Steam-oil ratio is the economic parameter that governs everything. Steam requires fuel to generate and water to feed, and both cost money continuously through project life. A project operating at a steam-oil ratio of three burns roughly a barrel of oil equivalent in fuel for every three barrels produced; at a ratio of eight it is marginal at most prices. Every design and operating decision, well spacing, pattern configuration, steam quality, subcool control, heat loss management, ultimately expresses itself in this ratio.

Heat losses are where efficiency is lost. Steam injected into a reservoir loses heat to the wellbore during injection, to the overburden and underburden above and below the heated zone, and to produced fluids removed from the reservoir. Thin reservoirs lose proportionally more heat to the surrounding rock than thick ones, which is why net pay thickness is among the strongest screening criteria for steam processes. Insulated tubing, steam quality control and heated interval selection all address these losses.

SAGD depends on geology in a way that other processes do not. It requires a thick, continuous, high permeability reservoir with no substantial shale barriers between the well pair and the top of the reservoir, because the steam chamber must rise and drain condensate and oil to the lower producer. A shale barrier that would be a minor complication in a steamflood can prevent chamber growth entirely. Detailed geological characterisation is therefore a precondition rather than a supporting activity.

Finally, in situ combustion is the highest efficiency thermal process on paper and the most difficult to operate. It generates heat within the reservoir by burning a fraction of the oil, which eliminates surface heat losses entirely, but it requires maintaining a combustion front that can extinguish, channel or run away, and it produces flue gases and operating hazards that other processes do not. Its field record is mixed for these reasons rather than for want of theoretical merit.

By the end of this training, participants will be able to:

• Characterise heavy oil properties and quantify the viscosity reduction achievable with temperature
• Screen reservoirs for thermal recovery against thickness, depth, permeability, saturation and geological criteria
• Apply steam thermodynamics including quality, latent heat and enthalpy to injection design
• Calculate heat losses to wellbore, overburden and produced fluids and their effect on efficiency
• Design cyclic steam stimulation cycles and predict performance decline across cycles
• Design steamflood patterns and predict performance including steam override effects
• Design SAGD well pairs and assess the geological requirements for chamber development
• Apply subcool control and understand its effect on SAGD performance
• Evaluate in situ combustion including air requirements, front stability and operational risk
• Specify steam generation, water treatment and thermal well design requirements
• Manage steam-oil ratio and evaluate thermal project economics

The training develops the physics of heat transfer and viscosity reduction and then applies it to each process through design calculation using field conditions. Participants calculate heat requirements, heat losses, steam-oil ratios and expected recovery for defined reservoirs. Process selection is worked through against geological criteria for real fields. Operating data from thermal projects is used for surveillance interpretation and performance diagnosis. Project outcomes across steam and combustion processes are examined for the design or geological factor that determined the result.

Organisations sending participants to this training will:

• Select thermal processes appropriate to the reservoir rather than by convention
• Improve steam-oil ratio and the operating cost of thermal projects
• Reduce heat losses through better well design and operating practice
• Improve SAGD performance through better geological screening and subcool management
• Improve surveillance and diagnosis of underperforming thermal projects
• Strengthen the technical basis of thermal recovery investment decisions

Participants will:

• Understand the mechanisms and limitations of each thermal process
• Calculate heat requirements, losses and efficiency for a thermal project
• Design and assess steam injection schemes
• Diagnose thermal project underperformance
• Evaluate thermal project economics through steam-oil ratio
• Build a specialist capability in heavy oil and bitumen development

• Reservoir engineers working heavy oil and thermal recovery projects
• Production and facilities engineers supporting thermal operations
• Completion and well engineers designing thermal wells
• Simulation engineers modelling thermal processes
• Development engineers evaluating heavy oil recovery options
• Operations engineers managing steam injection and production
• Technical staff assessing thermal project proposals

Upon successful completion of this training course, delegates will be awarded an official Certificate of Completion issued by the Petroleum Engineers Association (PEA), an ISO 9001:2015 certified training organization. The certificate carries 10 Credits and formally records the total learning hours completed.

Each certificate is signed by the Course Facilitator and the CEO of the Petroleum Engineers Association, and serves as verifiable proof of professional training that delegates can present to employers and professional bodies worldwide.