Status of thermal recovery

Abstract

Thermal recovery of oil has received a large increase in interest in the past year. Steam and hot-water flooding, forward combustion and cyclical steam injection are considered. A brief review of forward combustion and the techniques used to predict its performance are discussed. The predictive techniques for hot-water and steam floods are discussed. A discussion of cyclical steam injection is made, and the lack of a predictive technique in the literature is stressed. Some of the basic considerations in predicting the performance of cyclical steam injection are presented, Conclusions are reached that reasonable methods exist for the prediction of forward combustion, hot-water 'and steam flooding and that none exists in the literature for steam stimulation.