Conocophillips Company

Cenovus Energy Inc.

Brent D Seib

Thomas James Wheeler

Amos Ben-Zvi

Harbir Chhina

Siluni L Gamage

Jason Abbate

Alexander E Filstein

A method and system in which foams are used (instead of, or in addition to, NCG) to maintain pressure in a mature chamber during blowdown operations of a SAGD process or other enhanced oil recovery process. The foam occupies the depleted void space within the mature chamber after injection ceases, maintaining pressure, and improving blowdown performance. This use of the foam in the method and system also improves the performance of less mature chambers that are being operated at higher pressure adjacent to the mature chamber in blowdown. Foaming agents, such as metal carbonates, bicarbonates, and hydroxides, surfactants or any other colloidal foams, aerosols, hydrosols, emulsions or dispersions can be utilized. The method and system can be utilized in conjunction with other known art, such as heat scavenging in the chamber, or enhanced oil recovery utilizing foams, to displace oil in the chamber.

Blowdown pressure maintenance with foam

Growing community of inventors

Calgary, Canada

Brent D Seib