Cyclic Steam Injection Project Performance
Analysis and Some Results of a Continuous
Steam Displacement Pilot
R. H. Adams, SPE-AIME, Standard Oil Co. of California
A. M. Khan, SPE-AIME, Standard Oil Co. of California
Introduction
The Huntington Beach oil field is on the Pacific Coast,
southeast of the City of Los Angeles (Fig. 1). It lies
both onshore and offshore. Most of the onshore sec-
tion is operated by Standard Oil Co. of California,
WOI.
The Tar reservoir is of upper Pliocene age, about
200 ft thick, and consists principally of fine-grained,
unconsolidated, somewhat shaly sand, with thin inter-
bedded shale stringers throughout (Fig. 2). The res-
ervoir is a broad, highly faulted, elongated anticline,
with an areal extent of about 370 acres. Most of the
faults bisecting the structure are normal, trend north-
south, and are the main cause of reservoir discon-
tinuity (Figs. 3 and 4) .
From 1964 to Dec., 1967, 259 steam stimulations
were performed on a total of 125 Tar sand wells.
Eighty-six new wells were drilled and steam stimu-
lated. Of the total, 96 have been stimulated twice, 34
three times and 3 four tim«s.
During this same period, a two-injector steam
drive pilot has been in progress. The response ob-
tained from this project has been compared with the
response to cyclic stimulation. This paper presents an
analysis of the field observations for the two methods
of thermal recovery.
History of Development
Drilling to the Tar pool commenced in 1924 with an
initial well production of 40 to 50 BID of 12° API
gravity oil. Complete primary development of the
pool has been spread over several years. Approxi-
A successful steam stimulation has been conducted in the Upper Tar sand in Huntington
Beach, California. Data from this project are compared with data on a two-injector steam
drive pilot project in the same area.
JANUARY, 1969
mately 40 wells were drilled during the first phase of
development, which was completed in 1945. The sub-
sequent primary development started in 1960 with
initial well productions of 30 to 40 BID oil. Thirty-
seven wells were completed in the Tar pool during
this phase. For the most part, slotted, gravel flow
packed liners have been used in the wells in this pool.
A cyclic steam stimulation pilot was initiated in
March, 1964. Based on the very successful stimula-
tion in the pilot area, the cyclic stimulation project
was expanded to include all of the Tar pool wells
producing at the end of 1965 (Fig. 5). Also, a devel-
opment drilling program was begun at this time. To
date, 86 new wells have been drilled under this pro-
gram. The number of wells drilled each year in this
secondary phase of development is also shown in
Fig. 5.
New Well Completion Practices
Most of the new wells have been completed to pro-
duce from both the Upper and Lower Tar zones.
Generally, a casing stub is cemented from the top of
Lower Tar to the base of clean Upper Tar sands to
exclude intermediate water-bearing sands. The water
string is then cemented from the top of Upper Tar to
about 1,500 ft with neat cement and 30 percent silica
flour. The annulus from 1,500 ft to surface is then
filled with a petroleum-based gel through a high~
temperature port collar. Once again, a history of
sand-free production dictated the use of 60-mesh
gravel flow packed liners. The Upper and Lower Tar
95
 zones are separated by a hookwall packer run on the
liner during completion. Expansion joints are used to
absorb the thermal expansion of the liner. The expan-
sion of the water string is taken at the surface through
a high temperature casing pack-off assembly. A sche-
matic diagram of the new well completion is shown
I
in Fig. 6.
I
Surface Facilities UPPER
ITAR ZONE
Installation of a considerable amount of surface
facilities has been required to effectively handle the·
- incre.ased production and to be able to stimulate the ~I
producers. The encroaching urban development of ----! '
the City of Huntington Beach complicates the layout
of the production facilities, and often increases oper-
ating costs. To accommodate a substantial housing
development program, all wells drilled on land oper-
ated by Standard Oil Co. since Sept., 1961, have
been directionally drilled in walled clusters of 5
to 15 wells. This drilling and production cluster is
called an "island". Steam is injected into the Tar pool
producers through a network of buried lines on each
of the islands, with the steam generators moved from
island to island as necessary. For cyclic· steam stimu-
lation, high quality steam (about 80 percent) is sup-
plied by seven 22 million Btu/hour (l,350B/D)
gas-fired generators. An additional two gas-fired units LOWER
have been used for the steam drive pilot. Ready avail- TAR ZONE
ability of gas and an existing distribution system were
the factors influencing the choice of gas-fired units. 1
The generator feed water is passed through water
softeners to remove' calcium and magnesium ions. Fig. 2-Typical electric log .

.<J C
f ;:0-
f C

o c
~.<Jtv
o .
!
I 2!
4,

MI LES

Fig. l-Coastal areal map.

96 JOURNAL OF PETROLEUM TECHNOLOGY
The feed water has almost negligible oxygen concen-
tration, making the oxygen removal treatment
unnecessary.
The produced hot fluids are gauged at each of the
island facilities and gathered through an existing trunk
line. Since the gathering system was not previously
designed to transport hot fluids, the production must
be cooled down to 150F before it can be shipped
from the island to the cleaning plant. This is done
with portable fin-fan type coolers.
Fig. 3~lsopachous map, Upper Tar sands,
Huntington Beach, Calif.
Stimulation Operations
The Tar pool wells are steamed through tubing hung
50 to 100 ft off bottom. The steam injection rate in
the Upper Tar is 1,300 to 1,350 BID at 800 to 1,000
psi. The technique of steaming through thermal pack-
ers has not been used due to high costs of installation
and attendant operating risks in directionally drilled
wells. In the older wells, which were not designed
for steam stimulation, there were 13 casing failures
due to high thermal stresses. Most of these failures
. occurred while the wells were cooling down after the
steam job. More recently, however, a nitrogen cushion
has been used successfully to shield the water string,
and no further mechanical failures in the old pro-
ducers have been experienced. The effect of nitrogen
in cutting down on radiation heat transfer to the water
string has been clearly demonstrated by a 50 percent
reduction in· the casing rise. A nitrogen cushion was
not used in the 86 new wells; instead, special high
temperature cements were used and the casing was
packed with high temperature gel. This has produced
the best results in that we have observed only two
casing failures, both within the port collar.
Steam Drive Operation
Steam is injected into the injection wells through a
thermoseal packer and with the tubing hung at 50 to
100 ft from the bottom. The injection rate varies
between 1,300 and 1,350 BID at 800 to 1,000 psi.
The annular space above the packer is vented.
Production History
As mentioned earlier, the cyclic steam stimulation
pilot was begun in March, 1964. Fig. 5 shows the
Tar pool performance. Immediately prior to initia-
tion of the pilot, total pool production was 850 BID.
At the time of the expansion of the stimulation project
in Sept., 1965, the pool production had increased to
3,250 BOPD, representing more than a fourfold in-
crease over that shown on the primary decline curve.
The expansion of the project was based on the suc-
cess, economic and otherwise, of the pilot.

Fig. 4-Structure map, Top Upper Tar sand,

Huntington Beach, Calif.

PETROLEUM-BASE
I0, 000r--r---,---,--.-----.--,---,c-r-r-.---.--,---,--,---,-,---,----.--,---,
GEL
OIL PROD.
BID EXPANDED
CYCLIC STI M HIGH TEMP
5,000

l PORT COL LA R

WTRINJ. NEAT CEMENT HIGH TEMP

BID PLUS 30% SILICA LINER HANGER
\
1000 lIQ,OOO FLOUR.
/850'
WOR GRAVE L PAC K
500 5
11""\\IIJl\~v~~/~~~Jv"r,,~ /v i · · ·
I 3 I~ I 55 9 I
N~OF NEW WELLS DRL'D

1963 1964 1965 1966 1967

Fig. 5-Performance of Tar Pool. Fig. 6-Schematic of new well completion.

JANUARY, 1969 97
 Production in Dec., 1967, was 3,500 BID. This TABLE 1 - RESERVOIR AND CRUDE OIL
production increase was achieved by performing a CHARACTERISTICS, TAR POOL,
total of 259 cyclic steam jobs, including 125 first- HUNTINGTON BEACH, CALIF.
cycle, 96 second-cycle, 34 third-cycle and 3 fourth- Upper Tar Lower Tar
Average depth, top of sand, ft 2,000 2,400
cycle jobs. The pool performance curve includes the
Average net sand, ft 100 50
response from the steam drive pilot. To date, more Average permeability, md 2,300 2,300
than 4 milliOn additional barrels of oil have been Average porosity, percent 38 38
recovered. Conservatively, this represents a recovery Average water saturation, percent 35 35
of about 2 million bbl of oil over and above the esti- Original oil in place, bbl/acre·ft 1,800 1,800
mated ultimate primary recovery from the Upper Tar Oil gravity, 0 API 13 12
pool. Although a number of the wells expose the Present reservoir pressure, psig 600 1,200
Lower Tar sands, and both Upper and Lower Tar Reservoir temperature, 0 F 110 115
zones are steamed together, temperature surveys run Oil viscosity at 80F, cp 1,800 11,000
after stimulation indicate that the Lower Tar pool Oil viscosity at 100F, cp 940 3,700
Oil viscosity at 120F, cp 530 1,600
does not accept any steam. From this, and the known
history of poor responses from the wells completed
in Lower Tar only, it has been concluded that most
of the production response is coming from the Upper I 00 0 ~--,-"",,---,-,---,--,-,--,---,----,--,--'----r---,
Tar zone. The principal reasons for poor Lower Tar GROSS PROD.
response are extremely high viscosities and substan- BID
tial quantities of montmorillonite. All the data to be
presented here are based on responses from the Upper 500
Tar interval. Reservoir and crude oil characteristics
are summarized in Table 1. FI RST CYCLE
Results and Conclusions
Cyclic Stimulatiou 2~CYCLE
200
Fig. 7 shows the averaged production responses by
cycles. The curves shown in this figure represent the
performance of a typical well. Since not enough data 3"-" CYCLE
are available from the fourth cycle, its production 100
performance is not shown. The most important factor
indicated by this figure is that the peak production in 70
each successive cycle is declining. Also the cycle
length is decreasing with each successive cycie. The
2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 II 12 13 14
range of resteam production (25 to 30 BOPD) TIME SINCE STEAMING-MONTHS
shown on Fig. 7 has been obtained from a study
based on maximum present worth income, taking into Fig. 8-Averaged cyclic gross production.

0.7r-----r--~--_,---,---,_~_,

CUM. OIL GAIN

01 L PROD. CUM.WTR INJ.
BID 0.6
200

FIRST CYCLE 0.5

(100)2
WELLS
N~OF
AVERAGED
0.4

50 0.3
31l9CYCLE
(6 )

0.2

OPTIMIZED PRODUCTION
RANGE FOR RES TEAMING
O. I

OL-_~ __ ~ _ _- L_ _ ~ __ L-_~

1°0 , I 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 II 12 13 14 o 10 20 30 40 50 60
TIME SINCE STEAMING -MONTHS TIME- MONTHS
Fig. 7-Production response by cycles. Fig. 9-Cumulative barrels of oil gained per barrel of
water ini'ected.

98 JOURNAL OF PETROLEUM TECHNOLOGY

consideration the cyclic responses shown in this
figure.
Averaged gross production is shown in Fig. 8. This
figure indicates that the gross stimulated production
decreases with each of the succeeding cyclic steam
stimulations. This is perhaps the most important fac-
tor in understanding steam stimulation in this area.
At this time, we have only one explanation of this
phenomenon. The gross production may be decreas-
ing due to the depletion of a certain drainage area
around the wellbore. The movement of the cold fluid
into this area is very slow because of the high vis-
cosity and low reservoir pressure. Efficient drainage
into and around the wellbore is apparently due to the
pressure transients established during the stimulation.
Fig. 9 shows the performance of the project on a
cumulative basis. Efficiency has improved to the
point that, for every barrel of water injected, we are
rec:overing more than half a barrel of oil. The in-
creased efficiency has resulted from a better knowl-
edge of the stimulation response mechanisms, better
operating techniques and optimization of injection
cycles and soak time.
Fig. 10 shows a correlation of soak time with
6-month cumulative production. The data points
shown are the averaged values of the responses for
each soak time. There was a range of responses at
each .soak time, depending upon the amount of heat
injected. Generally, if heat injected was close to opti-
mum or greater, the response was greater than aver-
age. This indicates that the optimum soak time is
about 9 days. It also shows that for periods less
than 8 days, the decline rate is dependent on the
soak period. To the best of our knowledge, this sort
. of relationship has not been reported previously.
Price and McLaren1 have mentioned that soak time
does not appear· to have any detrimental effect on
the production response.
Six-month cumulative production and injection per
net foot of sand are shown for each soak time in Fig.
11. For a soak time of 8 days or more, there is
an optimum injection volume of 175 bbl of water,
converted to steam, per net foot of sand. For example,
the 8-day soak-time curve shows that an increase
in the cumulative water injection from 100 to 175
bbl per net foot, will yield approximately 40 addi-
tional barrels of oil per net foot, during a6-month
production period. The rate of change of response

6 MOS. CUM PROD. NET INCOME * 8-DAY SOAK TIME

PER NET FT.-81Ft.
400

N! OF DATA POI NTS

300 AVERAGED~
FI RST eyc LE 8 6 4
4 6 O. o~
II 9 --.:o!...-,:;:.o--
200
o 0
O~c;::::::l=~c:=:I~=
~O=4
100 ~0 0 5
~ :3 5 2~CYCLE

°0L-~~2--~3~4L-~5--~6--7L-~B--~9--ILO~I-1~12
SOAK TIME-DAYS

Fig. 10--Correlation of cumulative production and

o 100 200 300 400 500-
soak time. CUMULATIVE WATER INJECTED flER NET FOOT
OF SAND-B/Ft:
Fig. 12-Relationship between net income and cumulative
water injected. (Discounted net income after taxes, after
6 MOS. CUM PROD. investment.)
PER NET FT -81Ft. FIRST CYCLE
300
6 MaS CUM. PROD.
SOAK TIME- PER NET FT. - BIFt,
DAYS-.... S
300
200 /"
~"
'\Z..8DAYS
2!:!.!i CYCLE
/' SOAK
_--------0-4
-"""""'"~AYS SOAK 200 SOAK TIME-

100 /0' DAYS"

5

100

°0~----~1~00~--~2~070--~3~OO~---4~0-0--~·500
CUMULATIVE WATER INJECTED PER NET FT. 00 50 100 150 200 250 300
OF SAND - B/Ft. WATER INJECTION PER NET FT.- B/Ft.
Fig. ll-Correlation of C?u!11ulative production and water Fig. 13-Correlation of cumulative production and
. . Injected. injection.

JANUARY, 1969 99
is small at injection volumes greater than 175 barrels
per net foot of sand. The shape of a relationship be-
tween undiscounted net income and cumulative water
injected is shown in Fig. 12. This relationship, in
conjunction with the 8-day soak period curve (Fig.
11), gives an economic meaning to the indicated
optimum, The available data for the second steam
cycle supports the conclusions drawn on the basis of
the first cycle (Fig. 13).
Steam Ddve
Area of the unconfined two-injector steam drive pilot
is shown in Fig. 3. The total area in the patterns
shown by dashed lines is 34 acres, with the wells
being on 2- to 3-acre spacing. The pilot was started
in April, 1965. Production gain from the pilot is
shown in Fig. 14. Through April, 1967, a cumulative
324,500 bbl of additional oil had been realized from
a cumulative injection of 1,620,000 bbl of water.
The decline in production occurring in the early part
of 1966 was due to steam breakthrough in one of the
producers. This well had been producing over 200
BOPD prior to breakthrough; subsequently, its pro-
duction declined to 40 BOPD within a period of 3
months. The breakthrough was effectively healed by
allowing the operating fluid level to rise, which caused
the interval to resaturate itself. This well is currently
producing 50 BOPD. Steam injection in the pilot area
was discontinued in April, 1967, and no decline in
the production has been noticed for 8 months. Stored
thermal energy in the reservoir seems to be the major
driving force behind this afterflow, so that a substan-
tial amount of oil may be recovered during this period.
Based on these encouraging results of the steam-
flood pilot, and the observed declining cyclic re-
sponse, we believe that for continued economic
recovery from the reservoir, emphasis on steam drive
must be accelerated. For this purpose, in the area
shown in Fig. 3, an expanded steamflood pilot is
being considered; it would be a confined nine-injector,
of five-spot configuration. The production perform~
ance of the proposed steamflood pilot is based on
a reservoir heat balance, taking into account the
following coverage factors: vertical coverage due to
steam -·50 percent; additional vertical coverage due
to. hot water ~ 30 percent; areal sweep -- 50 per-
cent; and fluid capture efficiency* -- 100 percent.
The basic equations for the heat balance have been
developed by Marx and Langenheim. 4
From our theoretical calculations, it appears that
the steam drive process will yield much greater ulti-
mate recovery from the pool than will cyclic stimula-
tion .. Based on the theoretically predicted short fillup
time and response, resulting in short term generation
of data necessary for a thorough economic analysis,
we believe that a decision regarding expansion or
cessation of the pilot can be made within 1 year after
it is begun.
Summary of Conclusions
The correlations presented on the soak time, cumu-
'Pertains to efficiency of capture of fluid in a producer. In this
case, for simplification, it was assumed that the well is pumped off.
100
GAINED OIL PROD.
BID
SHUT-IN
1000
DRIVE PILOT
STARTED STEAM
DRIVE IN PILOT
500 I
100L-~19~6~5~~--~19~6~6~-J---1-9-6-7---L---19-6-8--~
Fig, 14--Estimated gain in production from two·inje'Ctor
steam-drive pilot.
lative production and barrels of water injected may
be valid for only the Upper Tar pool, but certainly
can prove valuable in determining any optimum
treatment size and in conducting any successful stimu-
lation operation. We believe this to be of prime
importance, particularly in view of the high costs· of
generating steam.
Because of the crude oil characteristics, only a
small portion of the reservoir surrounding a wellbore
is being drained. Steam drive appears to be inherently
a more efficient recovery process.
Soaking, after steaming, up to an optimum number
of days, has a definite effect on the rate of post-steam
decline and, in turn, on the cumulative production
from a particular well.
Best response levels can be achieved by using
optimum soak periods and injection volumes.
Acknowledgment
We express our appreciation to the management of
the Standard Oil Co. of California, wor, for permis-
sion to publish the results of our steam stimulation
project. We also gratefully acknowledge the contribu-
tion of H. Dykstra, M. R. Monroy, E. O. Price, J. L.
Rowland and R. E. Us tick to this project.
References
1. Price, E. O. and McLaren, G. R.: "Steam Cyclic Opera-
tions at Midway-Sunset Sections 15A and 23A", Proc.,
Petroleum Industry Conference on Thermal Recovery,
sponsored by Rockwell Mfg.· Co., Los Angeles, Calif.
(June 6, 1966) 69.
2. Rochon, J. A.: "Case History of Huff and Puff Steaming",
Proc., Petroleum Industry Conference on Thermal Recov-
ery, sponsored by Rockwell Mfg. Co., Los Angeles, Calif.
(June 6, 1966) 14.
3. Dietrich, W. K. and Willhite, G. Paul: "Steam Soak Re-
sults - Sisquoc Pool- Cat Canyon Field - Santa Bar-
bara County", Proc., Petroleum Industry Conference on
Thermal Recovery, sponsored by Rockwell Mfg. Co., Los
Angeles, Calif. (June 6, 1966) 61.
4. Marx, J. W. and Langenheim, R. H.: "Reservoir Heating
by Hot Fluid Injection", Trans., AIME (1959) 216,
312-315. JPT
Original manuscript received in Society of Petroleum Enginesrs
office July 11, 1967. Revised manuscript received Nov. 4, 1968.
Paper (SPE 1916) was presented at SPE 42nd Annual Fall Meeting
held in Houston, Tex., Oct. 1-4, 1967, and at SPE 38th Annual
California Regional Fall Meeting held in Los Angeles, Calif., Oct.
26-27, 1967 ..© Copyright 1969 American Institute of Mining, Metal·
lurgical, and Petroleum Engineers, Inc.
JOURNAL OF PETROLEUM TECHNOLOGY