Some recent developments in SAGD

Steam Assisted Gravity Drainage (SAGD) is being using increasingly for the recovery of bitumen and heavy oil in Canada. Four large SAGD projects are under construction in Athabasca and two others have been announced. These projects are expected to produce bitumen economically and with a recovery greater than 50%. Productivity will be close to 1000 B/d per well pair. There are also many successful smaller, and growing, projects and pilots in Athabasca, Cold Lake and Lloydminster. Because of the rising costs of fuel it is desirable to reduce steam requirements for SAGD. Means for doing this include cogeneration of steam and power, alternate fuels, choosing better reservoirs, improved heat recovery, and the newer related processes, SAGP and Vapex.