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How Does Gas Injection Work?

Typically, a well will produce at its highest production rate at the beginning of the production
cycle; and then production will wane. In an effort to increase production from both oil and natural
gas wells, secondary production methods are employed. A type of Enhanced Oil Recovery
(EOR), secondary production includes water flooding and gas injection.

Secondary Production: Gas Injection


Secondary production methods are employed to increase production by boosting depleted
pressure in a formation. As the oil or natural gas in a formation is produced, the hydrocarbons
remaining in the reservoir may become trapped because the pressure in the formation has
lessened, making production either slow dramatically or stop altogether.

Gas Injection & Production WellSource: www.libyaninvestment.com

A form of secondary production, gas injection is used on a well to enhance waning pressure
within the formation. Systematically spread throughout the field, gas-injection wells are used to
inject gas and effectively sweep the formation for remaining petroleum, boosting production.
Somewhat similar to water injection, or water flooding, gas injection is a pressure maintenance
program that can be employed on a reservoir at the start of the production process or
introduced after production has already started to lessen. Here, gas is injected into the gas cap
of the formation, whereas in water injection, the water is injected directly into the production
zone.

Cycling in a Natural Gas Reservoir

Sometimes known as cycling, gas injection can entail re-injection of produced natural gas. In
this instance, as the pressure drops in a natural gas field, the condensate separates from the
dry gas in the reservoir. The condensate liquids block the pores within the reservoir, making
extraction practically impossible.
Cycling is used to prevent the condensate from separating from the natural gas in the reservoir.
In this process, the natural gas liquids (condensate) are stripped from the gas on the surface
after it has been produced from the reservoir, and the dry gas is then re-injected into the
reservoir through injection wells. Again, this helps to maintain pressure in the reservoir while
also preventing the separation within the hydrocarbon.

Natural Gas Disposal Solution


Additionally, gas injection can serve as an economical way to dispose of uneconomical gas
production on an oil reservoir. While in the past, low levels of natural gas that were produced
from oil fields were flared or burned off, that practice is discouraged in some countries and
against the law in others.

Flaring

Now, the low levels of natural gas that are produced from prolific oil fields are re-injected into the
formation as form of disposal, as well as pressure maintenance. Here, produced wet gas from
oil fields are stripped of their natural gas liquids, compressed and pumped into an injection well.
If the oil field is highly saturated, the natural gas is injected in the free gas cap; but if the oil field
is under-saturated, the gas is injected directly into the oil reservoir.

Gas Injection, Gas Lift & Gas Miscible Process


Although the terms are sometimes interchanged, gas injection and gas lift are two separate
processes that are used to increase production. While gas injection is a secondary production
method, gas lift is a type of artificial lift.
Artificial lift is another way to increase production from a well by increasing pressure within the
reservoir. The main types of artificial lift include gas lift and pumping systems, such as beam
pumps, hydraulic pumps and electric submersible pumps.

While gas injection is achieved by injecting gas through its own injection well, gas lift occurs
through the production wells. In gas lift, compressed gas is injected down the casing tubing
annulus of a production well, entering the well at numerous entry points called gas-lift valves. As
the gas enters the tubing at these different stages, it forms bubbles, lightens the fluids and
lowers the pressure, thus increasing the production rate of the well.
Furthermore, a type of EOR employed on a well in the tertiary production process, a gas
miscible process can be used to increase production. The difference in this recovery method is
that the gases introduced into the reservoir are not naturally occurring. In a gas miscible
process, carbon dioxide, nitrogen and LPG are injected into the reservoir.

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