Abstract
A cyclic steam pilot has been conducted in one of Petroleum Development Oman deepest heavy oil fields. The field is considered beyond conventional and proven enhanced oil recovery (EOR) technologies. However, as the target reservoir contains several billion barrels of heavy oil, a number of potential unconventional EOR technologies have been identified and considered for trialling.
During the screening process and despite the technical challenges, cyclic steam soak stood out as the technology that can be trialled to provide valuable information to reduce subsurface uncertainties such as permeability distribution, fraccing potential, injectivity and hot oil production capacity. In addition the trial is a key enabler for potential other unconventional EOR technologies in this field.
This paper will provide an overview of the development strategy for maturing this heavy oil reserves. The initial planning and the selection of the least risk and fastest project delivery strategy were critical to the fast implementation of this single well cyclic steam soak trial (CSS). The contracting strategy and the selection of the fit for purpose industrial standards are included in the discussion. Specific topics addressed include selection of the right equipment for better water specifications and higher steam quality are addressed. In addition, cold injectivity test, the results of the early injection and production cycles, and the surveillance program are presented.
