SOLVENT ASSISTED STARTUP TECHNIQUES FOR IN SITU BITUMEN RECOVERY WITH SAGD WELL PAIRS, INFILL WELLS OR STEP-OUT WELLS

摘要

An in situ bitumen recovery startup process can include injecting a solventcontainingstartup fluid into a first horizontal well, providing a pressure sink in asecond horizontalwell for pressure drive of the solvent toward the second well to mobilize theinterwellregion, and establishing fluid communication between the first horizontal welland thesecond horizontal well. Other startup processes can include selecting startupintervalsalong the wells and, for each interval, isolating the interval and injectingsolvent at theinterval location to enhance mobility. The processes may be applied to SAGDwell pairsas well as infill wells, step-out wells and/or multilateral wells.