Reservoir Monitoring In Oil Sands: Developing a Permanent Cross-well System Available to Purchase

Geophysical cross-well methods for reservoir monitoring of the SAGD process in oil sands have been evaluated and ranked by Statoil and Schlumberger in a joint research project. Modeling results indicate that seismic geophones and ERT electrodes are suitable for detecting changes in the reservoir caused by increased temperatures and steam replacing the oil. High temperatures and the need for electrically insulated casing have called for extensive testing of materials. After dealing with these challenges, a permanent cross-well system has been developed. Two vertical observation wells have been drilled and permanently instrumented, and testing of the downhole sensors have been accomplished.