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Why do some very heavy crude oils require steam injection for recovery?
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A semisubmersible oil production platform operating in water 1,800 metres (6,000 feet) deep in the Campos basin, off the coast of Rio de Janeiro state, Brazil.
Some very heavy crude oils require steam injection because they possess high viscosity—sometimes up to one million times that of water—which creates significant resistance to flow at reservoir temperatures. Because these oils are too thick to be produced effectively using standard methods like waterflooding, thermal recovery is necessary to improve their mobility.123
Steam injection works by raising the temperature of the reservoir, which reduces the oil's viscosity by a factor of 10 for every 50 °C (90 °F) increase. This process can be achieved through:1
- Steam cycling (or steam soak): Steam is injected into a well, allowed to condense to release heat, and then the well is put back into production as the heated oil flows more easily.14
- Steam flooding: Continuous steam injection displaces the oil toward production wells, serving both to heat the reservoir and transport the oil.5
By lowering the viscosity, steam allows these heavy crudes to flow into the well bore, making their extraction economically viable.13