Steam-assisted gravity drainage (SAGD)
A process used to recover bitumen that is too deep to mine. A pair of horizontal wells is drilled from a central well pad. In a plant nearby, steam generators heat water and transform it into steam. The steam then travels through above-ground pipelines to the wells. It enters the ground via the steam injection well and heats the bitumen to a temperature at which it can flow by gravity into the producing well. The resulting bitumen and condensed steam emulsion is then piped from the producing well to the plant, where it is separated and treated. The water is recycled for generating new steam.