History matching of high- and low-quality steamfloods in Kern River field, California

This paper reports that history matches of high- and low-quality five-spot steamfloods were developed for the Kern River oil field in California. A uniform set of guidelines was then developed for predictive purposes. Oil and water production rates and cumulative productions were matched. Satisfactory predictions of steam breakthrough times, oil saturation profiles, and temperature profiles were also achieved. Increased vertical transmissibility at the injectors, relative permeability curve modifications, and accurate reservoir descriptions were required to achieve the matches.