Economic analysis of oil production by applying steam-assisted gravity drainage (SAGD) to reservoirs from the Potiguar basin

ABSTRACT The steam-assisted gravity drainage (SAGD) is an enhanced oil recovery process, used successfully by many countries, such as Canada, United States, and Venezuela, where there are many bitumen and heavy oil reservoirs. The SAGD is a process that uses two parallel horizontal wells, one of them for injecting steam and the other to produce oil. This process has not been applied in Brazil yet, where there are many heavy oil reservoirs, especially in Brazilian Northeast. Motivated by this context, this research aimed at studying the application of the SAGD process in a semisynthetic reservoir, with characteristics similar to those found in the Brazilian Northeast. The steam injection rates and their net present value were analyzed, indicating that there is a limit for steam injection rate to reach a good efficiency and that limit presents economic viability, evidencing that it can be applied in Brazilian Northeast.