Successful Implementation of Polymer Flood in Aishwariya Field, Rajasthan, India - Concept to Full Field

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aditya Kumar Singh ◽  
Pruthvi Raju Vegesna ◽  
Dhruva Prasad ◽  
Saideep Chandrashekar Kachodi ◽  
Sumit Lohiya ◽  
...  

Abstract The Aishwariya Oil Field located in Barmer Basin of Rajasthan India having STOIIP of ∼300 MMBBLS was initially developed with down-dip edge water injection. The main reservoir unit, Fatehgarh Formation, has excellent reservoir characteristics with porosities of 20-30% and permeability of 1 to 5 Darcys. The Fatehgarh Formation is subdivided into Lower Fatehgarh (LF) and Upper Fatehgarh (UF) Formations, of which LF sands are more homogenous and have slightly better reservoir properties. The oil has in-situ viscosity of 10-30 cP. Given its adverse waterflood mobility ratio, the importance of EOR was recognised very early. Initial screening studies identified that chemical EOR (polymer and ASP) was preferred choice of EOR process. Extensive lab studies and simulation work was conducted to develop the polymer flood concept. A polymer flood development plan was prepared targeting the LF sands of the field utilizing the lessons learnt from nearby Mangala Field polymer implementation project. The polymer flood in Aishwariya Field was implemented in two stages. In the first stage, a polymer injectivity test was conducted in 3 wells to establish the potential for polymer injection in these wells. The injection was extended to 3 more wells and continued for ∼4 years. Significant water cut drop was observed in nearby wells during this phase of polymer injection. In the next stage, polymer flooding was extended to the entire LF sands with drilling of 14 new infill wells and conversion of 8 existing wells to polymer injectors. A ∼14 km long pipeline was laid from the Mangala Central Polymer Facility to well pads in the field to cater to the requirement of 6-8 KBPD of ∼15000 ppm polymer mother solution. The philosophy of pre-production for extended periods was considered prior to start of polymer injection for all wells as it significantly improved injection (reduced skin) and conformance. Full field polymer flood project was implemented, and injection was ramped up to the planned 40-50 KBPD of polymerized water within a month owing to good injectivity and polymer solution quality. A detailed laboratory, well and reservoir surveillance program has been implemented and the desired wellhead viscosity of 25-30 cP has been achieved. Initial response shows significant increase in oil production rate and decrease in water-cut. This paper presents the polymer laboratory studies, initial long term injectivity test results, polymer flood development concept and planning, simulation studies and field implementation in LF Formation in Aishwariya Field.

2008 ◽  
Vol 11 (06) ◽  
pp. 1117-1124 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dongmei Wang ◽  
Randall S. Seright ◽  
Zhenbo Shao ◽  
Jinmei Wang

Summary This paper describes the design procedures that led to favorable incremental oil production and reduced water production during 12 years of successful polymer flooding in the Daqing oil field. Special emphasis is placed on some new design factors that were found to be important on the basis of extensive experience with polymer flooding. These factors include (1) recognizing when profile modification is needed before polymer injection and when zone isolation is of value during polymer injection, (2) establishing the optimum polymer formulations and injection rates, and (3) time-dependent variation of the molecular weight of the polymer used in the injected slugs. For some Daqing wells, oil recovery can be enhanced by 2 to 4% of original oil in place (OOIP) with profile modification before polymer injection. For some Daqing wells with significant permeability differential between layers and no crossflow, injecting polymer solutions separately into different layers improved flow profiles, reservoir sweep efficiency, and injection rates, and it reduced the water cut in production wells. Experience over time revealed that larger polymer-bank sizes are preferred. Bank sizes grew from 240-380 mg/L·PV during the initial pilots to 640 to 700 mg/L·PV in the most recent large-scale industrial sites [pore volume (PV)]. Economics and injectivity behavior can favor changing the polymer molecular weight and polymer concentration during the course of injecting the polymer slug. Polymers with molecular weights from 12 to 35 million Daltons were designed and supplied to meet the requirements for different reservoir geological conditions. The optimum polymer-injection volume varied around 0.7 PV, depending on the water cut in the different flooding units. The average polymer concentration was designed approximately 1000 mg/L, but for an individual injection station, it could be 2000 mg/L or more. At Daqing, the injection rates should be less than 0.14-0.20 PV/year, depending on well spacing. Introduction Many elements have long been recognized as important during the design of a polymer flood (Li and Niu 2002; Jewett and Schurz 1970; Sorbie 1991; Vela et al. 1976; Taber et al. 1997; Maitin 1992; Koning et al. 1988; Wang et al. 1995; Wang and Qian 2002; Wang et al. 2008). This paper spells out some of those elements, using examples from the Daqing oil field. The Daqing oil field is located in northeast China and is a large river-delta/lacustrine-facies, multilayer, heterogeneous sandstone in an inland basin. The reservoir is buried at a depth of approximately 1000 m, with a temperature of 45°C. The main formation under polymer flood (i.e., the Saertu formation) has a net thickness ranging from from 2.3 to 11.6 m with an average of 6.1 m. The average air permeability is 1.1 µm2, and the Dykstra-Parsons permeability coefficient averages 0.7. Oil viscosity at reservoir temperature averages approximately 9 mPa·s, and the total salinity of the formation water varies from 3000 to 7000 mg/L. The field was discovered in 1959, and a waterflood was initiated in 1960. The world's largest polymer flood was implemented at Daqing, beginning in December 1995. By 2007, 22.3% of total production from the Daqing oil field was attributed to polymer flooding. Polymer flooding should boost the ultimate recovery for the field to more than 50% OOIP--10 to 12% OOIP more than from waterflooding. At the end of 2007, oil production from polymer flooding at the Daqing oil field was more than 11.6 million m3 (73 million bbl) per year (sustained for 6 years). The polymers used at Daqing are high-molecular-weight partially hydrolyzed polyacrylamides (HPAMs). During design of a polymer flood, critical reservoir factors that traditionally receive consideration are the reservoir lithology, stratigraphy, important heterogeneities (such as fractures), distribution of remaining oil, well pattern, and well distance. Critical polymer properties include cost-effectiveness (e.g., cost per unit of viscosity), resistance to degradation (mechanical or shear, oxidative, thermal, microbial), tolerance of reservoir salinity and hardness, retention by rock, inaccessible pore volume, permeability dependence of performance, rheology, and compatibility with other chemicals that might be used. Issues long recognized as important for polymer-bank design include bank size (volume), polymer concentration and salinity (affecting bank viscosity and mobility), and whether (and how) to grade polymer concentrations in the chase water. This paper describes the design procedures that led to favorable incremental oil production and reduced water production during 12 years of successful polymer flooding in the Daqing oil field.


2014 ◽  
Vol 18 (01) ◽  
pp. 11-19 ◽  
Author(s):  
J.. Buciak ◽  
G.. Fondevila Sancet ◽  
L.. Del Pozo

Summary This paper deals with the learning curve of a five-plus-year polymer-flooding pilot conducted in a mature waterflood that includes, for example, several works related to injector and producer wells and reservoir management. The scope of this paper is to describe the learning curve during the last 5 years rather than the reservoir response of the polymer-flooding technique; focus is on the aspects related to reduce cost per incremental barrel of oil for a possible extension to other waterflooded areas of the field. Diadema oil field is in the San Jorge Gulf basin in the southern portion of Argentina. The field is operated by CAPSA, an Argentinean oil-producer company; it has 480 producer and 270 injector wells (interwell spacing is 250 m on average). The company has developed waterflooding over more than 18 years (today, this technique represents 82% of oil production in the field) and produces approximately 1600 m3/d of oil and 40 000 m3/d of gross production (96% water cut) with 38 400 m3/d of water injection. The reservoir that is polymer-flooded is characterized by high permeability (average of 500 md), high heterogeneity (10 to 5,000 md), high porosity (30%), very stratified sandstone layers (4 to 12 m of net thickness) with poor lateral continuity (fluvial origin), and 20 °API oil (100 cp at reservoir conditions). Diadema's polymer-flooding pilot started in October 2007 on five water injectors (it includes 13 injectors today) with an injected rate of 1000 m3/d (today, 2000 m3/d). Polymer solution is made with produced water (15,000 ppm brine) and 1,500 ppm of hydrolyzed polyacrylamide polymer reaching 15- to 20-cp fluid-injection viscosity. Oil-production rate from the original “central” producers (wells that are aided with 100% of polymer injection) has increased 100% at the same time as average reduction in water cut is approximately 15%. The main aspects presented in this work are depth profile modification with crosslinked gel injected along with polymer, use of “curlers” to regulate injection in multiple wells with one injection pump without shearing the polymer, and an improved technology on producer wells with progressing-cavity pumps to decrease shut-in time and number of pump failures. The plan for the future is to extend this project to other areas with the acquired knowledge and to improve different aspects, such as water quality and optimization of polymer plant operation. These improvements will allow the company to reduce operating costs per incremental barrel of oil.


2021 ◽  
Vol 54 (2D) ◽  
pp. 59-74
Author(s):  
Sajjad Jameel Naser

The regular job of a reservoir engineer is to put a development plan to increase hydrocarbon production as possible and within economic and technical considerations. The development strategy for the giant reservoir is a complex and challenging task through the decision-making analysis process. Due to the limited surface water treatment facility, the reservoir management team focuses on minimizing water cut as low as possible by check the flow of formation and injected water movement through the Mishrif reservoir. In this research, a representative sector was used to make the review of water injection configuration, which is considered an efficient tool to make study in a particular area of the entire field when compared with the full-field model on the basis of time-consuming and computational analysis. The sector model was neighboring by extra grid blocks and three pseudo wells as injector wells to realize the pressure on the sector boundary, which attained an acceptable history matching. The fluid model and physics model were introduced by using Pressure Volume Temperature data of well involved in the study area and two relative permeability curves. Fourteen wells were utilized in this work, four wells are injectors, and the rest are producer. The development scenarios were implemented by setting various targets of oil production and different water injection rates required for pressure maintenance operations. Optimization of water cut has been applied by adjustment of production and injection rates and shut off the high water cut intervals. The results obtained from this study showed that the inverted 9-spot has a good recovery which is illustrated in the case_2C, the production rate was (49,000 STB/D) with minimum water cut (27.5%) as compared with a five-spot pattern.


2021 ◽  
Vol 73 (09) ◽  
pp. 58-59
Author(s):  
Chris Carpenter

This article, written by JPT Technology Editor Chris Carpenter, contains highlights of paper OTC 30407, “Case Study of Nanopolysilicon Materials’ Depressurization and Injection-Increasing Technology in Offshore Bohai Bay Oil Field KL21-1,” by Qing Feng, Nan Xiao Li, and Jun Zi Huang, China Oilfield Services, et al., prepared for the 2020 Offshore Technology Conference Asia, originally scheduled to be held in Kuala Lumpur, 2–6 November. The paper has not been peer reviewed. Copyright 2020 Offshore Technology Conference. Reproduced by permission. Nanotechnology offers creative approaches to solve problems of oil and gas production that also provide potential for pressure-decreasing application in oil fields. However, at the time of writing, successful pressure-decreasing nanotechnology has rarely been reported. The complete paper reports nanopolysilicon as a new depressurization and injection-increasing agent. The stability of nanopolysilicon was studied in the presence of various ions, including sodium (Na+), calcium (Ca2+), and magnesium (Mg2+). The study found that the addition of nanomaterials can improve porosity and permeability of porous media. Introduction More than 600 water-injection wells exist in Bohai Bay, China. Offshore Field KL21-1, developed by water-flooding, is confronted with the following challenges: - Rapid increase and reduction of water-injection pressure - Weak water-injection capacity of reservoir - Decline of oil production - Poor reservoir properties - Serious hydration and expansion effects of clay minerals To overcome injection difficulties in offshore fields, conventional acidizing measures usually are taken. But, after multiple cycles of acidification, the amount of soluble substances in the rock gradually decreases and injection performance is shortened. Through injection-performance experiments, it can be determined that the biological nanopolysilicon colloid has positive effects on pressure reduction and injection increase. Fluid-seepage-resistance decreases, the injection rate increases by 40%, and injection pressure decreases by 10%. Features of Biological Nanopolysilicon Systems The biological nanopolysilicon-injection system was composed of a bioemulsifier (CDL32), a biological dispersant (DS2), and a nanopolysilicon hydrophobic system (NP12). The bacterial strain of CDL32 was used to obtain the culture colloid of biological emulsifier at 37°C for 5 days. DS2 was made from biological emulsifier CDL32 and some industrial raw materials described in Table 1 of the complete paper. Nanopolysilicon hydrophobic system NP12 was composed of silicon dioxide particles. The hydrophobic nanopolysilicons selected in this project featured particle sizes of less than 100 nm. In the original samples, a floc of nanopolysilicon was fluffy and uniform. But, when wet, nanopolysilicon will self-aggregate and its particle size increases greatly. At the same time, nanopolysilicon features significant agglomeration in water. Because of its high interface energy, nanopolysilicon is easily agglomerated, as shown in Fig. 1.


2009 ◽  
Vol 12 (03) ◽  
pp. 470-476 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dongmei Wang ◽  
Huanzhong Dong ◽  
Changsen Lv ◽  
Xiaofei Fu ◽  
Jun Nie

Summary This paper describes successful practices applied during polymer flooding at Daqing that will be of considerable value to future chemical floods, both in China and elsewhere. On the basis of laboratory findings, new concepts have been developed that expand conventional ideas concerning favorable conditions for mobility improvement by polymer flooding. Particular advances integrate reservoir-engineering approaches and technology that is basic for successful application of polymer flooding. These include the following:Proper consideration must be given to the permeability contrast among the oil zones and to interwell continuity, involving the optimum combination of oil strata during flooding and well-pattern design, respectively;Higher polymer molecular weights, a broader range of polymer molecular weights, and higher polymer concentrations are desirable in the injected slugs;The entire polymer-flooding process should be characterized in five stages--with its dynamic behavior distinguished by water-cut changes; -Additional techniques should be considered, such as dynamic monitoring using well logging, well testing, and tracers; effective techniques are also needed for surface mixing, injection facilities, oil production, and produced-water treatment; andContinuous innovation must be a priority during polymer flooding. Introduction China's Daqing oil field entered its ultrahigh-water-cut period after 30 years of exploitation. Just before large-scale polymer-flooding application, the average water-cut was more than 90%. The Daqing oil-field is a large river-delta/lacustrine facies, multilayered with complex geologic conditions and heterogeneous sandstone in an inland basin. After 30 years of waterflooding, many channels and high-permeability streaks were identified in this oil field (Wang and Qian 2002). Laboratory research began in the 1960s, investigating the potential of enhanced-oil-recovery (EOR) processes in the Daqing oil field. After a single-injector polymer flood with a small well spacing of 75 m in 1972, polymer flooding was set on pilot test. During the late 1980s, a pilot project in central Daqing was expanded to a multiwell pattern with larger well spacing. Favorable results from these tests--along with extensive research and engineering from the mid-1980s through the 1990s--confirmed that polymer flooding was the preferred method to improve areal- and vertical-sweep efficiency at Daqing and to provide mobility control (Wang et al. 2002, Wang and Liu 2004). Consequently, the world's largest polymer flood was implemented at Daqing, beginning in 1996. By 2007, 22.3% of total production from the Daqing oil field was attributed to polymer flooding. Polymer flooding boosted the ultimate recovery for the field to more than 50% of original oil in place (OOIP)--10 to 12% OOIP more than from waterflooding. At the end of 2007, oil production from polymer flooding at the Daqing oil field was more than 10 million tons (73 million bbl) per year (sustained for 6 years). The focus of this paper is on polymer flooding, in which sweep efficiency is improved by reducing the water/oil mobility ratio in the reservoir. This paper is not concerned with the use of chemical gel treatments, which attempt to block water flow through fractures and high-permeability strata. Applications of chemical gel treatments in China have been covered elsewhere (Liu et al. 2006).


2011 ◽  
Vol 51 (2) ◽  
pp. 672
Author(s):  
Daniel León ◽  
John Scott ◽  
Steven Saul ◽  
Lina Hartanto ◽  
Shannon Gardner ◽  
...  

After successful design and implementation phases that included both subsurface and facilities components, an EOR polymer injection pilot has been operational for two years in Australia's largest onshore oil field at Barrow Island (816 MMstb OOIP). The pilot's main objective was to identify a suitable EOR technology for the complex, highly heterogeneous, very fine-grained, bioturbated argillaceous sandstone—high in glauconite, high porosity (∼23 %), low permeability (∼5 mD, with 50+ mD streaks)—reservoir that will ultimately increase the recovery of commercial resources past the estimated ultimate recovery factor with waterflooding (∼42 %). This was achieved using the in-depth flow diversion (IFD) methodology to access new unswept oil zones—both vertically and horizontally—by inducing growth in the fracture network. During the pilot operating phase, the main focus has been on surveillance and monitoring activities to assess the effectiveness of the process, including: injection pressure at the wellheads—indicating any increase in resistance to flow; pressure fall off tests at the injectors—to determine fracture growth, if any sampling and lab analysis at the producers—to identify polymer breakthrough; frequent production tests—quantifying reduction in water cut and oil production uplift; and, pressure build up surveys at the producers. These activities provided input data to the fit for purpose simulation model built in Reveal incorporating fractures and polymer as a fourth phase. With more than 96 % compliance to the surveillance plan, this paper will present the present findings and evaluation of the results, which may lead to the continuation of the pilot in other patterns of the reservoir and, possibly, to further expansion in the field.


2017 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 37 ◽  
Author(s):  
Inyang Namdie ◽  
Idara Akpabio ◽  
Agbasi Okechukwu .E.

Bonga oil field is located 120km (75mi) southeast of the Niger Delta, Nigeria. It is a subsea type development located about 3500ft water depth and has produced over 330 mmstb of hydrocarbon till date with over 16 oil producing and water injection wells. The producing formation is the Middle to Late Miocene unconsolidated turbidite sandstones with lateral and vertical homogeneities in reservoir properties. This work, analysis the petrophysical properties of the reservoir units for the purpose of modeling the effect of shale content on permeability in the reservoir. Turbidite sandstones are identified by gamma-ray log signatures as intervals with 26-50 API, while sonic, neutron, resistivity, caliper and other log data are applied to estimate volume of shale ranging between 0.972 v/v for shale intervals and 0.0549 v/v for turbidite sands, water saturation of 0.34 v/v average in most sand intervals, porosity range from 0.010 for shale intervals to 0.49 v/v for clean sands and permeability values for the send interval 11.46 to2634mD, for intervals between 7100 to 9100 ft., Data were analyzed using the Interactive Petrophysical software that splits the whole curve into sand and shale zones and estimates among other petrophysical parameters the shale contents of the prospective zones. While Seismic data revealed reservoir thickness ranging from 25ft to over 140ft well log data within the five wells have identified sands of similar thickness and estimated average permeability of700mD. Within the sand units across the five wells, cross plots of estimated porosity, volume of shale and permeability values reveal strong dependence of permeability on shale volume and a general decrease in permeability in intervals with shale volume. It is concluded that sand units with high shale contents that are from0.500 to0.900v/v will not provide good quality reservoir in the field.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohammed Al Asimi ◽  
Nasar Al Qasabi ◽  
Duc Le ◽  
Yuchen Zhang ◽  
Di Zhu ◽  
...  

Abstract After successful implementation of data analytics for steamflood optimization at the Mukhaizna heavy oil field in Oman late 2018, Occidental expanded the project to two additional areas with a total of 626 wells in 2019, followed by full field coverage of more than 3,200 wells in 2020. In 2019, two separate low-fidelity proxy models were built to model the two pilot areas. The models were updated with more features to account for additional reservoir phenomena and a larger scope. On the proxy engine side, speed and robustness were improved, resulting in reduced CPU processing time and lower cost. Because of advancements in software programing and the pilots’ encouraging production performance, full-field coverage was accelerated so the model could support the efforts in optimizing steam injection during the 2020 OPEC+ production cut, not only to comply with allotted quotas, but also to allocate the resources optimally, especially the costly steam. Good improvements have been observed in overall steamflood performance, the models’ capabilities, and the optimization workflow. The steam/oil ratio has been reduced through the increase in oil production in both expanded study areas while keeping the total steam injection volume constant. Overall field steam utilization was improved both during the 2020 OPEC+ production cuts and during the production ramp-up stage afterward. With the continuous improvement in supporting tools and scripts, most of the steam optimization process steps were automated, from preparing, checking, and formatting input data to analyzing, validating, and visualizing the model outputs. Another result of these improvements was the development of a user-friendly web application to manage the model workflow efficiently. This web app greatly improved the process of case submittals, including data preparation and QC, running models (history matching and forecasting), as well as visualization of the entire workflow. In terms of optimization workflow, these improvements resulted in less time spent by the field optimization engineer in updating, refreshing, and generating new model recommendations. It also helped reduce the time spent by the reservoir management team (RMT) to test and validate the new ideas before field implementation. This paper will describe the improvements in the proxy model and the overall optimization process, show the observed oil production increases, and discuss the challenges faced and the lessons learned.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Weeraya Wuttipittayamongkol ◽  
Pannapon Trinavarat ◽  
Warisa Nuntaprayoon ◽  
Monrawee Pancharoen ◽  
Rapheephan Laochamroonvorapongse

Abstract Becoming more mature with field-wide water flooding implementation for more than 30 years, Sirikit Oil Field (S1) is going forward to the next rejuvenating step of enhanced oil recovery (EOR). Generally, the field contains light oil (40° API) in highly stratified sand-shale sequences with low net-to-gross ratios. High reservoir temperature, low permeability, and high water cut observed from production make it even more challenging for polymer injection projects. Nonetheless, the success from a small-scale field trial has shown a promising future of EOR application in the field and brought an execution of the first large-scale polymer injection pilot. Polymer screening laboratory tests, a reservoir simulation study, data acquisition program and techniques, injectivity tests, polymer injection unit design, and risk assessment were parts of the pilot preparation, in which the key learnings from the previous pilot have been incorporated. The gathering and determination of baseline parameters including production performance, injection profiles, reservoir fluid saturation profiles, etc., were registered for ultimate evaluation. Then, the continuous polymer injection has been started since October 2019 in two separated fault blocks where 12 injectors and 20 producers are located in different injection patterns. During several months of polymer injection, both foreseen and unforeseen changes have enlivened the pilot management. Although the injectivity test with polymer solution prior to the pilot demonstrated no injection difficulty, several wells have shown injectivity deterioration with time. Mechanical degradation is induced in these wells by the installation of flow restriction devices to lessen solution viscosity and, hence, prolong polymer injectivity. Well integrity issues and artificial lift breakdown negatively affect field production and close-in wells make it harder for voidage replacement control. Immediate troubleshooting and close monitoring have been placed and eventually leads to the recognition of encouraging results. Polymer helps improve vertical injection profiles as seen from injection logging. Saturation logging presents a sign of oil saturation decrease around the wellbore area. Reduction of water cut and rise of oil production have pleasantly come after a few months from the start. Intensive surveillance program will be continued over the course of pilot injection. The critical success of the EOR pilot execution depends on the detailed planning, prudent surveillance and comprehensive evaluation. Sirikit oil field is moving to a turning point and the pilot outcome would lead the way to a further milestone, so as to avoid premature end of the field's production.


2014 ◽  
Vol 900 ◽  
pp. 677-680
Author(s):  
Chun Hong Nie

This paper has discussed the characteristics, roles, feasibility and obvious effects of the technology by applying electric field to enhance oil recovery when the oil field is in high water cut stage and super high water cut stage. In view that most oil wells in old oil field have entered into the super high water cut production, the remaining oil in the main reservoir is in fragmented distribution with poor results of water injection and new reserves of oil mostly have a low penetration rate and are thin layers of poor physical properties, the use of the direct current field in period of high water cut is the best policy to achieve high and stable yield and is fairly promising.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document