Simultaneous water and gas injection pilot at the Kuparuk River Field, reservoir impact
- and others
Immiscible water-alternating-gas injection has effectively managed produced gas at the Kuparuk River Field, increasing field oil rate and recovery. Although IWAG economics are very favorable, a pilot study was undertaken to ascertain whether the separate gas injection system can be eliminated by simultaneously injecting water and gas in waterflood lines. Static mixers were found to be necessary to disperse gas in a multiphase mixture flowing through a network of pipes. However, scale-up criteria for gas dispersing static mixers in multiphase pipe networks require additional refinement. Reservoir simulation done to support the pilot project showed that simultaneous water-and-gas injection should provide better control of gas mobility than IWAG. This resulted in increased oil recovery and more steady gas production. During the typical IWAG process, the magnitude and the cyclic nature of GOR responses have caused problems for gas handling at the field facilities. During the pilot loss of injection rate was observed as the gas fraction in the injection mixture increased and the surface injection pressure was kept stable at about 2800 psi. Examination of Well 2D-16 data suggests that the observed rate loss was more likely due to the lower bottom-hole pressures than the relative permeability effects expected of two-phase flow in porous media.
- OSTI ID:
- 199450
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-951002-; TRN: 96:000706-0021
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: Annual meeting of the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE), Dallas, TX (United States), 22-25 Oct 1995; Other Information: PBD: 1995; Related Information: Is Part Of Reservoir engineering. 1995 SPE annual technical conference and exhibition; PB: 1008 p.
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
An immiscible WAG injection project in the Kuparuk River Unit
Carbon Dioxide-Water Emulsions for Enhanced Oil Recovery and Permanent Sequestration of Carbon Dioxide