Enhanced Oil Recovery by Steamflooding, Cruse 'E' Field, Trinidad

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This article, written by Technology Editor Dennis Denney, contains highlights of paper SPE 89411, "Enhanced Oil Recovery by Steamflooding in a Recent Steamflood Project, Cruse 'E' Field, Trinidad," by V. Ramlal, SPE, Petrotrin, prepared for the 2004 SPE/DOE Symposium on Improved Oil Recovery, Tulsa, 17-21 April. On the basis of the success of the Cruse ‘E’ Pilot steamflood in Trinidad, Petrotrin decided to expand the thermal project. The project was commissioned in January 1996 when steam injection began. In November 1998, environmental concerns in a residential area near the steamflood required project shutdown. This paper discusses the performance of the steamflood during steam injection and during the shutdown period, the operational and economic aspects of the project, and the environmental upgrade conducted to restart the project. Introduction The Cruse ‘E’ steamflood is in the Parrylands area of southwestern Trinidad, 8 miles from the town of Point Fortin. It is one of several active thermal projects operated by Petrotrin and is the most recent steamflood developed by the company. The Cruse ‘E’ Expansion steamflood was undertaken following the success of the Cruse ‘E’ Pilot Project. With loan financing from the Inter-American Development Bank (IADB), 28 new patterns were formed by drilling 60 wells and incorporating 35 existing wells in the thermal area. Steam-generation and -distribution equipment and production facilities were installed during 1995, and steam injection began in January 1996. The shallow Cruse ‘E’ sands were ideal for steamflooding, and response was obtained in only 9 months. After 22 months, production reached 1,200 BOPD. For environmental reasons, the flood was shut down in November 1998, and approval was not obtained to restart until March 2002. Factors that contribute to the success of this project include large reserves of shallow heavy oil (average gravity of 17°API); reliable, adequate supplies of fresh water for injection and natural gas for steam generation; good reservoir continuity within the project limits; 30 years’ accumulated company expertise in enhanced oil recovery; and the success of the pilot project.