Steam Displacement- Kern River Fieici

C.Go
Buraell,

SPBAIME,

Getty Oil Co.

Introduction
The Kern River field is a few miles northeast of

Bakersllekf in the southeastern part of the San

Joaquin Valley, It is one of the largest in California
in terms of its original oil in place and cumulative
production, The latter, as of Jan. 1, 1969, was approximately 476 million bbl. On the 12,100 productive acres there are more than 5,100 active producing
wells, ranging in depth from 500 to 1,300 ft.
The reservoir and fluid characteristics of the Kern
River field are considered favorable for secondary
recovery by steam displacement. The gravity of the
produced oil ranges from 12 to as high as 16.5
API, and averages about 13.5. The oil has an average
viscosity of 4,000 cp at the reservoir temperature of
90F. At 250F, this viscosity is reduced to 15 cp.
The structure of the Kern River field is a simple
homocline on the east flank of the San Joaquin Geosyncline, dipping toward the southwest at 4. The
productive zone is an unconsolidated sand with considerable dispersed silt interbedded in blue-green
clays. Average permeability of the oil sand is approximately 4,000 md. The Kern River formation represents a continental-alluvial fan deposit derived largely
from the westward-flowingKern River.

History of Development
The application of heat to the Kern River sands dates

from Lbe tid 1W()s.

when bottom-hole heaters
-----,
were installed to assist in the recovery of the heavy
crude by improving the mobfity of the oil, reducing
plugging of the perforations, and improving pump
perfornmllce.

Based on the successful program of bottom-hole

heaters in the field, further investigations were undertaken to utilize the heat more effectivelyin producing
the viscous oil, Theoretical performance predictions
made a hot waterflood attractive, and in 1961 it was
considered necessary to conduct some fundamental
displacement experiments to verify the predictions.
The results of the laboratory experiments were ciicaraging, and in Aug., 1962, a 234-acre normal
five-spot pattern was drilled and a pilot hot waterflood was begun.
Hot Waterflood Pilot Performance

A total of 2,231,000 bbl of hot water was injected

into the four injection wells from Aug., 1962, to Feb.,
1964. Results from the hot-water injection project
showed that viscous oil displacement by hot waterfloodingwas mechanically feasible, However, because
of inherent reservoir conditions that caused excessive
bypassing and channeling at the required high injection rates, the method was not economically attractive.
It was concluded that to develop an economic process,
the sweep efficiencyof the displacing phase had to be
increased substantially either by eliminating the observed channeling or by increasing the heat utilization
efficiency.
steam Di@acement
Steam as a heat earner and displacing fluid was con-

sidered potentially capable of producing the necessary

improvement in heat utilization. In June, 1964, the
hot waterflood project was converted to a steam dis1

~ The heat has been on in Kern River since the mid fifties. First it came from
bottom-hole heaters, then it came jrom inj=ted hot water. In 1964 a steam drive
was started, so that currently the field is sweating out 6,700 barrels a day as a result
of a daily injection of 30,000 barrels of steam.

TABLE l+ATUS
Oisplt

Kern
San Joaquin
Ken ,ASD
G and W A
Read
Total

Swte:p

June, 1964
juiie, i%%
March, 196S
DaC., 1968
Apri:, I*W9

OF ACTWE STEAM DfSmCEMENT

Single
In&e/y

Dual
I n&cJ$n

-z

15

9
9
~~
70

15

Totel
ln&cti~

47
8
9
9
12
.
85

placement drive. This project is presently known as

the Kern Project and has been expanded fmm the
original four injection wells to 47 injection wells.
Since 1964, four other steam displacement projects
have been started in various areas in the field; the
San Joaquin Project (8 injection wells), Kern A
Project (9 injection wells), G and W A Project (9
injection wells) and the Reed Project (12 injection
wells). Table 1 shows the start-up date for each
project along with the number of injection wells and
producing wells. TMs table also shows the number of
generators used in each displacement project. Presently 85 injection wells are being used in steam displacement operations, with steam being generated by
six 18.5 million Btu/hour, four 20 million Btu/hour
and fourteen 22 million Btu/hour steam generators.
Injection System

Steam is split from a steam generator into individual

injection wells through a header system employing
chokes in critical fiow. TM pi~du~
T@~
tthsM
the steam velocity achieve sonic velocity, which for
our conditions calls for a pressure drop of about 55
percent across the choke. The chokes are sized in
relationship to each other to give the desired flow
rate into each injection well. As long as the pressure
drop is greater than 55 percent, the flow rate will be
independent of the actual wellhead injection pressure,
The steam is transmitted through insulated surface
limes to the injection wellhead and in most cases is
injected down casing in the injection wells. However,
dual displacement requires that the steam be split
and injected down tubing through a thermal packer
and down the tubing-casing annuhm Originality,steam
flow was split with an adjustable bean and an orifice
meter to measure the flow rate, which, of course, required a great deal more surveillance than the criticalflow choke system.
During 1970, a central steam boiler plant is to be
installed. This plant will have a heat capacity output
of 240 million Btu/hour. The use of a central plant
is ideal since displacement is a continuous operation,
and a large concentration of steam is mquimd in a
small area. An advantage of these large units over
the smaller steam generators is their improved thermal
efficiency.
Well Completion Techniques
The general plan for steam displacement at Kern

River is to confine the displacement interval to about

50 or 60 ft and to start in the lower portion of the
Kern River formation. Injection wells have generally
been completed with 5%-in. casing cemented to sur----

PROJECTS, mRN

Totel
ln#eep

Totel
Prodd,yg

62
8
9
9
12
. --

S3
19
17
16
22
. --

lW

15/

RIVER FIELD

1s.5
MM Btu
4

ofGeneretore

Number

Mt%tu

Ml%tu

7
2

2
3

1%i%

K
K
R
R
R

i4

face and selectively let-perforated.

Five basic types of producing-well completion are
used in these steam displacement operations. They
include punched line= slotted liners, selectively perforated cemented casing, inner liner completions and
gravel packed liners. Wells with punched liners were
drilled in the early 1900s. From 1940 through 1966,
the normal producing-well completion method was to
cement an 8Ys-in. water string and then run a 6%6-in.
slotted liner. Slot sizes range from 60 mesh to as
high as 180 mesh. Since 1966, producing wells have
been completed by cementing casing through the oil
zone amf =!ective!yjet-perforating 50 to 60 ft of
interval near the bottom of the zone. This limitedentry, jet-perforated completion has made possible
the injection of steam into a prescribed interval. Where
sand production becomes a problem, it has become
necessmy to mn inner liners. Although this has helped
to limit the sand production, in many cases it has also
caused plugging of the wellbore, which interferes with
the flow of fluids.
Water Source

Water is provided for the steam displacement operations by a central water plant that treats produced
water. This central plant also serves as a source of
water for the steam stimulation operations that are
currently being conducted in the field. It was realized
early in the history of thermal operations that very
large volumes of water would be required if the field
wastobe flooded onafullscale. Theprocess usedin
treating the produced water is to gather it in settlii
sumps to allow the oil and water to separate. The
water is then passed through a flotation cdl, where
its oil content is reduced so it can be filtered. For this,
diatomaceous-earth pressure leaf Inters are used. The
water is deaerated by a vacuum system and by an
oxygen-scavenging chemical and is then softened by
passing through ZeOlite resin water softeners. The
present capacity of the plant is 150,000 B/D, with
design capacity to handle as high as 300,000 B/D by
expanding various pieces of satellite equipment.
Laboratory Investigation
Laboratory investigations in linear tubes were conducted to provide data on residual oil saturations
from steatnflooding. Table 2 shows the residwd oil
saturation result&g from steamflooding Kern River
crude at vmious injection temperatures. Also shown
on th~ table are the residual oil saturations resulting
from injecting hot water and hot nitrogen at the same
tempature and cumulative heat. Apparently, some
other influencebesides the temperature level is responJOURNAL

OF PETROLEUM

TECHNOID6Y

TABLE 2-REsIDUAL
OIL sATURATION FOR VARIOUS
THERMAL DISPLACEMENT METHODS
Residual Oil
Saturation
Tem~eture
(fraction)
Type of Displacement
Steam
_--
Steam
Steam
Hot N,
Hot watar

287
338
365
304
280

0.137
0.109
0.094
0.151
0.320

sible for the reduced residual oil saturations when

injecting steam or hot nitrogen. It appears that the
lower residual oil saturation experienced with steam
or nitrogen injection is a result of the formations being
fiooded by many pore volumes of gas. Shutler, in his
work with a mathematical model of the steamdrive
process, has also reached this concision.
Further studies were conducted in a fiv-spot model
to investigate the effect of injection rate on oil recovery. At low injection rates, steam breakthrough is
delayed, but because of higher heat losses, it takes
more injected steam to realize the ultimate recovery.
At higher steam injection rates, steam breaks through
early in the production history. However, this is offset
by the advantage of lower heat losses in obtaining the
ultimate recovery with less steam. As injection rate
is again increased, the trend reverses probably as
a result of a fingering effect at the higher injection
rate and the sweep efficiencydrops.

Field Performance
Fig. 1 shows production performance and injection
history for the five active steam displacement projects.
Associated with these 85 injection wells (including 15
dual injection wells), on 2%-acre five-spot pattern
spacing, are 157 displacement producing wells. The
present injection rate is 30,400 B/D. Gross production from the five projects equals the total injection
rate, which indicates a good capture efficiency.The oil
production rate of 6,740 B/D gives a production per
nattem
r_.--of 67 B/D.

Kern Displacement Project Performance

Thisproject was begun in Aug., 1962, as a hot waterflood, utilizing four injectors in a 2%-acre normal
five-spot pattern. In June, 1964, steam injection was
started intothe four injection wells at a rate of 300
B/D/well. Fig. 2 shows the production performance
from the central producing well, Kern No. 64. An
immediate increase in oil production was obsmved
in this well. After 2 months of continuous injection,
Kern No. 64 production peaked at 155 BOPD.
Although there was no evidence of steam breakthrough in Kern No. 64, the wellhead producing temperature was approximately 200F. By the end of
May, 1966, a total of 629,000 bbl of steam had been
injected into the four input wells. During this period,
injection was interrupted twice to stimulate the wells
immediately outside the pilot pattern. The normal
practice now is to continue injection and to steamstimulate the producing wells with a steam generator
used soiely for the purpose. As producing wells become hot from the steam displacement drive, stimulation is no longer required. As shown on Fig. 2,
production from Kern No. 64 responded rapidly to
changes in injection conditions during 1964 and 1965.
Full-scale Expansion
The displacement project was expanded in May, 1966,

from four injection wells to 16 injection wells, covering 40 acres. The project was further expanded to 33
patterns covering 90 acres, in Oct., 1967; and in Sept.,
1968, it was expanded again, this time to 47 injection
weUscovering 130 acres. Fig. 3 shows the locations
of these expansions.
Fig. 4 is a structure section through the Kern Displacement Project showing the interval being displaced the K interval of the Kern River formation. As can be seen, t.hk interval actually breaks into
two to three individual sand stringers. Injection profiles showed that in several of the wells steam was
entering only the top sand stringer. During the last
expansion, 15 wells were converted to dual injection
to provide steam injection into the lower stringers.

1
8

Fig. lProduction and injection history for active

steam displacement projects.

Fig. 2ProducXon history for Kern Well 64,

Karn Steam Dkplacement Project.

TABLE 3-COMPARISON
OF PRODUCTION FROM
DIFFERENT WELL COMPLETIONS, KERN
STEAM DISPLACEMENT PROJECT
011 Produotlon
Rato&r#l
Y-

Numbw of W*IIS

of Well Complatlon

string jet perforated

Slotted liner
Qmval pack slotted liner
inner iinar
Lsst 6 month
womgo
Soll~

i
I

( CORDESi

~
,

( OMAR)

...----.-ti_J~

~lsesu?AN610N
.: W? EXMON
Iii

--z::.
I

>

1
I
f
!

(REED CRUOEAI

Reqmnee from DMerent Well Completions

Various well completion methods were used in the

producing wells in the Kern Displacement Project.
Table 3 shows the average oil response from the different methods, As shown in Fig. 5, the wells with
the various completions are scattered. (Sand character
in the individual wells was determined to be comparable and results of comparing completion methods
should be representative,) It was found that tbe jetperforated completions were the best welle in the
steam drive, with production during the last 6 monthe
averaging 64 B/D. The wells with slotted liner eompletioru were almost as good, with en average pduction of 54 B/D. However, a group of wells with
gravel-pack completions averaged only 38 B/D, and
a few wells with inner liners averaged only 33 B/D.
Based on this, two gravel-packed wells were recompleted with cemented casing and jet-perforat~ which
resulted in increased oil production. These two wells
are presently making 50 B/D each, mmpared with a
previous production of 25 B/D. The improvement in
all cases was a result of higher total fluid production
rata.
CMRecovery

Fig. 3-Locations
of Kern steam displacement
pattarn expansions.

Table 4 shows oil recoveries for nine confined fivespot patterns within the Kern Displacement Projeet.
Cumulative oil shown on this table is the total oil

i?
I
9

#OM

M
# 126

*208
EL. 649

#64

EL. 74S

EL. 732

EL. 670

m
10

DISPLACEMENT

INTERVAL

11?s
Fig. 4-Structure

aeetirm thrwh

the Kern Steam

Displacement Proiect.
JOURNAL

OF PETROLEUM

TECHNOLOGY

()

produced since the well was placed on hot-water or

steam displacement. In some cases, cumulative gross
production (oil and water) has exceeded the cumulative steam injected, and in other cases it has been
much less than the steam injected. The latter, especially, is true for those wells that have been compieteciwith either gravci packs or inner liners. Tkse
completion methods have caused an ineffectiveness
in the wells acting as a sink within the displacement
drive (see Table 3).

nrzwwerl
. ----

in -~em

-- -No,-

Z04

dlM@

$LOTTEO LINER
STRIN6 JET PERF
I
I
IOMAR)
!

I
( COROSS)

---

A)

Fig. S-Looations
of wells with different weli
completions,
Kern Steam Displacement
Project.

~C.,

1968, making it very difKcultto maintain the previous

oil production rate. Since the installation of an API
228 pumping unit with a 144-in. stroke, productkm
has been maintained at a level higher than before
steam breakthrough; and there have been very few
pumping problems. This generally has been the case
with all the large pumping units that were installed.
The alower speed and longer stroke of these large
mp~g
tits appears to be very advantageous in
producing wells with large-volume steam breakthrough, Obtaining accurate fluid levels in wells blowing large volumes of steam has been very &fEcuIt.It
has been found, also, that to assume that wells are
pumped off when they are pounding fluid is not always
sound. In many cases this is the result, instes@ of a
steam lock in the pump. For one particular producing
well blowing large volumes of ste~ it was decided
to decrease the steam injection rate in the nearby

ORAVEL ACKEDSLOTTCO LINER

O ~0

Large Pumpinghits
Since some of the wells, owing to the way in which
they were compkted, were not capable of producing
their share of the injection fluid, it became necessmy
in early 1969, to install some large pumping units on
those that could produce more than their share.
Thirteen API 114 pumping units and three API 228
pumping units were installed on selected wells, which
resulted in a favorable production increase. F%. 6 is
a production graph for one of these wells. Steam
h~akth~lluh
.. ..-

INNER UNER

1
1

1s0

In
Iw

1
i
1
,
1
,
,

1
[
1

1
1
1

1
I
1
1
1

100

1
.
11
IT

1
1
1

1
I

1
Imm

I
[

!
I

1
1
!
I
1

Iwo
q

on -

S?w+a?lw

I
I

lo,&\&~lmjl~

ISO,

Fig. Qrcduotion
Kern Steam

PJl

Ill I /

I
low

I
I
Inol

met

history for Kom Well 2C%

Displacement
Project.

TABLE 4-OIL
RECOVERIES OF CONFINED PAITERNS
WITH SUFFICIENT HISTORY, KERN STEAM
DISPLACEMENT PROJECT

.$
Ostaon
Confined
Dlspiscsment

Wdl

Cumulative production pmGross

011
011Rsts
(bbl)
(bbl)
(BID)

Liner compiotion

,J

;! ~
PI
:~,
a

Msy, 1962
Msy, 1862
May, 1966
Msy, 1866

736,700
635,300
396,600
520,800

K No. 92
KNo.84**
KNo.95

May, 1866
1966
May,1966

82,600
128,200

May,

S%200

121,700
154,700
102,s00
112,5W

26,400
32,7LM
51,700

1
1
,

mT

WATZ*I

Pmduclng

Rwently

26LOO0
142,700

76j400
47,4(M

Intetwl limited to displacement zone

recompleted e jet.perfomted 00mpletbn

OCTOBER,

1970

,1

1
1

,
,

/;-+!-

I
SwLAcznrn

1
1

52
52
27

.
Sept, 1967
%pt., 1967

,I

35
40
49
50

K No. 206

[
I
1

1
,
I
1

wutumznr-+-lmn

aeseo

K No. 39
K No. 64*
K No. 65
K No. 66

1
[

66
120

100

A(.JI Iws

1$,1

.w

I
I

I
I*W

fig. 7Production
Kern Steem

I
1s,$

mu

and injection
Dlsplecament

I
1s07

mu

VU,

hietoty for the

Project.
1229

injection well; after this proved unsuccessfd, a large,

long-stroke pumping unit was installed, which resulted
in a twofold increase in gross production and a fivefold increase in the oil production.
Fig. 7 shows production and injection history for
the total Kern Steam Displacement Project Since installing the large pumping units, gross production has
increased until it now exceeds the total steam injection rate of approximately 18,500 B/D. To determine
if the proje% as a whole, is following expected trends
a predicted oil rate was calculated. Calculations of
surface, weUbore, and formation heat loss (derived
by published methods) were combined with production histories and laboratorydetermked sweep efficiencies to develop the predktive model. There is
good agreement between the predicted and actual oil
rates, as shown on Fig. 7.

47===1
.

( TOTAL
/

F&O
I

(PREOICTED

1000.

1 r-

Kern A Dkplacement Project

Pam.

L/-

mom

This project was started in March, 1968. There are 9

injection wells, and 17 producing wells, and steam is
provi&d by two 18.5 million Btu/hour steam generators. The displacement zone is the R zone in the
Kern River formation. Fig. 8 is a structure section
through the Kern A Project, showing the displacement zone. The producing wells were initially steam
stimulated with good results; however, production
declined quite rapidly. After several months, prodution rose sharply as producing wells responded to the
steam drive. Fig. 9 shows the production and injec-

1~

oot--kk-i
Fig. 9-Produ&lon
and injetilon history for the Kern
A Steam Displacement
Project.

al

EL. S20

7-r+-

TD 1020

1r=

TD997
Pig. 8-Structure

.- .,-,

-Ion

ttrrough

,,,PLACEMENT
,NTE;;y

the Kern A Steam

D!splecement

JQ~J~NAL

OF

project.
PETROLEUM TECHNOLOGY

,
I
~
1
1

EXISTING

PATTERNS

;-

1
,0000.
!

sive weUhead pressure. Spinner surveys show the

average injection profile coverage to be 70 percent
with this methm compared with 40 percent on the
Kern Displacement Project where two holes were
used for eve~ foot.
E4!onosnfcs

I
I
I
I
I

1.
I
I

------Fig. 10-Map

edd#@

10
;*

Conclusions

(KERN ~)

+:---: ----:--

Operating costs, capital expenditures, profits, volumes

of steam injected and oil recoveries are not included
in this report. Such data are unique to selected areas
of tlds field and would be misleading if extrapolated
to other fieldsor to all areas of the Kern River field.

i!!ii33
~

IO*O
I
I
p

of Kam A Steam Displacement Project.

tion history. The rapid displacement response appears

to arise from the new producing wells that are capable
of producing the displaced fluids. Fig. 10 shows the
location of the nine patterns.
For the Kern A Displacement Project a dtierent
technique for completing the injection wells was used.
The total thickness of the displacement zone is 80 ft.
This zone consists of a very permeable section on top,
a shaly sand section in the middle, and a fairly perme=h!e ~=tinn .. no ~ttnm..
v ... .. If the entire sand inteNsI had
been perforated, the steam would probably have gone
entirely out the top member and not atlected the lower
part of the Sand. To preverx t%, m!y the bottom 30
ft of be zone was @orated. In addition, to improve
the steam profile Whin this 30-ft interval, the zone
was perforated with one shot every 2 ft for a total
of 15 shots, as compared with the earlier practice of
perforating with two shots every foot. This reduction
in the number of perforations has not resulted in exces-

Following am some conclusions derived from the

study under discussion.
1. Under current Conditions, steam displacement
in the Kern River field is an engineering success.
2. Pumping wells with long-stroke (84-to 144-in.)
pumping units at slow speeds has been successful in
producing wells with large steam breakthroughs.
3. The method of completing a well is a major
factor in the capture of displaced fluids.

Acknowledgment
1 wish to thank J. L. Grolemund, Exploration and
Production Research, Getty Oil Co., for the laboratory
investigations.
References
1. Shutler, N. D.: Numerical, Thrse-Phase Simulation of
the Linear Steam Flood Process, Sot. Pet. Eng. J. (June,
1969)
. 232-246.
2. Ramey, H. J., Jr.: Wellbore Heat Transmission, J. Per.
Tech. (APril, 1962) 427435.
* -,W. JSIIU
._A
T -- . ?.. ~.: I&cr@r
Heating
dgcuh=.,
j.k-*X, J.
by Hot Fluid In~lon*,
Trans., AIME (1959) 216, 3123i5.
&?E
Original manuscript received in Sociaty of PsWoleum Enginasre
office Nov. 12. 1%9. Revised manuscript reoaived June 1S, 1970.
Paper (SPE 27SS) wcs pme.nted
t SPE 40th Annual California
Regional Fall Msetins, held in San Francisco, NOV. S-7, 1969.
@ Copyright 1970 American Institute of Minin$, Metallurgical, and
Petroleum Enginsere, Inc.

,+. .