METHOD FOR BITUMEN DEPOSIT DEVELOPMENT Russian patent published in 2007 - IPC E21B43/24 

FIELD: oil production, particularly to produce bitumen with the use of heat along with horizontal well drilling.

SUBSTANCE: method involves drilling heat-transfer wells in reservoir; injecting heat carrier in reservoir via the heat-transfer wells; drilling drain holes below bitumen reservoir bottom; pumping-out reservoir water and producing bitumen in discrete regime. To produce bitumen from elongated deposit having length equal to multiple of deposit widths slanting-horizontal heat-transfer wells are drilled. The slanting-horizontal heat-transfer wells have horizontal sections of sinusoidal type formed in general deposit direction, wherein well azimuth is cyclically changed in horizontal projection so that in the case of 10% well path increase heated area increases by 45-50%. Product is extracted via strings of drain holes.

EFFECT: increased bitumen displacement efficiency and extended area of deposit zone to be heated, which improves bitumen recovery ratio due to direct bitumen reservoir treatment.

3 dwg