Oil & Gas Geology ›› 2012, Vol. 33 ›› Issue (6): 938-943.doi: 10.11743/ogg20120616

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Research and application of gravity drainage in steam flooding:an example from the high-dip angle area of Qi-40 block in Liaohe oilfield

Jiang Yanyan1, Yang Jun2, Chen Difang3   

  1. 1. Northeast Petroleum University, Daqing, Heilongjiang 163318, China;
    2. Fengcheng Oil Block of Xinjiang Oil Company, PetroChina, Karamay, Xinjiang 834000, China;
    3. No.1 Oil Production Plant, Xinjiang Oil Company, PetroChina, Karamay, Xinjiang 834000, China
  • Received:2011-12-20 Revised:2012-11-30 Online:2012-12-28 Published:2013-01-10

Abstract:

Steam channeling is one of the main factors influencing production.Taking the high-dip angle area in the Qi-40 block of the well group 65 in Liaohe oilfield as an example,the steam injected into the reservoirs tends to channel upwards by density difference and causes production to decline,especially in reservoirs with high-dip angle.The numerical simulation analysis of oil saturation for the well group 17-028 shows that the remaining oil distributes mainly in down-dip bottom of the reservoirs.Based on the study we put forward three adjusting schemes:drilling new wells,reorganizing the well pattern and performing gravity drainage.Comparison of the operation index of these three schemes shows that gravity drainage through simply adjusting steam injection parameters is the most effective and the simplest scheme of all.By performing the technology,we could produce a uniform downward pressure gradient and push the steam to flow down.Through optimization of the technology,we could determine the reasonable parameters for steam injector.The prediction shows that the recovery-reserve ratio of the high-dip angle area in the Lotus Ⅱ reservoir can reach 7.4% when the dryness degree of the upper steam injector array is 30%,and the gas injection volume of the middle and lower steam injector arrays declines by 20% and 50% respectively.Field testing indicates that the technology is feasible in oilfield development since it can effectively slow down steam channeling and increase gas-oil ratio.

Key words: steam channeling, gravity drainage, steam flooding, oilfield development, Liaohe oilfield

CLC Number: