Although horizontal wells have amply shown that they improve productivity and accelerate productionat a reduced cost per barrel in non-thermal applications, their ultimate impact on thermal recovery is far from fully explored. This work investigates the impact of customising the geometry of horizontal wells for steamflooding to suit a given reservoir architecture. To optimise the well's geometry, consideration first has to be given to the expected shape of the steam zone. Given the shape, wells can be arranged to either maximise the sweep efficiency of steam before steam breakthrough and/or to minimise the negative consequences of steam interference in producing wells afterwards. Three conceptual steamfloods are described which demonstrate the benefits offered by horizontal wells and illustrate how the economics of implementing and operating such floods can improve over historical designs.
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