Quiz: How mature is your thermal scheme?

Can propane injection recover bitumen outside a SAGD steam chamber?

Thermal bitumen recovery has been around for decades. But the recent SAGD craze has really caught a big wave over the last 5-10 years. How mature is your thermal scheme?

One operator is experimenting with propane injection in a SAGD pair and adding infill producers. He believes that this will increase recovery of bitumen outside steam chambers and also reduce steam requirements. He describes his patented process complete in detail and reveals projected recovery factors. He also has conjectures about the interaction of solvent with non-condensable gas.

You can read all about it by ordering his application from our self-serve, secure checkout. AppIntel delivers applications within moments, not weeks.

The quiz

We have developed a quiz that can pinpoint the maturity of your thermal scheme.

Write the number to answer each question in the space provided.

A. ____Production level in thousands bopd approved for your scheme.

B. ____Number of well pads constructed

C. ____Number of well pads that have at least one well injecting steam

D. ____Number of well pads that have at least one production infill well

E. ____Number of well pads that have infill wells that are also on CSS

F. ____Number of well pads that have at least one injector injecting non-condensable gas

G. ____Number of well pads that have at least one well injecting solvent

H. ____Number of well pads that have at least one well injecting a surfactant or alkali chemical

I. ____A/5 (size)

J. ____100 x B/A (developed)

K. ____5 x (C+D+E+F+G+H)/B (optimized)

L. ____I + J + K

What the quiz says about your scheme

If your score in L. is between 5 and 20

Still young, your scheme has great growth potential. Who knows how successful it will be when it's farther along. Sky's the limit.

If your score in L. is between 20 and 40

Young and developing. Your scheme is starting to get its legs and show its potential. Pay close attention to optimizing as you grow it.

If your score in L. between 40 and 70

Grand and proud! Your scheme is hitting its stride. Well known for its size and production, and yet its being well optimized, too.

If your score in L. over 70

Congratulations, your scheme is mature. It's past its first pilot stage. It has many well pads developed. You're well on your way to optimizing it.

The key to staying abreast of thermal technology

Thermal technology changes quickly. Thermal operators are always trying something new. Many of their attempts reduce steam requirement and improve recovery.

The only way to stay abreast of these technological changes is to read their applications. Technical papers don't expose new technology quickly enough. Technical forums don't reveal enough detail.

In the heyday of $90 oil, some companies had whole teams of people data-mining applications. But today, when oil price is cut in half, more and more companies find it's cheaper and faster to have AppIntel.

Cheapest, fastest, best

AppIntel costs less than a quarter of one person's salary. For the same price of a team of six man data-mining department, you could supply all your thermal engineers with AppIntel.

AppIntel's search functions are quicker than made-in-house searches. And AppIntel's collection of historic applications is vary larger than any in-house collection we've seen.

AppIntel has area alerts that allow you to see new applications as soon as they are submitted.

AppIntel doesn't take sick days or vacations and it works on weekends. It doesn't miss applications or documents -- it's contents are triple checked for accuracy. And it adds search by UWI for applications that don't even have a UWI.

Tags: Thermal, Heavy Oil

Granger Low   29 Oct 2016

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