Performance Evaluation of Enhanced Oil-Recovery Operations

Disciplines
Engineering
Category
Foundational
Format
Classroom • Live Online 
Available
Public • Private 

Who Should Attend

Reservoir and production engineers.

Description

Interwell connectivity provides the bedrock for evaluating any flood performance, secondary or tertiary, of any type. This two-day workshop emphasizes understanding interwell connectivity (producer/producer and producer/injector) to gauge well performance using several analytical tools. These tools include CRM (Capacitance-resistance model) and RPI (reciprocal-productivity index), besides RTA (rate-transient analysis) and DCA (decline-curve analysis). Whereas CRM enables us to gauge the injector/producer connectivity for evaluating the efficacy of a flood pattern, the RPI tool provides insights into producer/producer connectivity, leading to an understanding of drainage volume. The evolving nature of interwell connectivity precipitates changes in both DCA and RTA, thereby providing insights into changes in individual well performance and their prediction uncertainty. In addition, the modified Hall plot for producers and injectors provides the required guidance for individual wells over their life cycles.

In DCA, methods other than Arps provide an understanding of the pros and cons of different approaches. In this context, the cumulative production curve aids in minimizing the inherent noise in any rate profile. Equally important, we show that collapsing well-shut-in periods is necessary for any DCA. Finally, we present the goodness of the Arps method since its inception in 1945, which does have a semi-theoretical basis.

Learning Outcomes

  • Understand injector/producer connectivity or lack thereof with the CRM tool.
  • Gain insights into producer/producer connectivity to gauge the extent of drainage area by using the RPI tool.
  • Understand data collapsing during the well shut-in periods for preserving mass in the drainage volume.
  • Gain insights into the physical meaning of the Arp’s b-factor over time to assess various degrees of pressure support over time.
  • Gauge the life-cycle individual well (injector and producer) performance with the modified-Hall plot.
  • Use rate-transient analysis (RTA) to gain insights into long-term performance.
  • Solution workflows for participants’ specific problems.

Course Content

Participants discuss operational problems on pertinent topics within the workshop’s scope.

  • Background review of each topic.
  • Hands-on problem-solving sessions using field data – preference: client’s data.

Daily Agenda:

Day-1

  • Introduction to secondary (waterflood) and tertiary (water-alternating-gas flood, polymer flood) recovery processes.
    Introduction to injector/producer connectivity tool (CRM) and producer/producer connectivity tools to gauge flood
    performance.
  • Performance comparison of empirical DCA tools in diverse field settings.
  • Understanding variable Arps b-factor in an evolving flood with analytical tools.

Day-2

  • Rate-transient analysis for estimating in-place volume & seeking corroboration with others.
  • Modified-Hall plot for injectors and producers.
  • Transient-PI method for assessing the in-place volume.
  • Strengths and limitations of each method.

In-Person

Length
2 Days

Virtual

Length
4 Half-Days

Upcoming Events

Houston

Instructor

Shah Kabir headshotShah Kabir