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Thermal recovery processes rely on the use of thermal energy in some form both to increase the reservoir temperature, thereby reducing oil viscosity, and to displace oil to a producing well. Four processes have evolved over the past 50 years to the point of commercial application. These are cyclic steam stimulation (CSS), steam-assisted gravity drainage (SAGD), steamdrive, and forward in-situ combustion. The history of the development of thermal recovery processes is well-documented by Prats (1982) and Butler (1991).

The motivation for developing thermal recovery processes was the existence of major reservoirs all over the world that were known to contain billions of barrels of heavy oil and tar sands that could not be produced with conventional techniques. In many reservoirs, the oil viscosity was so high that primary recovery on the order of a few percent of original oil in place (OOIP) was common. In some reservoirs, primary recovery was negligible.

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