Wintershall Holding GMBH reported steam flooding at 300° into Gildehaus sandstone at Emlichheim oil field in Germany.
The Gildehaus formation is at 680-880 m. It lies above the Bentheim sandstone, which has long been steam flooded.
Wintershall said an additional 500,000 tonnes of crude could be produced by applying steam to the Gildehaus.
The first well at Emlichheim went into production in 1944, and more than 10 million tonnes of crude at Emlichheim have been produced in 70 years. Wintershall has been using steam flooding since 1981.
Andreas Scheck, director of Wintershall Deutschland, said domestic production “not only makes an important contribution to the energy supply in Germany, but also facilitates the development of technological know-how.” He said he expects production from Emlichheim to continue beyond 2040 (OGJ Online, Jan. 20, 2015).
