The reserves of highly viscous oils and natural bitumen are several times higher than the stocks of light oils. In the development of such oils by thermal methods, steam is produced, the development of which is accompanied by significant emissions into the atmosphere of flue gases, including carbon dioxide. According to estimates, the extraction of high-viscosity oils annually releases about 34.5 million tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. However, carbon dioxide emissions from steam generation can be reduced to zero by injecting flue gases along with steam into the formation. In addition to environmental benefits, the technology of co-injection of water vapor and combustion gases (nitrogen and carbon dioxide) has a complex (thermal and physico-chemical) effect on the formation with a synergistic effect. The article is devoted to the analysis of the mechanisms affecting the increase in oil recovery during the co-injection of steam with flue gases, the description of equipment for the injection of flue gases into the reservoir, as well as the analysis of field experience in using this technology. The calculations for one of the fields of high-viscosity oil show the high efficiency of co-injection of water steam with flue gases.
As the development of reserves of traditional oil takes place, an important component of the raw material base is the reserves of highly viscous oil and natural bitumen, one of the effective methods for the development of which is the SAGD technology. This paper is devoted to optimizing the length of the horizontal section of wells with the SAGD technology using numerical modeling for one of the fields of high-viscosity Caribbean oil and finding the analytical dependence of the technological characteristics of the method on the parameters of the wells. The solution of the tasks was carried out using a thermohydrodynamic simulator «CMG STARS» (Computer Modeling Group). The paper presents the results of calculations to determine the optimal rate of steam injection and the length of a horizontal wellbore at the SAGD, as well as the analytical dependence of the technological characteristics of the parameters of the well, which can be used for an initial assessment of the effectiveness of technology for specific geological and physical conditions in this area.
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