As development activities in heavy oil and in situ bitumen depositsrnhave accelerated, the challenge of forecasting the performance of inrnsitu recovery processes at field scale has increased exponentially.rnDelineation drilling results make it apparent that these depositsrnare highly complex and three-dimensionally heterogeneous.rnHeterogeneity has a significant impact on the effectiveness andrneconomics of the recovery process.rnMany experienced operators are recognizing that in addition tornthe static complexity of the reservoirs it is necessary to consider therndynamic stress state in the regions undergoing production.rnGeomechanical factors are significant and must be built into anyrnrealistic numerical simulation of recovery processes.rnIt has become apparent to operators that modeling single well-pairrnoperations may be misleading, and seven to ten well-pair modelsrnare now quite common.rnAll these factors result in increasing size and complexity ofrnnumerical simulation models.rnReservoir simulator developers have responded with tworntechnologies to achieve reasonable run times in these large andrncomplex models. The combined use of 64-bit symmetricalrnmultiprocessor computers and dynamic grid refinement will berndiscussed and compared against traditional simulation methods.rnThis paper will provide examples of the application of thesernleading edge technologies for in situ oil sands development in thernSurmont area of the Athabasca deposit.
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