Field test of electrical heating with horizontal and vertical wells

The purpose of this paper is to report on the field test results of the Tex aco Canada Petroleum Inc. (TEXCAN) and the Alberta Department of Energy (AD OE, formally AOSTRA), Electrical Horizontal Well Project in the Lloydminste r heavy oil area. Two vertical wells (15D-25-56-2W4 and 13C-30-56-1W4) and one horizontal well (16D-25-56-2W4) were connected electrically and heated. This paper presents an overview of electrically heating a horizontal well w ith vertical wells, the design of the electrical heating system, operationa l experience, test data, and a discussion on successes and problems of the project. Three wells were electrically heated; two deviated vertical wells and one h orizontal well. The pilot project experienced premature equipment failure a nd sand production problems. Although a significant production response was achieved at the vertical wells, ongoing operations were not achieved becau se of sanding problems. The sand problem required daily workovers on the we lls to maintain operations. As a result of these problems, and the limited current that can be supplied from just two vertical wells, the thermal resp onse at the horizontal well was 3-5 degrees C and no production response wa s observed. The project was a technical success in that electrical current from two ver tical wells was returned to the power conditioning units via the horizontal well and a thermal response was observed at all the wells. At the vertical wells, there was at times a greater than three times productivity response during electrical heating operations.