Abstract
Summary This paper describes the use of a black-oil, thermal simulator to compare steamflood development using five-spot and inverted nine-spot patterns. The input data selected were representative of a homogeneous heavy-oil reservoir. This study considered three different development strategies: conventional pattern steamflooding, pattern steamflooding with infill drilling, and steamflooding with infill drilling and pattern realignment. Comparison of pattern steamfloods indicates that at close well spacing (1.25 acres/well [0.5 ha/well]), the inverted nine-spot recovers more oil than the five-spot. Steam breakthrough and oil production are accelerated for the nine-spot relative to the five-spot pattern. At larger well spacing, however, oil recovery from the five-spot pattern exceeds that from the nine-spot. Conversion of a five-spot pattern to an inverted nine-spot increases and accelerates oil recovery. Processing of multiple sands will improve the effectiveness of this infill drilling strategy. A development strategy using inverted nine-spot patterns on large well spacings (2.5 to 5.0 acres/well [1 to 2 ha/well]) that yields improved oil recovery compared with conventional five-spot steamflood development was identified. This strategy uses infill drilling and pattern realignment to improve steamflood performance.
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