In 2003 INVAP carried out the mounting, startup and operation of a pilot plant for heavy oil exploitation, with a capacity of 12 Ton/hour at Los Perales, Province of Santa Cruz, Argentina.  Among other tasks and developments INVAP supplied several critical components.

The purpose was to implement a pilot test for a cyclic injection system in four wells of 1000 m depth.  The cyclic injection process consists of three phases:first, steam is injected into the reservoir, this is followed by a soaking phase, in which steam is partially condensed, thus obtaining a uniform distribution of heat.
Finally, the third and longest phase, the exploitation itself: thanks to the reduction in crude viscosity, a significant increase in production is achieved.