North Kern Front Field Steam Drive with Ancillary Materials

Abstract

Abstract Since steam injection became a viable recovery technique nearly three decades ago, the problems of gravity segregation and poor areal and vertical sweep efficiencies have limited recoveries in many heavy oil reservoirs. In many instances the injected steam prematurely breaks through into producing wells creating steam channels. It is believed that overall recoveries of a steam drive can be improved if the steam channeling can be controlled. This paper documents efforts under a Department of Energy cost sharing contract to reduce steam channeling in a conventional steam drive using ancillary materials. A steam foam solution and a steam foam encapsulated in a polymer gel are being introduced in four steam injection patterns in the North Kern Front Field near Bakersfield, California. The ability of the ancillary materials to improve recovery will be determined through injection profiles, chemical tracer surveys, casing vent gas analysis, core and log data, and residual oil saturation data, as well as through temperature and production data. It has been shown that in-sitυ steam foams can be used to alter the steam injection profiles to prevent excessive steam channeling. The results of early production data have indicated that as much as 125 B/D of incremental oil is being produced by the four chemical treated patterns.