The study on classification methods for low production wells of thermal recovery and its applications

During the later period of steam injection, the oil production largely decreases to be a state of low production or low oil–steam ratio. In this article, a classification method of low production wells was established and some measures of improving oil production were researched for the low production wells during thermal recovery. Three visualization experiments were implemented to analyze the sweep efficiency and to measure the oil recovery factor during injecting different flooding agents. Then a novel diagram was introduced to guide us how to precisely choose the appropriate measures for the low production wells during thermal recovery in heavy oil reservoirs. According to the statistical results, the low production wells can be categorized into three types involving high degree of oil recovery, thermal disturbance (even steam channeling) among wells and dual factors. The results of visualization experiments showed that the injection of chemical agents can effectively increase the displacement efficiency in swept zone after steam injection. Temperature-resistant gel or foams can be used to decrease thermal disturbance and even steam channeling among wells during steam injection in heavy oil reservoir. The values of a new parameter can be employed to confirm the boundary of different improvement measures. Finally, a diagram was established to help choosing appropriate measures involving nitrogen injection, foam injection, gel injection and invalid measure.