PETE 623 Waterflooding

(Fall 2008)

Section 2 Introduction to waterflooding

PETE 623 Waterflooding

Section 2 Introduction to waterflooding

D D Mamora (2008)

Introduction to waterflooding
2.1

Rationale for waterflooding

2.2

The total system

2.3

Principles of waterflood design and

management

2.4

Typical stages in oil production

2.5

Some industry milestones

PETE 623 Waterflooding

Section 2 Introduction to waterflooding

D D Mamora (2008)

2.1

Rationale for waterflooding

Waterflooding is a method to recover additional oil

above primary means, by displacing oil with injected
water and maintaining (or increasing) reservoir
pressure. Physics of the process are as follows.
(1)

Through the use of well patterns, the injected

water improves sweep and displacement
efficiency, thus increasing oil recovery factor.

(2)

Reservoir pressure maintenance prevents

further liberation of solution gas, reducing
gas-oil mobility ratio and increasing oil
production rate.

(3)

Pressure maintenance helps to sustain oil

production rate at increasing watercut.

PETE 623 Waterflooding

Section 2 Introduction to waterflooding

D D Mamora (2008)

2.2 The total system

As with all oil production methods, we need to
consider the whole reservoir-well-surface facilities
system. For a successful waterflood, we have to
optimize performance of the total system.
The total system may be divided into three main
components as follows.
(1) Water injection system
(2) Production system
(3) Pattern (reservoir)
The total waterflood system is schematically shown
in Fig. 1.
PETE 623 Waterflooding

Section 2 Introduction to waterflooding

D D Mamora (2008)

Water treatment,
pump

iw

Water
supply

Production
separator
qo
qw

1. Injection system

2. Production system

Focus of this course

3. Reservoir

Fig. 1- Schematic diagram showing the three main

components of a waterflood system.
PETE 623 Waterflooding

Section 2 Introduction to waterflooding

D D Mamora (2008)

How are the system components related to

one another?
From material balance, for pressure maintenance:

i w B w = q o Bo + q w B w
where:
iw
qo
qw
Bo
Bw

=
=
=
=
=

(2.1)

water injection rate, STB/D

oil production rate, STB/D
water production rate, STB/D
oil FVF, RB/STB
water FVF, RB/STB

Thus, in Fig. 1, iw is directly related to qo.

PETE 623 Waterflooding

Section 2 Introduction to waterflooding

D D Mamora (2008)

What do we mean by optimize performance

of the total system?
Select and operate system components to give
maximum net present value (NPV) of the total
waterflood project.
How to maximize NPV of waterflood projects?
Like any project, NPV of a waterflood may be
maximized by one of the following.
(1)

Maximize revenue

(2)

Minimize cost

PETE 623 Waterflooding

Section 2 Introduction to waterflooding

D D Mamora (2008)

(1) How to maximize revenue?

Maximize revenue by one of the following.
(a) Maximize production rate qo by
(b) Maximize injection rate iw ,
(c) Increase reservoir areal sweep efficiency,
(d) Maximize separator oil yield.
(2) How to minimize cost?
Minimize pump injection pressure by minimizing
pressure losses in total system. See next figure.
How to optimize project performance?
Run cashflow analysis for several scenarios of the
total system. Select scenario with largest NPV.
PETE 623 Waterflooding

Section 2 Introduction to waterflooding

D D Mamora (2008)

Pressure drop in the total reservoir-wellsurface system (Economides and Nolte).

PETE 623 Waterflooding

Section 2 Introduction to waterflooding

D D Mamora (2008)

2.3 Principles of waterflood design and

management
Typical waterflood designs need to be updated or
fine-tuned, because of unavoidable geological and
petrophysical uncertainties in the reservoir model.
Thus, injection and production performance need to
be monitored and analyzed routinely, leading to
possible updating of model.
For a successful waterflood, it is essential to
properly analyze each stage of a waterflood project:
(1)

prior to start of project (design) and

(2)

after start of project (termed surveillance,

monitoring, or management)

PETE 623 Waterflooding

Section 2 Introduction to waterflooding

D D Mamora (2008)

10

2.4 Typical stages in oil production

Traditionally, the main stages of oil production are
as follows.
(1)

Primary recovery

(2)

Secondary recovery

(3)

Tertiary recovery or enhanced oil recovery

(EOR)

A secondary or EOR process may be implemented if

the oil gain is sufficient for an economically feasible
project. Processes and incremental oil recovery for
each stage are described in the following
illustrations.
PETE 623 Waterflooding

Section 2 Introduction to waterflooding

D D Mamora (2008)

11

(1)

Primary recovery

Primary recovery
Refers to production using energy
inherent in reservoir from gas under
pressure or a natural water drive.
12-15% OIIP

U.S. Dept. of Energy

PETE 623 Waterflooding

Section 2 Introduction to waterflooding

D D Mamora (2008)

12

(2) Secondary recovery

Secondary recovery

Usually refers to
waterflooding,
which used to
be termed an
EOR method.

Additional 15-20
% OIIP

U.S. Dept. of Energy

PETE 623 Waterflooding

Section 2 Introduction to waterflooding

D D Mamora (2008)

13

(3) Enhanced oil recovery

Enhanced oil recovery

Term applied to methods that

recover oil beyond that
recoverable by primary and
secondary means.

Additional 4-11 % OIIP

Synonymous with the term,

tertiary recovery

U.S. Dept. of Energy

PETE 623 Waterflooding

Section 2 Introduction to waterflooding

D D Mamora (2008)

14

The three stages in oil production

U.S. Dept. of Energy

PETE 623 Waterflooding

Section 2 Introduction to waterflooding

D D Mamora (2008)

15

The terms, primary, secondary, and tertiary may be

confusing as illustrated below:
(1) Water injection in the North Sea is often
implemented from the start. So, is waterflooding
a secondary or primary process?
(2) Cyclic steam injection is often applied from
the start for heavy oil reservoirs. Is cyclic steam
injection a tertiary process?
To avoid this confusion, Improved Oil Recovery
or IOR is a better term. It refers to improved oil
recovery methods in whatever form. It includes
the use of horizontal wells, ESP, fracturing, etc.
Waterflooding is therefore an IOR method.
PETE 623 Waterflooding

Section 2 Introduction to waterflooding

D D Mamora (2008)

16

2.5

Some industry milestones

1859

First commercial oil well (Drake, PA)

1890

First gas injection, Venango county, PA

1907

Accidental dumpflood, Bradford field, PA

1911

First air injection, Ohio

1920

First water injection, Allegany field, NY

1924

First 5-spot pattern, Bradford field, PA

1954

Waterflooding becomes widespread

1959

First polymer flooding, Niagara field, KY

1960

First caustic flooding, Harrisburg field, NE

1960

First carbonated waterflood, Bartlesville

field, OK

PETE 623 Waterflooding

Section 2 Introduction to waterflooding

D D Mamora (2008)

17