A treatment protocol for controlling gas oil ratio in heterogeneous carbonate reservoirs by foam injection: Case study simulation

Abstract

In this study, foam is selected to treat production wells of heterogeneous reservoirs that are suffering from high amounts of gas oil ratio (GOR). To this end, a numerical study is carried out by injecting foam through the perforations that produce high amounts of gas to block the gas path and allow much more oil to be simultaneously produced from the remaining perforations by applying a new technology in well completion. For this purpose, three heterogeneous synthetic base sectors are simulated in which large amounts of injected gas are produced from the upper, middle and lower perforations of the producing well, known as gas overriding, gas channeling-midriding and gas channeling-underriding, respectively. Since Kv/Kh is an important, decisive and effective parameter, different values of it have been considered for each of three base sector models including 0.001, 0.01, 0.1, 0.3, 0.5, 0.7, 0.9 and 1.0. Then, depending on the magnitude of Kv/Kh, the most optimal treatment method is sensitivity analyzed. In the following, foam injection parameters, e.g. surfactant concentration, depth of packer set, foam injection sequence and foam injection rate are sensitivity analyzed. Also, the phenomenon of gas cross-flow during the treatment process is investigated. The simulation results show that if after some time following well treatment, the GOR level increased, it is suggested to take a production test to determine what length of the production well below the packer produces lots of gas to set the packer at the lower depth and inject a larger volume of foam to block that gas path so that the GOR is reduced. The results also conclude that the magnitude of Kv/Kh on one hand and the location of gas entry to the production well on the other hand play a key role in the selection of the best treatment scenario in heterogeneous reservoirs. This has led to presenting a protocol for treatment of high GOR production wells in a wide range of reservoirs based on anisotropy ratios. Finally, in order to validate the protocol, a real specific sector of a heterogeneous carbonate reservoir located in the Middle East, in which the GOR level has increased, is simulated and treated. The results indicate that the protocol is efficient and causes a reduction in GOR by 60%. • A comprehensive treatment protocol for high GOR production wells is presented. • The effect of different anisotropy ratios is investigated. • A new method of foam injection/oil production is used at the simulation scale.