.

Initial viscosity greater than 10,000 cp.

It appears unlikely that the SW-SAGD process will be a feasible modification for the thin, highly
viscous reservoir

XSAGD Process

The concept of Cross SAGD (XSAGD) :

The vertical spacing between injection and production wells in XSAGD is similar to SAGD

BUT key is the injection wells are drilled perpendicular, not parallel, to the
production wells.

Some portions at the intersection are plugged, to distribute the steam further
away.

Overall, the XSAGD benefits

increased thermal efficiency

acceleration of recovery.

XSAGD recovery is significantly faster than SAGD recovery for pay thinner than 66 ft (Stalder
2008).

Next to Follow

Effect of Thickness of Reservoir on X-SAGD

Effect of Aspect Ratio.

Effect of Gas Zones

Effect of Pressure

THANK YOU