New Completion Methodology To Improve Oil Recovery and Minimize Water Intrusion in Reservoirs Subject to Water Injection

Abstract

SummaryImplementing water injection during the early stage of a new reservoir's development is a process that is gaining popularity around the world. This is especially true in Saudi Arabia, where water injection is used both to improve oil recovery and to maintain pressure by placing short or long horizontal water-injection wells around the reservoir flanks.For cases where water-injection wells are placed in reservoir flanks, some of the producing wells are perforated transverse to the water-injection wells to improve the oil recovery around the involved areas. For this specific exploitation strategy, there is a potential risk of water channeling from the injector to the producing well toe, which, once it happens, might jeopardize recovery efficiency.For the referenced exploitation strategy, a new completion methodology is proposed that considers the placement of a fracture barrier at the toe of the producing well to delay water intrusion and improve recovery efficiency. This paper discusses the use of nonconductive barrier fractures and the benefits of the completion methodology, supported with extensive simulations for the different scenarios.