Patent ID: 8464789

Claim:
A process comprising: (a) injecting H 2 O and an activator into a subterranean region through a first wellbore of a steam assisted gravity drainage operation; (b) introducing microwaves into the region at a frequency sufficient to excite the H 2 O and activator molecules and increase the temperature of at least a portion of the H 2 O and activator within the region to produce heated H 2 O and heated activator; (c) heating at least a portion of the heavy oil in the region by contact with the heated H 2 O and the heated activator to produce heated heavy oil; and (d) producing the heated heavy oil through a second wellbore of the steam assisted gravity drainage operation; thereby recovering heavy oil with the steam assisted gravity drainage operation from the subterranean region; wherein a portion of the H 2 O is injected as steam and the steam contacts with at least a portion of the heavy oil in the region so as to heat the portion of the heavy oil and reduce its viscosity so that it flows generally towards the second wellbore.