A NUMERICAL ANALYSIS OF THE SINGLE-WELL STEAM ASSISTED GRAVITY DRAINAGE PROCESS (SW-SAGD)

Steam assisted gravity drainage (SAGD) is an effective method to produce heavy oil and bitumen which are important energy resources. In a typical SAGD approach, steam is injected into a horizontal well located directly above a horizontal producer helping to displace heated oil. Single-well (SW) SAGD attempts to create a similar process using only one horizontal well. To improve early-time response of SW-SAGD, it is necessary to heat the near-wellbore area to reduce oil viscosity and allow gravity drainage to begin. Ideally heating should occur with minimal circulation or bypassing of steam. We have investigated early-time processes to improve reservoir heating. A numerical simulation study was performed to gauge combinations of cyclic steam injection and steam circulation prior to SAGD in an effort to better understand and improve early-time performance. Results from this study, include cumulative recoveries, temperature distributions, and production rates. It is found that cyclic steaming of the reservoi...