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US 12,553,322 B2Granted
Late life steam drive and gas strategy
AssigneeConocoPhillips Company
InventorsAlex Filstein, Javier Sanchez, Julian Ortiz Arango
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A method for producing heavy oil while reducing steam usage, the method including producing oil by SAGD or a SAGD variant in an array of wellpairs until an SOR increases, then shutting in every other injector and injecting steam plus noncondensable gas (NCG) in the remaining injectors and producing oil from all producers.
Claims18
A method for producing heavy oil, said method comprising:
- a) providing an array of well-pairs, each well-pair having a horizontal injection well parallel to and in fluid communication with a horizontal production well, said injection well above said production well;
- b) injecting steam into each injection well and producing oil from each production well in said array of well-pairs for a first period of time until a steam-to-oil ratio (SOR) begins to increase or an oil production rate begins to decrease, or combinations thereof;
- c) shutting in every other injection well and co-injecting steam plus noncondensable gas (NCG) into each remaining injection well and producing oil from each production well in said array of well-pairs for a final period of time.
A method for producing heavy oil, said method comprising the following steps in order:
- a) providing an array of well-pairs, each well-pair having a horizontal injection well parallel to and in fluid communication with a horizontal production well, said injection well above said production well;
- b) injecting steam only into each injection well and producing oil from each production well in said array of well-pairs for a first period of time until a steam-to-oil ratio (SOR) begins to increase;
- then
- c) co-injecting steam plus noncondensable gas (NCG) only into each injection well and producing oil from each production well in said array of well-pairs for a second period of time until an oil production rate declines;
- and then
- d) shutting in every other injection well and co-injecting steam plus NCG into each remaining injection well and producing oil from each production well in said array of well-pairs for a third period of time, wherein the SOR is at least 40% lower during said third period than during a SAGD-only method of producing oil.
3 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.