Oil wells in the high water-cut period become geothermal wells, thereby increasing the recoverable reserve. A novel geothermal system involving organic Rankine cycle (ORC), absorption refrigeration, gathering heat tracing, direct and indirect heating, and oil recovery was presented. The objective is to improve the system efficiency. The results show that R601 a has the highest cycle performance and auxiliary cold sources do increase the power output. Replacing oil boilers with geothermal water as the heat source of gathering heat tracing (GHT) can save about 8163 tons of oil a year. About 34,600 tons of oil can be recovered each year. Moreover, the system can also provide heating for sixty 5000-square-meter residential buildings and domestic hot water for over 8000 people. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.