A large fraction of the free world's oil reserves is obtainable only by the application of thermal enhanced recovery methods. This book provides an introductory overview of the important methods for oil recovery by application of heat. It describes the more important field tests of these methods and the operational problems encountered. The author offers an integrated approach to making preliminary, comparative forecasts for the principal methods of thermal oil recovery, and describes a novel method for insulating steam injection wells that is not widely used. Simplified calculation methods are presented by which preliminary estimates of process behavior can be made, and results of more sophisticated numerical simulations are presented for steam injection applications. There is thorough discussion of cyclic steam stimulation, steam flooding, and in situ combustion. Includes numerous case histories.