Light-oil steamdrive pilot test at NPR-1, Elk Hills, California

Journal Article · Sat Aug 01 04:00:00 EDT 1992 · SPE Reservoir Engineering (Society of Petroleum Engineers); (United States)

OSTI ID:7052989

Garner, T A ^[1]

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1. Bechtel Petroleum Operations Inc. (United States)

This paper reports that a steamdrive pilot was run on a light-oil reservoir at the Naval Petroleum Reserve No. 1 (NPR-1) in the Elk Hills oil field, Kern County, CA. From a reservoir perspective, the steamdrive process behaved much as expected. The first event to occur was the appearance of freshened water production accompanied by CO[sub 2] gas 3 months from startup of steam injection. The second event, an increase in crude gravity, appeared 3 months later, or 6 months into the project. Finally, the third event was the arrival of the heat front at the producing wells 13 months after startup. From a production perspective, CO[sub 2] in the freshened produced water caused wellbore scale damage and loss of well productivity. The steamdrive, however, mobilized residual oil, which mostly was captured outside the pilot pattern area. Acid stimulations to restore well productivity were done by injecting inhibitor in the steam feedwater and by designing acid cleanup treatments on the basis of results from laboratory tests.

• OSTI ID: 7052989
• Journal Information: SPE Reservoir Engineering (Society of Petroleum Engineers); (United States), Journal Name: SPE Reservoir Engineering (Society of Petroleum Engineers); (United States) Vol. 7:3; ISSN 0885-9248; ISSN SREEEF
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

02 PETROLEUM
020300* -- Petroleum-- Drilling & Production
99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS
990200 -- Mathematics & Computers
CALIFORNIA
CARBON DIOXIDE INJECTION
CLEANING
CORROSIVE EFFECTS
DEVELOPED COUNTRIES
ENERGY SOURCES
ENHANCED RECOVERY
EVALUATION
FLUID INJECTION
FORMATION DAMAGE
FOSSIL FUELS
FUELS
FUNCTIONAL MODELS
GEOLOGIC DEPOSITS
HYDROGEN COMPOUNDS
MINERAL RESOURCES
MISCIBLE-PHASE DISPLACEMENT
NORTH AMERICA
OIL FIELDS
OIL WELLS
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
PETROLEUM
PETROLEUM DEPOSITS
PILOT PLANTS
RESOURCES
SCALE MODELS
STEAM INJECTION
STIMULATION
STRUCTURAL MODELS
THERMAL RECOVERY
USA
VISCOSITY
WATER
WELL STIMULATION
WELLS