An Evaluation of Field Projects of Steam With Additives

Summary The use of additives to improve both steamdrive and cyclic steam injection in field projects has been tested under a variety of conditions. This technique attempts to reduce gravity override and channeling of the steam by foam generation. Another mechanism appears to be "detergent" cleaning near wellbores by surface-active agents. When successful, this technology seems to be economic even at a low oil price. The results, however, have ranged from excellent to negative. In this paper, we attempt to evaluate the field projects published to date. The results of this study show that the use of additives with steam can provide significant benefits over the use of steam alone. Indeed, addition of surfactant to the steam has proved to be both technically and economically successful when the proper products and procedures were used. Caustics have given mixed results but seem to have been effective in at least one cyclic-steam project.