The full-length paper details and uses data from four steam assisted gravity drainage (SAGD) and two cyclic steam stimulation (CSS) projects in the Clearwater formation to compare the energy efficiency and recovery performance of the two processes. Field data demonstrate that bitumen recovery using SAGD is generally not economical and that CSS will result in significantly higher overall bitumen recovery. Operating and design data for commercial SAGD and CSS projects are used to demonstrate that because, of quality differences, steam/oil ratio (SOR) is not an appropriate energy efficiency indicator.