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Vol. 59 No. 4

April 2007

Heavy Oil

Steam Injection in Fractured Carbonate Reservoirs

The economic success of the Qarn Alam project depends on the ability to predict steam requirements and oil production. Two key oil-production mechanisms are heat transport through the fractures and into the matrix and gas-cap generation resulting from thermal volatilization of the oil. The process mechanisms involved in thermally assisted gas/oil gravity drainage (TAGOGD) were validated through laboratory experiments, while the field-forecast model results were validated by history matching pilot-performance data.

 

View a Synopsis of SPE 102186 published in JPT.

This article, written by Assistant Technology Editor Karen Bybee, contains highlights of paper SPE 102186, "The Physics of Steam Injection in Fractured Carbonate Reservoirs: Engineering Development Options That Minimize Risk," by G.T. Shahin Jr., SPE, Shell E&P Technology; R. Moosa, SPE, PDO; and B. Kharusi and G. Chilek, Shell E&P Technology, prepared for the 2006 SPE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition, San Antonio, Texas, 24-27 September.

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