Heavy oil recovery process

A process for the recovery of heavy oil from reservoirs deeper than 1,000 feet wherein surface facilities produce various chemical reactants, in gaseous form, and water for feeding into an injection well and for transferring said reactants via feeder tubings to a downhole reactor where, in the presence of a suitable catalyst, a reversible exothermic reaction takes place, converting said reactants and water into a gaseous mixture containing Hydrogen and high quality steam at a temperature such that, at the pressure required for injection of said mixture into the reservoir, hydrogenation of the heavy oil is initiated and proceeds at a rate sufficient to approach equilibrium within the duration of oil production from the reservoir drainage area associated with said injection well;

• said gaseous mixture exiting at high pressure from said downhole reactor, where both Hydrogen and steam are in direct contact with said catalyst, is then injected into the reservoir, contacts the heavy oil over a large area and, through hydrogenation and viscosity-reduction of said heavy oil, forms around said injection well a mobile oil bank which grows in time and ultimately flows into the surrounding production wells.