Justification of the Effectiveness of Steam-Gravitydrainage Technology in Field Conditionswith High-Viscosity Oil

The article is devoted to substantiating the effectiveness of steam gravity drainage (SAGD) technology for the development of a high-viscosity oil field located in the Komi Republic. The field under consideration, discovered in 1963, is characterized by difficult geological and physical conditions, including high oil viscosity (on average 710 MPa∙s), heterogeneity of the carbonate reservoir and significant oil-saturated thickness. An analysis of the current state of development revealed a lag in actual production figures from the design ones, which is associated with high oil viscosity, leading to technological complications and reduced oil recovery. As a promising solution, the technology of steam gravity drainage (SAGD) is proposed, based on the injection of hot steam into an upper horizontal well and the extraction of heated oil through a lower well, which helps to reduce viscosity and effectively displace oil under the influence of gravity. Based on geological and hydrodynamic modeling using the tNavigator program, thermal modeling of the SAGD process was performed, which showed the formation and growth of a steam chamber in 91 days with a predominant vertical development to the reservoir roof. The results of a comparative analysis of the basic development option and the option using SAGD demonstrated a significant increase in annual oil production and the oil recovery coefficient (KIN) from 0,191 to 0,262. The relevance of the research is due to the need to optimize production processes, reduce costs and increase the profitability of developing fields with high-viscosity oil. The development of such deposits is one of the key tasks of the modern oil industry. The high viscosity of oil leads to complications in the operation of equipment, a decrease in the rate of reserve development, low oil recovery and, as a result, a decrease in the profitability of development. With the depletion of traditional hydrocarbon reserves, the need to introduce innovative technologies for the extraction of hard-to-recover resources is increasing. SAGD technology, which has been successfully applied in similar fields, is proposed as a solution to increase the efficiency of the development of the field in question. The results of the work can be used to implement SAGD technology in other fields with similar geological and physical conditions.