Steam trap control valve for enhancing steam flood performance in an Omani heterogeneous heavy oil field

Abstract In this research, a numerical feasibility study of the thermal oil recovery using steam injection has been carried out for a heterogeneous heavy oil field located in southern Oman. There are several technical challenges for designing EOR operation system for oil reservoir with heterogeneous permeability. A numerical simulation of the steam injection has been developed to investigate the optimum heat transfer in the reservoir to reduce the oil viscosity with more efficiency. The CMG STARSTM model was used for the simulation of steam injection operation with the valve control of steam trap subcool in this field. The simulation results showed that the valve control can result in wider and faster temperature transmission and distribution in the reservoir after steam injection. It was also shown that steam trap operation can result in relatively higher oil production and lower required steam temperature. Finally, it was suggested that by setting subcool temperature on 20–30 °C using the valve control, steam injection efficiency can be increased and better SOR (steam oil ratio) and RF (recovery factor) can be achieved.