Flow distribution control

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Our Surmont facility uses a process called steam-assisted gravity drainage – or SAGD  – to recover bitumen resources. SAGD involves injecting high-temperature steam underground through a horizontal well to melt the bitumen. The bitumen then flows to a second horizontal well beneath the initial well where it is pumped to the surface for processing. 

Flow distribution control benefits both the steam injection and bitumen production parts of the process by encouraging a more even distribution of injected steam in the reservoir, and more even drainage of the melted bitumen. The system acts as a self-governing device that compensates for flow-rate changes, effectively improving the efficiency of the entire well. 

Improved efficiency means both improved project economics and improved environmental performance. By optimizing the distribution of steam in the reservoir and the drainage of the bitumen from it, we may be able to increase the amount of resource that we could extract per well. This means we’d be able to produce the same amount of product while lowering our GHG intensity, using less water and disturbing less land.

The technical feasibility of flow distribution control is currently being tested.