scholarly journals Comparison Between Homogenous and Heterogeneous Reservoirs: A Parametric Study of Water Coning Phenomena

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 119-131
Author(s):  
Frzan F. Ali ◽  
Maha R. Hamoudi ◽  
Akram H. Abdul Wahab

Water coning is the biggest production problem mechanism in Middle East oil fields, especially in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. When water production starts to increase, the costs of operations increase. Water production from the coning phenomena results in a reduction in recovery factor from the reservoir. Understanding the key factors impacting this problem can lead to the implementation of efficient methods to prevent and mitigate water coning. The rate of success of any method relies mainly on the ability to identify the mechanism causing the water coning. This is because several reservoir parameters can affect water coning in both homogenous and heterogeneous reservoirs. The objective of this research is to identify the parameters contributing to water coning in both homogenous and heterogeneous reservoirs. A simulation model was created to demonstrate water coning in a single- vertical well in a radial cross-section model in a commercial reservoir simulator. The sensitivity analysis was conducted on a variety of properties separately for both homogenous and heterogeneous reservoirs. The results were categorized by time to water breakthrough, oil production rate and water oil ratio. The results of the simulation work led to a number of conclusions. Firstly, production rate, perforation interval thickness and perforation depth are the most effective parameters on water coning. Secondly, time of water breakthrough is not an adequate indicator on the economic performance of the well, as the water cut is also important. Thirdly, natural fractures have significant contribution on water coning, which leads to less oil production at the end of production time when compared to a conventional reservoir with similar properties.

2021 ◽  
Vol 73 (09) ◽  
pp. 60-61
Author(s):  
Chris Carpenter

This article, written by JPT Technology Editor Chris Carpenter, contains highlights of paper SPE 200957, “Application of Specially Designed Polymers in High-Water-Cut Wells: A Holistic Well-Intervention Technology Applied in Umm Gudair Field, Kuwait,” by Ali Abdullah Al-Azmi, SPE, Thanyan Ahmed Al-Yaqout, and Dalal Yousef Al-Jutaili, Kuwait Oil Company, et al., prepared for the 2020 SPE Trinidad and Tobago Section Energy Resources Conference, originally scheduled to be held in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, 29 June–1 July. The paper has not been peer reviewed. A significant challenge faced in the mature Umm Gudair (UG) field is assurance of hydrocarbon flow through highly water-prone intervals. The complete paper discusses the field implementation of a downhole chemical methodology that has positively affected overall productivity. The treatment was highly modified to address the challenges of electrical-submersible-pump (ESP)-driven well operations, technical difficulties posed by the formation, high-stakes economics, and high water potential from these formations. Field Background and Challenge The UG field is one of the major oil fields in Kuwait (Fig. 1). The Minagish oolite (MO) reservoir is the main oil producer, contributing more than 95% of current production in the UG field. However, water cut has been increasing (approximately 65% at the time of writing). The increasing water cut in the reservoir is posing a major challenge to maintaining the oil-production rate because of the higher mobility of water compared with that of oil. The natural water aquifer support in the reservoir that underlies the oil column extends across the reservoir and is rising continuously. This has led to a decline in the oil-production rate and has prevented oil-producing zones from contributing effectively. The reservoir experiences water-coning phenomena, especially in high-permeability zones. Oil viscosity ranges from 2 to 8 cp, and hydrogen sulfide and carbon dioxide levels are 1.5 and 4%, respectively. During recent years, water production has increased rapidly in wells because of highly conductive, thick, clean carbonate formations with low structural dip as well as some stratified formations. Field production may be constrained by the capacity of the surface facilities; therefore, increased water production has different effects on field operations. The average cost of handling produced water is estimated to be between $5 billion and $10 billion in the US and approximately $40 billion globally. These volumes often are so large that even incremental modifications can have major financial effects. For example, the lift-ing cost of one barrel of oil doubles when water cut reaches 50%, increases fivefold at 80% water cut, and increases twenty-fold at 95% water cut.


2009 ◽  
Vol 131 (10) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ibrahim Sami Nashawi ◽  
Ealian H. Al-Anzi ◽  
Yousef S. Hashem

Water coning is one of the most serious problems encountered in active bottom-water drive reservoir. It increases the cost of production operations, reduces the efficiency of the depletion mechanism, and decreases the overall oil recovery. Therefore, preventive measures to curtail water coning damaging effects should be well delineated at the early stages of reservoir depletion. Production rate, mobility ratio, well completion design, and reservoir anisotropy are few of the major parameters influencing and promoting water coning. The objective of this paper is to develop a depletion strategy for an active bottom-water drive reservoir that would improve oil recovery, reduce water production due to coning, delay water breakthrough time, and pre-identify wells that are candidates to excessive water production. The proposed depletion strategy does not only take into consideration the reservoir conditions, but also the currently available surface production facilities and future development plan. Analytical methods are first used to obtain preliminary estimates of critical production rate and water breakthrough time, then comprehensive numerical investigation of the relevant parameters affecting water coning behavior is conducted using a single well 3D radial reservoir simulation model.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Salim Buwauqi ◽  
Ali Al Jumah ◽  
Abdulhameed Shabibi ◽  
Ameera Harrasi ◽  
Tejas Kalyani ◽  
...  

Abstract One of the largest clastic reservoir fields in the Sultanate of Oman has been discovered in 1980 and put on production in 1985. The field produces viscous oil, ranging from 200 - 2000+ cP at reservoir conditions. Over 75% of the wells drilled are horizontal wells and the field is one of the largest producers in the Sultanate of Oman. The field challenges include strong aquifer, high permeability zones/faults. Due to large fluid mobility contrast, the fields have experienced in pre-mature water breakthrough that has resulted in very high-water cuts. The average field water cut for open hole horizontal well after 6-9 months of production is over 94%. This paper details a meticulous journey in qualification, field trials followed by field-wide implementation and performance evaluation of Autonomous Inflow Control Valve (AICV) technology in reducing water production and increasing oil production significantly. AICV can precisely identify the fluid flowing through it and shutting-off the high water or gas saturated zones while producing oil from healthy oil-saturated zones. Like other AICDs (Autonomous Inflow Control Device) AICV can differentiate the fluid flowing through it via fluid properties such as viscosity and density at reservoir conditions. However, AICV's performance is superior due to its advanced design based on both Hagen-Poiseuille and Bernoulli's principles. This paper describes a comprehensive AICV completion design workflow that was developed across a multi-disciplinary team. Some of the initial wells completed with AICV has shown the benefit of accelerating oil production of over 30,000 bbls within the first few months of installation. Many wells started with 5-10 % water cut and are still producing with low water cut and higher oil production. The operator has approved AICV technology based on techno-commercial analysis and its positive impact on the project such as accelerated oil production and lower cost of water handling at the surface. AICV also helped in mitigating the facility constraints of handling produced water which resulted in reduce OPEX as allow the operator continued to drill horizontal wells. At the time of writing this paper, the operator has completed several dozen wells in the field with AICV technology and has an aggressive long term plan to complete several new and old wells. Finally, this paper also discusses in detail the comparative analysis of AICV wells for different subsurface conditions and share some lessons learned to further optimise the well performance. The technology has a profound impact on improved sweep efficiency and as well plays an instrumental role in reducing the carbon footprint by reducing the significant water production at the surface. It is concluded that AICV is a cost-effective field-proven technology for the water shut-off application. Due to its ability to autonomously identify and shut off water and gas production, the AICV technology has been approved to use as full fields implementation and in other fields. Field Background and Reservoir/Production challenges The operator produces around nine barrels of water against each produced barrel of oil. In general, the water produces to the surface with hydrocarbons contains many chemicals, which are usually not environmentally friendly and required additional treatment which increases the disposal cost. The Operator was looking for a cost-effective and proven technology that can control/shut off water production and improve oil production. The fields have a strong bottom aquifer and heterogeneous reservoir properties, such as permeability and downhole water saturation profiles. The challenge with matured brownfields, typically newly drilled wells will have pre-mature water breakthrough within few months of production. The fields have a highly viscous oil, with viscosity ranges from 200 cP up to 2000 cp at downhole conditions, thus creating a high mobility contrast between the oil and water, causing water fingering and coning at an early stage of production. These production challenges cause a significant recoverable oil left in the reservoir i.e. bypassed oil. Furthermore, excessive surface water production affects the integrated production system back pressures and flow, as well as an individual well's dynamics and pump efficiencies. This also has a significant downstream impact, where substantial investment is needed to handle, treat, and dispose of the water. Reducing these water volumes at the surface adds up to a tangible reduction in OPEX for water processing as well as environmentally friendly and assist the reservoir to maintain the reservoir pressure and energy by keeping the water in the reservoir. (Hilal et al 1997, Hassasi et al 2020)


2011 ◽  
Vol 14 (01) ◽  
pp. 120-128 ◽  
Author(s):  
Guanglun Lei ◽  
Lingling Li ◽  
Hisham A. Nasr-El-Din

Summary A common problem for oil production is excessive water production, which can lead to rapid productivity decline and significant increases in operating costs. The result is often a premature shut-in of wells because production has become uneconomical. In water injectors, the injection profiles are uneven and, as a result, large amounts of oil are left behind the water front. Many chemical systems have been used to control water production and improve recovery from reservoirs with high water cut. Inorganic gels have low viscosity and can be pumped using typical field mixing and injection equipment. Polymer or crosslinked gels, especially polyacrylamide-based systems, are mainly used because of their relatively low cost and their supposed selectivity. In this paper, microspheres (5–30 μm) were synthesized using acrylamide monomers crosslinked with an organic crosslinker. They can be suspended in water and can be pumped in sandstone formations. They can plug some of the pore throats and, thus, force injected water to change its direction and increase the sweep efficiency. A high-pressure/high-temperature (HP/HT) rheometer was used to measure G (elastic modulus) and G" (viscous modulus) of these aggregates. Experimental results indicate that these microspheres are stable in solutions with 20,000 ppm NaCl at 175°F. They can expand up to five times their original size in deionized water and show good elasticity. The results of sandpack tests show that the microspheres can flow through cores with permeability greater than 500 md and can increase the resistance factor by eight to 25 times and the residual resistance factor by nine times. The addition of microspheres to polymer solutions increased the resistance factor beyond that obtained with the polymer solution alone. Field data using microspheres showed significant improvements in the injection profile and enhancements in oil production.


Energies ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (15) ◽  
pp. 3926
Author(s):  
Damian Janiga ◽  
Daniel Podsobiński ◽  
Paweł Wojnarowski ◽  
Jerzy Stopa

Drilling cost is one of the most critical aspects in the reservoir management plan. Costs may exceed a million dollars; thus, optimal designing of the well trajectory in the reservoir and completion are essential. The implementation of a multilateral well (MLW) in reservoir management has great potential to optimize oil production. The object of this study is to develop an integrated workflow of end-point multilateral well placement optimization integrated with the reservoir simulator supported by artificial intelligence (AI) methods. The paper covers various types of MLW construction, including: horizontal, bi-, tri-, and quad-lateral wells. For quad-lateral wells, the capital expenditure is highest; nevertheless, acceleration of oil production affects the project’s NPV (net present value), indicating the type of well that is most promising to implement in the reservoir. Tri- and quad-lateral wells can operate for 12.1 and 9.8 years with a constant production rate. The decreasing hydrocarbon production rate is affected by reservoir pressure and the reservoir water production rate. Other well design patterns can accelerate water production. The well’s optimal trajectory was evaluated by the genetic algorithm (GA) and particle swarm optimization (PSO). The major difference between the GA and PSO optimization runs is visible with respect to water production and is related to the modification of one well branch trajectory in a reservoir. The proposed methodology has the advantage of easy implementation in a closed-loop optimization system coupled with numerical reservoir simulation. The paper covers the solution background, an implementation example, and the model limitations.


Author(s):  
James O. Adeleye ◽  
Olugbenga Olamigoke ◽  
Oluseun T. Mumuni

Abstract Producing an oilfield in a cost-effective way depends on how long water production could be delayed in the reservoir. Many flow mechanisms, correlations, and methods to calculate maximum water-free oil production rate have been published, However, those methods have generally failed to not consider the skin effect which affects the flow into the wellbore. In this paper, the semi-analytical perforation skin model as presented by Karakas and Tariq is incorporated into the Meyer and Garder correlation for critical oil rate from a perforated vertical well interval to obtain the maximum water-free oil production rate and optimal perforation parameters. The resulting coupled computational model is used to determine the sensitivity of the maximum water-free oil production rate to wellbore perforation parameters. Whilst an increase in perforation length and decrease in spacing between perforation increase the critical flow rate, an increase in perforation radius did not translate to higher productivity. The optimal perforation angles are 45° and 60°, however, for the data used in this work the maximum water-free oil rate of 23.2 std/d was obtained at 45° of phasing angle, 1 in of spacing between perforation, 0.36 in of perforation radius and 48 in of perforation length. Thus, the perforation strategy can be optimized prior to drilling and completion operations to improve productivity using the computational model presented in this work.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Salim Buwauqi ◽  
Ali Al Jumah ◽  
Abdulhameed Shabini ◽  
Ameera Harrasi ◽  
Tejas Kalyani ◽  
...  

Abstract One of the largest operators in the Sultanate of Oman discovered a clastic reservoir field in 1980 and put it on production in 1985. The field produces viscous oil, ranging from 200 - 2000+ cP at reservoir conditions. Over 75% of the wells drilled are horizontal wells and the field is one of the largest producers in the Sultanate of Oman. The field challenges include strong aquifer, high permeability zones/faults and large fluid mobility contrast have resulted that most of the wells started with very high-water cuts. The current field water cut is over 94%. This paper details operator's meticulous journey in qualification, field trials followed by field-wide implementation and performance evaluation of Autonomous Inflow Control Valve (AICV) technology in reducing water production and increasing oil production significantly. AICV can precisely identify the fluid flowing through it and shutting-off the high water or gas saturated zones autonomously while stimulating oil production from healthy oil-saturated zones. Like other AICDs (Autonomous Inflow Control Device) AICV can differentiate the fluid flowing through it via fluid properties such as viscosity and density at reservoir conditions. However, AICVs performance is superior due to its advanced design based on Hagen-Poiseuille and Bernoulli's principles. This paper describes an AICV completion design workflow involving a multi-disciplinary team as well as some of the field evaluation criteria to evaluate AICV well performance in the existing and in the new wells. The operator has completed several dozens of production wells with AICV technology in the field since 2018-19. Based on the field performance review, it has shown the benefit of accelerating oil production as well as reduction of unwanted water which not only reduces the OPEX of these wells but at the same time enormous positive impact on the environment. Many AICV wells started with just 25-40 % water cut and are still producing with low water cut and higher oil production. Based on the initial field-wide assessment, it is also envisaged that AICV wells will assist in achieving higher field recovery. Also, AICV helped in mitigating the facility constraints of handling produced water which will allow the operator continued to drill in-fill horizontal wells. Finally, the paper also discusses in detail the long-term performance results of some of the wells and their impact on cumulative field recovery as well as lessons learned to further optimise the well performance. The technology has a profound impact on improved sweep efficiency and as well plays an instrumental role in reducing the carbon footprint by reducing the significant water production at the surface. It is concluded that AICV technology has extended the field and wells life and proved to be the most cost-effective field-proven technology for the water shut-off application.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hamzah Kamal ◽  
Prakoso Noke Fajar ◽  
Ghozali Farid ◽  
Aryanto Agus ◽  
Priyantoro Tri Atmojo ◽  
...  

Abstract There is no well operation that is truly non-damaging. Any invasive operation, even production phase itself, may be damaging to well productivity. An interesting case was found in L-Field which is located in South Sumatra, Indonesia. All four wells are predicted to cease to flow after five-year production and artificial lift have to be installed to prevent steep decline in oil production. Unfortunately, all of wells’ productivity index (PI) decreased post well intervention and therefore, couldn’t achieve target. The PI was continuously decreasing during production phase and aggravated the decline in oil production. Remediation action by systematic approach was applied to solve the problem. Early diagnostic revealed some potential causes through evaluation of both production and well treatment data. Laboratory test such as mineralogy analysis, crude composition and water analysis, solubility and compatibility test have been conducted and clarified the root cause that formation damage occurred in multiple mechanism related to incompatibility of the workover fluid and organic deposition. Then, possible well treatments were listed with pros and cons by considering post water production related to the carbonate reservoir properties. Subsequently, chemical matrix injection was ranked based on less possibility of water breakthrough risk. Diesel fuel and de-emulsifier injection was decided as the first treatment in order to remove formation damage caused by organic deposition. The rate was increased temporary with Water Cut (WC) remained at the same level. The subseqeuent effort was to inject low reaction chelating acid and the result showed temporary improvement and the production did achieve significant gain. Finally, the third attempt indicated promising results with the injection of aromatic solvent followed by chelating acid. The well productivity was increased to more than 20 times of the pre treatment levels. The method can be replicated to other affected wells with similar damage mechanism. High vertical permeability over horizontal permeability becomes a real threat in carbonate strong water driver reservoir in L-field. Thus, matrix acidizing treatment has to be carefully applied to prevent unwanted water production. Non-aggressive and slow reaction acid were chosen to prevent face dissolution reaction that leads to water breakthrough.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yong Yang ◽  
Xiaodong Li ◽  
Changwei Sun ◽  
Yuanzhi Liu ◽  
Renkai Jiang ◽  
...  

Abstract The problem of water production in carbonate reservoir is always a worldwide problem; meanwhile, in heavy oil reservoir with bottom water, rapid water breakthrough or high water cut is the development feature of this kind of reservoir; the problem of high water production in infill wells in old reservoir area is very common. Each of these three kinds of problems is difficult to be tackled for oilfield developers. When these three kinds of problems occur in a well, the difficulty of water shutoff can be imagined. Excessive water production will not only reduce the oil rate of wells, but also increase the cost of water treatment, and even lead to well shut in. Therefore, how to solve the problem of produced water from infill wells in old area of heavy oil reservoir with bottom water in carbonate rock will be the focus of this paper. This paper elaborates the application of continuous pack-off particles with ICD screen (CPI) technology in infill wells newly put into production in brown field of Liuhua, South China Sea. Liuhua oilfield is a biohermal limestone heavy oil reservoir with strong bottom water. At present, the recovery is only 11%, and the comprehensive water cut is as high as 96%. Excessive water production greatly reduces the hydrocarbon production of the oil well, which makes the production of the oilfield decrease rapidly. In order to delay the decline of oil production, Liuhua oilfield has adopted the mainstream water shutoff technology, including chemical and mechanical water shutoff methods. The application results show that the adaptability of mainstream water shutoff technology in Liuhua oilfield needs to be improved. Although CPI has achieved good water shutoff effect in the development and old wells in block 3 of Liuhua oilfield, there is no application case in the old area of Liuhua oilfield which has been developed for decades, so the application effect is still unclear. At present, the average water cut of new infill wells in the old area reaches 80% when commissioned and rises rapidly to more than 90% one month later. Considering that there is more remaining oil distribution in the old area of Liuhua oilfield and the obvious effect of CPI in block 3, it is decided to apply CPI in infill well X of old area for well completion. CPI is based on the ICD screen radial high-speed fluid containment and pack-off particles in the wellbore annulus to prevent fluid channeling axially, thus achieving well bore water shutoff and oil enhancement. As for the application in fractured reef limestone reservoir, the CPI not only has the function of wellbore water shutoff, but also fills the continuous pack-off particles into the natural fractures in the formation, so as to achieve dual water shutoff in wellbore and fractures, and further enhance the effect of water shutoff and oil enhancement. The target well X is located in the old area of Liuhua oilfield, which is a new infill well in the old area. This target well with three kinds of water problems has great risk of rapid water breakthrough. Since 2010, 7 infill wells have been put into operation in this area, and the water cut after commissioning is 68.5%~92.6%. The average water cut is 85.11% and the average oil rate is 930.92 BPD. After CPI completion in well X, the water cut is only 26% (1/3 of offset wells) and the oil rate is 1300BPD (39.6% higher than that of offset wells). The target well has achieved remarkable effect of reducing water and increasing oil. In addition, in the actual construction process, a total of 47.4m3 particles were pumped into the well, which is equivalent to 2.3 times of the theoretical volume of the annulus between the screen and the borehole wall. Among them, 20m3 continuous pack-off particles entered the annulus, and 27.4m3 continuous pack-off particles entered the natural fractures in the formation. Through the analysis of CPI completed wells in Liuhua oilfield, it is found out that the overfilling quantity is positively correlated to the effect of water shutoff and oil enhancement.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Truong Nguyen Huu

Abstract In the past decades, most oil explotation in the White Tiger oil field was produced from the basement reservoir. However, in recent years, these pay zones consist of basement reservoirs, Oligocene reservoirs, and Miocene reservoirs of which oil field s have been declined in oil production rate due to several issues such as complex fracture network, high heterogeneity formation, high water cut, and the reduction of reservoir pressure. The huge issues in the most production wells at basement reservoir were high water cut and it has been significantly increasing during oil production yearly. Therefore, the total amount of oil production in all pay zones sharply decreased with time. At present, the lower Miocene reservoir is one of the best tight oil reservoirs to produce oil extractrion. The lower Miocene reservoir has been faced some issues such as high heterogeneity, complex structure, catastrophic clay swelling, low connectivity among the fractures, low effective wellbore radius and the reservoir that is hig h temperature up to 120°C, the closure pressure up to 6680psi, reservoir pressure up to 4500 psi, reservoir depth up to 3000m. Another reason low conductivity consists of both low reservoir porosity ranging from 1% of the hard shale to 10% of the sandstone formation, and the low permeability raining from 1md to 10md. By considering the various recovery methods, the integrated hydraulic fracturing stimulation is the best tool to successfully stimulate this reservoir, which method allows an increase in oil production rate. In the post fractured well has been shown an increase in productivity over 3 folds in comparison with the base case with fracture half-length nearly 75m, and fracture conductivity about 5400md.ft, which production rate is higher than the production rate of the base case. In addition, the proppant mass is used of 133,067 lbs of which the first main stage is to pump sinter lite bauxite proppant type of 20/40 into the fractures and the next big stage is to pump sintered ball bauxite proppant size of 16/30 into the fractures, which not only isolate proppant flow back but also increase fracture conductivity at the near wellbore as wel as high productivity rate after fractured well. To improve proppant transport, fract uring fluid systems consist of Guar polymer concentration of 11.2 pptg with these additives to form a total leak-off coefficient of 0.00227 ft/min0.5.


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