Unsteady-State Distributions of Fluid Compositions in Two-Phase Oil Reservoirs Undergoing Gas Injection

1967 ◽  
Vol 7 (01) ◽  
pp. 61-74 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert C. McFarlane ◽  
T.D. Mueller ◽  
F.G. Miller
Keyword(s):  
Oil Recovery ◽  
High Speed ◽  
Gas Injection ◽  
Gas Storage ◽  
Oil Reservoirs ◽  
Oil Reservoir ◽  
Two Phase ◽  
Secondary Recovery ◽  
Compositional Effects ◽  
Gas Cycling

Abstract During the process of gas storage in pressure-depleted oil reservoirs, it has been observed that in some instances additional liquid oil is recovered and that the composition of the storage gas is materially altered. A mathematical study was made of the dynamic behavior of such a depleted oil reservoir undergoing gas injection. The important variable considered in this study, not included in previously published work, was that of compositional effects on the phase behavior of two-phase flow. Pressure, saturation and component composition profiles were developed for a linear, horizontal and homogeneous porous medium containing oil and gas but undergoing dry gas injection. Special new techniques were developed to overcome the problems of numerical smoothing which arise in the solution of the equations representing such systems. The method of solution includes the development of partial differential equations describing the behavior of the system, representing these equations by finite difference approximations, making certain simplifying assumptions and, finally, applying methods of numerical analysis with the aid of a high-speed digital computer. In an example calculation, results using the mathematical model are compared with field observations made on a gas storage project in Clay County, Tex. This field project involved a depleted oil reservoir used' for gas storage and gas cycling purposes. As a result of these processes, the reservoir yielded substantial amounts of secondary oil, both in the form of stock tank oil and as vaporized products in the produced gas. The methods derived in this study may be applied to a variety of oil reservoir problems which are dependent on compositional effects. INTRODUCTION In recent years the number of oil reservoirs being used for gas storage purposes has increased greatly, and there has been at least one published account of additional oil recovery resulting from gas cycling a depleted oil reservoir after repressuring with dry gas for storage purposes. Additional oil recovery from oil reservoirs resulting from gas storage operations could become an important secondary recovery process. This is especially true since the use of natural gas in large metropolitan areas continues to increase and more gas storage volume near these areas is needed. These facts provided the motivation for the work reported here. This paper reports on a study of the inter-relations of composition, saturation and pressure changes which occur when hydrocarbon gas is injected into an oil reservoir system. From an understanding of the process, prediction methods may be developed for use in forecasting the secondary recovery products from gas storage operations in oil reservoirs and, consequently, .the economics of such projects can be developed.

scholarly journals Hydrocarbon Gas Flooding Optimization considering Complex Fracture Networks through Numerical Simulation in the Tight Oil Reservoirs

Lithosphere ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 (Special 4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yong Qin ◽  
Haochuan Zhang ◽  
Chang Liu ◽  
Haifeng Ding ◽  
Tianyu Liu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Oil Recovery ◽  
Gas Injection ◽  
Oil Reservoirs ◽  
Tight Oil ◽  
Oil Reservoir ◽  
Fracture Networks ◽  
Complex Fracture ◽  
Gas Flooding ◽  
Hydrocarbon Gas ◽  
Tight Oil Reservoirs

Abstract Field data indicates that oil production decline quickly and the oil recovery factor is low due to low permeability and insufficient energy in the tight oil reservoirs. Enhanced oil recovery (EOR) is required to improve the oil production rates of tight oil reservoirs. Gas flooding is a good means to supplement formation energy and improve oil recovery factor, especially for hydrocarbon gas flooding when CO2 is insufficient. Due to the permeability in some areas is too low, the injected gas cannot spread farther, and the EOR performance is poor. So multifractured horizontal well (MFHW) are usually used to assist gas injection in oilfields. At present, there are few studies on the optimization of hydrocarbon gas flooding parameters especially under the complex fracture network. This article uses unstructured grids to characterize the complex fracture networks, which more realistically shows the flow of formation fluids. Based on actual reservoir data, this paper establishes the numerical model of hydrocarbon gas flooding under complex fracture networks. The article conducts numerical simulation to analyze the effect of different parameters on well performance and provides the optimal injection and production parameters for hydrocarbon gas flooding in the M tight oil reservoir. The optimal injection-production well spacing of the M tight oil reservoir is about 800 to 900 m. The EOR performance is better when the total gas injection rates are about 0.45 HCPV, and gas injection rates of each well are about 3000 to 3500 m3/d (0.021 to 0.025 HCPV/a). The recommended injection-production ratio is about 1.1 to 1.2. This work can offer engineers guidance for hydrocarbon gas flooding of the MFHW with complex fracture networks. Hydrocarbon gas flooding in tight oil reservoirs can enhance oil recovery. The findings of this study can help for a better understanding of the influence of different parameters on hydrocarbon gas flooding in the M tight oil reservoir. This work can also offer engineers guidance for hydrocarbon gas flooding of the MFHW with complex fracture networks.

scholarly journals Experimental Study on Sweep Characteristics of Gas Gravity Drainage in the Interlayer Oil Reservoir

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hongwei Yu ◽  
Lu Wang ◽  
Daiyu Zhou ◽  
Fuyong Wang ◽  
Shi Li ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Oil Recovery ◽  
High Speed ◽  
Gas Injection ◽  
Injection Rate ◽  
Physical Models ◽  
Oil Reservoirs ◽  
Movement Direction ◽  
Gravity Drainage ◽  
Gas Oil ◽  
Hydrocarbon Gas

Stable gas gravity drainage is considered an effective method to enhance oil recovery, especially suitable for deep buried, large dip angle, and thick oil reservoirs. The influence of reservoir heterogeneity on controlling the gas–oil interface and sweep characteristics of injected gas is particularly important to design reservoir development schemes. In this study, according to the interlayer characteristics of Donghe carboniferous oil reservoirs in the Tarim Basin, NW China, 2D visual physical models are established, in which the matrix permeability is 68.1 mD and average pore throat radius is 60 nm. Then, hydrocarbon gas gravity drainage simulation experiments are carried out systematically, and a high-speed camera is used to record the process of gas–oil flow and interface movement. In this experiment, the miscible zone of crude oil and hydrocarbon gas is observed for the first time. The interlayer has an obvious shielding influence, which can destroy the stability of the gas–oil interface and miscible zone, change the movement direction of the gas–oil interface, and reduce the final oil recovery after gravity drainage. The remaining oil mainly is distributed near the interlayers. The higher displacement pressure leads to increased stability of the gas–oil displacement front and later gas breakthrough, which leads to higher oil recovery. The lower gas injection rate contributes to a slower front velocity and wider miscible zone, which could delay gas breakthrough. For the immiscible gas gravity drainage, there is a critical gas injection rate, with which the oil recovery factor is the highest.

The Mechanism of Flue Gas Injection for Enhanced Light Oil Recovery

2004 ◽  
Vol 126 (2) ◽  
pp. 119-124 ◽  
Author(s):  
O. S. Shokoya ◽  
S. A. (Raj) Mehta ◽  
R. G. Moore ◽  
B. B. Maini ◽  
M. Pooladi-Darvish ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Oil Recovery ◽  
Flue Gas ◽  
Gas Injection ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Air Injection ◽  
Oil Reservoirs ◽  
Flue Gases ◽  
Low Permeability ◽  
Light Oil ◽  
Light Oil Reservoirs

Flue gas injection into light oil reservoirs could be a cost-effective gas displacement method for enhanced oil recovery, especially in low porosity and low permeability reservoirs. The flue gas could be generated in situ as obtained from the spontaneous ignition of oil when air is injected into a high temperature reservoir, or injected directly into the reservoir from some surface source. When operating at high pressures commonly found in deep light oil reservoirs, the flue gas may become miscible or near–miscible with the reservoir oil, thereby displacing it more efficiently than an immiscible gas flood. Some successful high pressure air injection (HPAI) projects have been reported in low permeability and low porosity light oil reservoirs. Spontaneous oil ignition was reported in some of these projects, at least from laboratory experiments; however, the mechanism by which the generated flue gas displaces the oil has not been discussed in clear terms in the literature. An experimental investigation was carried out to study the mechanism by which flue gases displace light oil at a reservoir temperature of 116°C and typical reservoir pressures ranging from 27.63 MPa to 46.06 MPa. The results showed that the flue gases displaced the oil in a forward contacting process resembling a combined vaporizing and condensing multi-contact gas drive mechanism. The flue gases also became near-miscible with the oil at elevated pressures, an indication that high pressure flue gas (or air) injection is a cost-effective process for enhanced recovery of light oils, compared to rich gas or water injection, with the potential of sequestering carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas.

Risk Assessment and Enhanced Oil Recovery Effect of Gravity Assisted Oxygen-Reduced Air Flooding

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lijuan Huang ◽  
Zongfa Li ◽  
Shaoran Ren ◽  
Yanming Liu
Keyword(s):  
Natural Gas ◽  
Oil Recovery ◽  
Gas Injection ◽  
Oil Production ◽  
Air Injection ◽  
Oil Reservoirs ◽  
Displacement Efficiency ◽  
Risk Area ◽  
Recovery Method ◽  
High Risk Area

Abstract The technology of air injection has been widely used in the second and tertiary recovery in oilfields. However, due to the injected air and natural gas will explode, the safety of the gas injection technology has attracted much attention. Gravity assisted oxygen-reduced air flooding is a new method that eliminates explosion risks and improves oil recovery in large-dip oil reservoirs or thick oil layers. The explosion limit data of different components of natural gas under high pressure were obtained through explosion experiments, which verified the suppression effect of oxygen-reduced air on explosions. The influence of natural gas composition and concentration on explosion limits was also investigated. In addition, a rotatable displacement device was used to study the feasibility of gravity assisted oxygen-reduced air injection for improving the heavy oil reservoirs recovery. Under pressure and temperature conditions of 20MPa and 371K, the sand-filled gravity flooding experiments with different dip angles were carried out using oxygen-reduced air with an oxygen content of 8%. The results show that with the increase of the reservoir dip, the pore volume of the injected fluid at the gas channeling point, the efficient development time of gas injection, and the final displacement efficiency of gas injection development all increase through gravity stabilization caused by gravity differentiation. In the presence of a dip angle, the cumulative oil production before the gas breakthrough point exceeded 80% of the oil production during the entire production process, indicating that gravity assisted oxygen-reduced air flooding is an effective and safe improving oil recovery method. Finally, the explosion risk of each link of the air injection process is analyzed, and the high-risk area and the low-risk area are determined.

Production Optimization Coupling Multiple Reservoirs and Facilities With Sour Gas Re-Injection for Miscible EOR in South Oman

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kamlesh Kumar ◽  
Varun Pathak ◽  
Pankaj Agrawal ◽  
Zaal Alias ◽  
Tushar Narwal ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Oil Recovery ◽  
Production System ◽  
Gas Injection ◽  
Ghg Emissions ◽  
Development Project ◽  
Production Optimization ◽  
Oil Reservoirs ◽  
Fully Implicit ◽  
Gas Utilization ◽  
Sour Gas

Abstract Effective gas utilization is critical to any gas injection development project to maximize recoveries for a given purchase of make-up gas, whilst reducing the Green Gas House (GHG) emissions. This paper describes the use of a fully implicit Integrated Production System Model (IPSM) for two inter-connected production system networks, coupling multiple, critically sour oil reservoirs undergoing Miscible Gas Injection (MGI) for Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) using produced sour gas from oil and condensate fields in South Oman. The IPSM model links sixteen reservoir models with varying levels of complexities to the facilities network. Complexities in the facilities include multiple nodal constraints that necessitate the use of an Equation of State model (EOS). The IPSM model honors the gas balance implicitly. Gas flood optimization includes prioritizing low GOR production wells (at reservoir and well level) whilst maintaining reservoir pressure above Minimum Miscibility Pressures (MMP). Development schedule optimization also helps in optimizing the compressor size, the key Capex component. Compositional modeling allows continuous tracking of souring levels at different nodes, providing integrity status of overall production system network. The current IPSM model helps in optimization of schedule for the phased development of the oil reservoirs and eventually the most efficient gas utilization. This has enabled low pressure operation in some reservoirs providing oil at very low unit technical cost while waiting for gas availability. Compositional tracking for H2S helps in operating the facilities within design limits whilst planning future developments to cater to this design. Some key parameters can be parameterized for quick sensitivity analysis for an informed decision making for business opportunities. The production potential of the system is also tracked to ensure there is a cushion in the system to deal with any unexpected changes. This feature helps in planning and optimizing the scheduled turn-around activities for these two inter-connected production system networks. The novelty of this work is collaboration across multiple disciplines, especially the surface and subsurface because of complex interactions between facilities constraints and reservoir performance (associated with produced gas reinjection). Compositional tracking and injection gas apportionment across multiple reservoirs is key to the overall value maximization in this complex development.

scholarly journals Experimental Investigation of Oil Recovery from Tight Sandstone Oil Reservoirs by Pressure Depletion

Energies ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 11 (10) ◽  
pp. 2667 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wenxiang Chen ◽  
Zubo Zhang ◽  
Qingjie Liu ◽  
Xu Chen ◽  
Prince Opoku Appau ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Oil Recovery ◽  
Oil Reservoirs ◽  
Oil Reservoir ◽  
Reservoir Pressure ◽  
Dissolved Gas ◽  
Tight Sandstone ◽  
Bubble Point ◽  
Bubble Point Pressure ◽  
Pressure Depletion ◽  
Point Pressure

Oil production by natural energy of the reservoir is usually the first choice for oil reservoir development. Conversely, to effectively develop tight oil reservoir is challenging due to its ultra-low formation permeability. A novel platform for experimental investigation of oil recovery from tight sandstone oil reservoirs by pressure depletion has been proposed in this paper. A series of experiments were conducted to evaluate the effects of pressure depletion degree, pressure depletion rate, reservoir temperature, overburden pressure, formation pressure coefficient and crude oil properties on oil recovery by reservoir pressure depletion. In addition, the characteristics of pressure propagation during the reservoir depletion process were monitored and studied. The experimental results showed that oil recovery factor positively correlated with pressure depletion degree when reservoir pressure was above the bubble point pressure. Moreover, equal pressure depletion degree led to the same oil recovery factor regardless of different pressure depletion rate. However, it was noticed that faster pressure drop resulted in a higher oil recovery rate. For oil reservoir without dissolved gas (dead oil), oil recovery was 2–3% due to the limited reservoir natural energy. In contrast, depletion from live oil reservoir resulted in an increased recovery rate ranging from 11% to 18% due to the presence of dissolved gas. This is attributed to the fact that when reservoir pressure drops below the bubble point pressure, the dissolved gas expands and pushes the oil out of the rock pore spaces which significantly improves the oil recovery. From the pressure propagation curve, the reason for improved oil recovery is that when the reservoir pressure is lower than the bubble point pressure, the dissolved gas constantly separates and provides additional pressure gradient to displace oil. The present study will help engineers to have a better understanding of the drive mechanisms and influencing factors that affect development of tight oil reservoirs, especially for predicting oil recovery by reservoir pressure depletion.

GAS LIFT IN BASS STRAIT

1985 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 107
Author(s):  
Kathryn J. Fagg
Keyword(s):  
Oil Recovery ◽  
Joint Venture ◽  
Two Phase Flow ◽  
Gas Injection ◽  
Phase Flow ◽  
Gas Distribution ◽  
Two Phase ◽  
Future Developments ◽  
Artificial Lift ◽  
Gas Lift

Gas lift has proved a most effective artificial lift method for the fields operated by Esso Australia Ltd in Bass Strait for the Esso-BHP joint venture. Gas lift is now used to produce approximately 5 st ML/d of the total crude production from the Strait. It has enabled wells to be produced to water cuts higher than 90 per cent, increasing the oil recovery from the fields by up to 35 per cent.Gas lift work in Bass Strait to date has included the use of special packoff gas lift assemblies for wells with sliding sleeves, the development of a tool to assist the opening of the sleeves, improved operating techniques to limit slugging from gas-lifted wells, and the testing of gas lift performance. Gas lifting has been more successful than expected, and as a result, workovers initially planned to install full gas lift strings for older wells have not been necessary. The two phase flow correlations available have been improved to match the performance of the gas-lifted wells. The correlations are now used to design tubing strings with a number of gas lift mandrels prior to running the initial completions and to select the optimum gas injection depth.Future work in gas lift for Bass Strait will involve the optimisation and automation of lift gas distribution on the platforms. Gas lift will also be used for planned future developments, including mini-platforms and subsea completions.

Relative Permeability Characterization for Water-Alternating-Gas Injection in Oil Reservoirs

SPE Journal ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 21 (03) ◽  
pp. 0799-0808 ◽  
Author(s):  
H.. Shahverdi ◽  
M.. Sohrabi
Keyword(s):  
Relative Permeability ◽  
Gas Injection ◽  
Hysteresis Effect ◽  
Oil Reservoirs ◽  
Unsteady State ◽  
Two Phase ◽  
Water Alternating Gas ◽  
Three Phase ◽  
Phase Water ◽  
Wag Injection

Summary Large quantities of oil usually remain in oil reservoirs after conventional waterfloods. A significant part of this remaining oil can still be economically recovered by water-alternating-gas (WAG) injection. WAG injection involves drainage and imbibition processes taking place sequentially; therefore, the numerical simulation of the WAG process requires reliable knowledge of three-phase relative permeability (kr) accounting for cyclic-hysteresis effects. In this study, the results of a series of unsteady-state two-phase displacements and WAG coreflood experiments were used to investigate the behavior of three-phase kr and hysteresis effects in the WAG process. The experiments were performed on two different cores with different characteristics and wettability conditions. An in-house coreflood simulator was developed to obtain three-phase relative permeability values directly from unsteady-state WAG experiments by history matching the measured recovery and differential-pressure profiles. The results show that three-phase gas relative permeability is reduced in consecutive gas-injection cycles and consequently the gas mobility and injectivity drop significantly with successive gas injections during the WAG process, under different rock conditions. The trend of hysteresis in the relative permeabilty of gas (krg) partly contradicts the existing hysteresis models available in the literature. The three-phase water relative permeability (krw) of the water-wet (WW) core does not exhibit considerable hysteresis effect during different water injections, whereas the mixed-wet (MW) core shows slight cyclic hysteresis. This may indicate a slight increase of the water injectivity in the subsequent water injections in the WAG process under MW conditions. Insignificant hysteresis is observed in the oil relative permeability (kro) during different gas-injection cycles for both WW and MW rocks. However, a considerable cyclic-hysteresis effect in kro is observed during water-injection cycles of WAG, which is attributed to the reduction of the residual oil saturation (ROS) during successive water injections. The kro of the WW core exhibits much-more cyclic-hysteresis effect than that of the MW core. No models currently exist in reservoir simulators that can capture the observed cyclic-hysteresis effect in oil relative permeability for the WAG process. Investigation of relative permeability data obtained from these displacement tests at different rock conditions revealed that there is a significant discrepancy between two-phase and three-phase relative permeability of all fluids. This highlights that not only the three-phase relative permeability of the intermediate phase (oil), but also the three-phase kr of the wetting phase (water) and nonwetting phase (gas) are functions of two independent saturations.

Stability of Gas Injection Using Lateral Wells in Layered Oil Reservoirs

2007 ◽  
Vol 18-19 ◽  
pp. 271-276
Author(s):  
E. Steve Adewole ◽  
B.M. Rai
Keyword(s):  
Pressure Distribution ◽  
Gas Injection ◽  
Oil Production ◽  
Bottom Layer ◽  
Oil Reservoirs ◽  
Mobility Ratio ◽  
Fluid Velocities ◽  
The Stability ◽  
Gas Cycling ◽  
Gas Properties

The stability of gas injection in a layered reservoir drilled with lateral wells, is studied using a generalized pressure distribution-dependent mobility ratio expression. Stable injection guarantees clean oil production. The mobility ratio compared layers’ fluid velocities across a common permeable interface. Studies were based on injected gas compressibilities and viscosities only. Results show that injection stability is affected by (1) injected gas properties, and (2) injection layer; i.e., whether gas cycling (bottom layer injection) or gas injection (top layer injection). Gas cycling tends to exhibit more instability than gas injection operation.

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