... Abstract Producing from bitumen reservoirs overlain by gas caps can be a challenging task. The gas cap acts as a thief zone to the injected steam used during oil recovery operations and hinders the effectiveness of processes such as steam assisted gravity drainage (SAGD). Moreover, gas...

... in depleted gas caps is replaced by water, as concluded by Fustic at al., (2013) . As water is drawn into the depleted gas cap from the surrounding reservoir, water saturation can be lowered to nearly irreducible levels at the base of the reservoir below. Capillary pressure can also create transition zones...

... that are frequently present in the oil sands include the presence of bottom water, top water and gas caps. All of them, representing potential thief zones and are inherent to the reservoir nature. Characterize and understand how those features affect the SAGD process is a key element of early project planning...

... Abstract There are several kinds of unconventional oil production and one of them is heavy oil production from sand reservoirs with initially gas cap. A gas cap near the top of a heavy oil formation is a rare occurrence; however, high gas saturation or desaturated ("air") zones may form...

... Abstract Russkoye oil field with gas cap, discovered in 1968, is one of the biggest high-viscous oil fields in Russia. It is a challenging field to develop commercially because of its geological complexity, unconsolidated formations, permafrost zone, and high heterogeneous compartmentalized...