26-Improved Oil Recovery

Introduction to Improved Oil Recovery
Through Water Injection Projects
Copyright 2007, NExT, All rights reserved

Objectives
Definition
Objectives
Candidates
Patterns
Oil, water, and gas saturations
Fractional flow
Performance measures
Practices and problems
Reservoir monitoring

Primary Recovery
Hydrocarbon production resulting from natural reservoir

energy
Natural reservoir energy sources
Rock and fluid expansion
Solution gas drive
Gravity drainage
Water influx

Conventional Improved Recovery (IOR)
Injection of immiscible fluid

Water injection
Nitrogen injection
Casinghead gas reinjection
Often used in secondary recovery

Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR)
Using chemical, biological, or thermal action to improve oil

recovery
Steam, CO2, or hydrocarbon gas injection
Polymer and/or micellar injection
Microbe solution injection
Usually used in tertiary recovery

Waterflooding
Injection of water into a reservoir

Increases reservoir energy
Sweeps oil towards producing wells
Most widely applied secondary recovery method
Accounts for about 50% of U.S. oil production

History of Waterflooding
~
~
1865 1920 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990
* First recorded waterflood
Waterflood projects in Oklahoma and Texas

Widescale waterflood
implementation
Infill drilling
Tertiary
recovery
Goal of Waterflooding
Increase the amount of oil recovered from the reservoir by
Maintaining reservoir pressure
Displacing (sweeping) oil with water

Pressure Maintenance
Gas
Water treatment
plant Oil
Production
well Sealing
fault
Water
injection
OWC

Gas Phase Effects
Reduction in reservoir pressure can cause

Gas-cap expansion
Secondary gas cap creation
Gas saturation creation in pore spaces

Water injection can prevent or reverse these effects

Reservoir Performance
Too depleted for

WF success
pi
Gas saturation
GOR
Gas/oil ratio
pb
Pressure
Pressure Gas
saturation
Rsi
Cumulative oil production

Primary Drive Mechanisms
Most applicable:
Solution-gas drive
Gas-cap drive
Weak water drive
Gravity drainage
Not applicable
Strong water drive

Example 1
Rate as good or fair or poor reservoirs as to the

applicability of waterflooding

Example 1 Solution
1. Fair
2. Fair
3. Poor
4. Good
5. Poor
6. Good
7. Fair

Water Injection To Sweep Oil
Five - spot
Production well
Injection well
Future inj. well
Peripheral Flooding
Injectors
Producers

Line Drive Patterns
Injection
Well
Production
Well
No-flow
Boundary
Direct Drive Staggered Drive

5-Spot Pattern
Injection well
Production
well
No-flow
boundary

7-Spot Pattern
Injection
Well
Production
Well
No-flow
Boundary
Normal Inverted

9-Spot Pattern
Injection
Well
Production
Well
No-flow
Boundary
Normal Inverted
Nine - Spot Nine - Spot

Typical Initial Oil Field Development
1 Mile
1 Mile
Producing well
Dry hole

Typical Peripheral Waterflood Development
Producing well
Dry hole
Injection well

Typical Center-Line Injection Waterflood
Development
Producing well
Dry hole
Injection well

Typical 160-Acre Inverted 9-Spot Waterflood
Development
Producing well
Dry hole
Injection well

Typical 80-Acre 5-Spot Development
Producing well
Dry hole
Existing injection
well
New conversion
to injection
Typical Infill Drilled
40-Acre 5-Spot Development
New infill
producing well
Dry hole
Existing
injection well
New conversion
to injection
Typical Infill Drilled 40-Acre Direct
Line Drive Development
New infill
producing well
Dry hole
Existing
injection well
New conversion
to injection
Existing
producing well
Factors in Pattern Selection
Current well locations

Fracture azimuths
Permeability anisotropy
Field geometry
Injectivity
Infill drilling plans
Casing integrity of conversion injection candidates
Adjacent lease considerations

Pattern Orientation
Permeability
or
fracture
orientation
Favorable Unfavorable
orientation orientation

Pattern Selection/Orientation Problem
N
NW NE
W E
SW SE
S
Existing
producer
Existing
injector
New
producer
New
injector
Convert to
injector
Solution - Pattern Selection/Orientation Problem
N
NW NE
W E
SW SE
S
Existing
producer
Existing
injector
New
producer
New
injector
Convert to
Copyright 2006, NExT, All rights reserved injector
Frontal Advance Theory
Piston - like displacement
Sor
Water Oil
Swi
Connate water

Leaky piston
Water
Initial oil
Injected saturation Oil
Saturation
water
bank
Connate water
Distance

Water Oil Unaffected

bank bank reservoir
Trapped gas
Saturation
Initial
Oil
Water free gas
Connate water
Distance

Fractional Flow Equation


Capillary pressure term

(usually ignored)
Gravity term

Horizontal reservoir

Fractional Flow of Water is Affected by:

Fractional Flow Curves

Information From the Fractional Flow Curve
fw=1 Average reservoir

Fraction of water 1
flowing at the water saturation
flood front at breakthrough
fWF Tangent point
fW
0
0 Swi 1-Sor Sw at the
Sw
Copyright 2006, NExT, All rights reserved flood front
Example 2: Fractional Flow Curve

Example 2
Solution
Fractional Flow Curve

1. Sw = 55%
2. fw = 82.5%
3. = 63%
4.
Waterflood
Performance Efficiencies
Recovery efficiency
ER = Ep EI ED
= Ev ED
= EA EI ED

Performance Efficiencies
Displacement efficiency (ED)

Areal Sweep Efficiency (EA)
Producer
EA
Water invaded
area
Injector
Fraction of the horizontal plane of the reservoir that is

behind the flood front at a point in time
Factors affecting EA
Mobility ratio
Well spacing
Pattern geometry
Areal heterogeneities

Mobility

Mobility Ratio

Mobility Ratio Effects

Areal Sweep Efficiency
Pattern geometry influences areal sweep efficiency
Correlations exist for common pattern geometries as a

function of mobility ratio.

Vertical Sweep Efficiency
INJECTION PRODUCTION
EI =

Factors Affecting Waterflooding
Gravity
Barriers to vertical flow
Lateral pay discontinuities
Completion interval inconsistencies

Effects of Gravity
Injector Producer
Oil
Water

Barriers To Vertical Flow
Depositional
Shale streaks
Lithology changes
Evaporite streaks
Diagenesis
Cementation
Dolomitization

Lateral Pay Discontinuities
Producing Injection
well well
Trapped oil

Lateral Pay Discontinuities
Effect of infill drilling

Producing Infill Injection
well well well

Completion Interval Inconsistencies
Producing Injection
well well
Trapped oil -
lateral pay
discontinuities
Trapped
Oil - Completions
Prediction Methods
Analytical methods
Typically single-layer, single-pattern, iso-properties
Requires scale-up of answers to get full field results
(Buckley-Leverett, Stiles, Craig-Geffen-Morse, Dykstra-
Parsons)
Largely replaced by numerical methods such as 3-
dimensional, 3-phase computer reservoir simulation

Development Philosophy
Understand the reservoir

Start waterflooding early
Infill drill to reduce effects of lateral pay discontinuities
Develop field on pattern waterflood
Open all of the pay in all wells

Operating Philosophy
Keep producing wells pumped off

Inject below formation parting pressure
Inject clean water
Manage waterflood by injection well tests
Conduct a surveillance program

Producing Well Operations
Well not Well

pumped off pumped off
PWF = 1000 psi PWF = 100 psi
PR = 1500 psi
PR = 500 psi
Minimal production/crossflow Maximum production

Injection Well Operations
Inject at 50 psi below formation parting pressure

Inject clean water
Keep wellbore cleaned out
Scale
Fill
Maintain good injection conformance

Injection Water Quality
Undesirable contaminants
Dissolved, scale-forming solids
Oil and suspended solids
Dissolved oxygen
Bacteria

Injection Well Testing
Waterfloods are water injection projects
Therefore: manage the project by managing the water

injection wells

Injection Well Testing
Conduct periodic injection well tests to determine:

Skin damage
Formation parting pressure
Injection conformance

Waterflood Surveillance
Accurate data collection

Monthly 3-phase production well tests
Measure oil, water, & gas production during test
Daily injection volumes & pressures
Maintain & properly use instruments
Reservoir pressure history

Waterflood Surveillance
3D finite difference full-field reservoir simulation

Monitor and evaluate flood performance

Summary
During the past few hours we have learned
1. What waterflooding is
2. Why we inject water into oil reservoirs
3. Which reservoirs are candidates for

waterflooding

Summary
4. How to recognize the different

waterflood patterns.
5. Why pattern orientation is important.
6. How fluid saturations change during a

waterflood.

Summary
7. How to determine the fraction of water

flowing at a point in the reservoir, and
how to determine the water saturation
and the average water saturation in the
reservoir at breakthrough.

Summary
8. How recovery efficiency is affected by

the fluid mobility ratio, areal sweep efficiency, vertical
sweep efficiency, displacement efficiency, and lateral
pay discontinuities.

Summary
9. Why producing wells should be pumped off.
10. How to maximize water injection without damaging

the reservoir.

Summary
11. Why we inject clean water.
12. How to manage a waterflood by injection well testing.
13. What data we need to collect to monitor waterflood.

References

References

References

References

References

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Introduction to Improved Oil Recovery

Through Water Injection Projects

Copyright 2007, NExT, All rights reserved

Copyright 2006, NExT, All rights reserved

Hydrocarbon production resulting from natural reservoir

Copyright 2006, NExT, All rights reserved

Injection of immiscible fluid

Often used in secondary recovery

Copyright 2006, NExT, All rights reserved

Using chemical, biological, or thermal action to improve oil

Copyright 2006, NExT, All rights reserved

Injection of water into a reservoir

Most widely applied secondary recovery method

Accounts for about 50% of U.S. oil production

Copyright 2006, NExT, All rights reserved

* First recorded waterflood

Waterflood projects in Oklahoma and Texas

Increase the amount of oil recovered from the reservoir by

Maintaining reservoir pressure

Displacing (sweeping) oil with water

Copyright 2006, NExT, All rights reserved

Copyright 2006, NExT, All rights reserved

Reduction in reservoir pressure can cause

Copyright 2006, NExT, All rights reserved

Too depleted for

Cumulative oil production

Copyright 2006, NExT, All rights reserved

Copyright 2006, NExT, All rights reserved

Rate as good or fair or poor reservoirs as to the

Copyright 2006, NExT, All rights reserved

Copyright 2006, NExT, All rights reserved

Copyright 2006, NExT, All rights reserved

Direct Drive Staggered Drive

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Current well locations

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Piston - like displacement

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Water Oil Unaffected

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Capillary pressure term

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fw=1 Average reservoir

fWF Tangent point

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Fractional Flow Curve

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Displacement efficiency (ED)

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Areal Sweep Efficiency (EA)