Miscible WAG Efficiency Assessment on a Large Mature Carbonate Field

Abstract

Abstract This paper is based on the analysis of miscible WAG for an onshore Middle-East field, with strongly undersaturated light oil. Water Alternate Gas operations have been ongoing for around 5 years, which is relatively recent compared to more than 40 years of production history. Goal of this work was to assess the efficiency of this miscible hydrocarbon WAG and to optimize it on the different compartments, with respect to miscibility, voidage replacement, and recycling. As this is a large mature field, with WAG operations dispatched on around 50 injectors and 9 fault blocks (compartments), the method of analysis had to be robust with respect to the different injection strategies followed in the past. It was essentially based on injection and production data, but also used pressure data when available. We computed the following dimensionless variables: oil recovery factor, BSW, voidage replacement ratio (VRR), and also WAG ratio and gas recycling ratio (GRR). Their evolution versus time was analyzed and compared between fault blocks. Using dimensionless variables allowed to compare fault blocks with different initial volumes in place, and to illustrate trends versus time. It was also found beneficial to lump some compartments, when communication was substantiated by pressure data. On the production side, we used the conventional BSW and GOR variables to quantify the water and gas recycling ratio. On the injection side, we observed that in some compartments, the historical WAG ratio was too low in the oil zone, which could be quantified by excluding the peripheral water injection volumes. The analysis allowed also to estimate the gas utilization factor and efficiency, which confirmed the overall high efficiency of miscible gas injection in 3-phase mode. It was also found that the injected fluid efficiency correlated with geology: gas injection tends to be more efficient in zones with high permeabilities at the bottom (coarsening downwards), while water injection is better adapted to zones with high permeabilities at the top (coarsening upwards). Estimating these water and gas efficiencies also allowed to optimize the injection strategy on a field level, by comparing the water efficiency with other units of the field only under waterflood.