Effect of bottom water on performance of cyclic superheated steam stimulation using a horizontal well

Abstract

Horizontal well has been widely used for heavy-oil recovery in the petroleum industry. Besides, superheated steam has been proved effective in heavy-oil recovery by field practice. In this paper, a numerical model is established with the help of numerical simulator. The effect of bottom water on the productivity of cyclic superheated steam stimulation well has been studied. Some interesting findings show that: (a) the bottom water-channeling phenomenon becomes more severe when the horizontal well is approaching the bottom water. (b) The cyclic oil production fluctuates with periodic number when the horizontal well is close to the bottom water due to the fact that the injected water has an elastic push action on the bottom water. (c) A larger-bottom water size is able to supply a larger elastic energy. While the cyclic oil production of large-bottom water size for the first few cycles is smaller than that with a small-bottom water, it may be turned over for the last few cycles.