CO 2 and viscosity breaker assisted steam huff and puff technology for horizontal wells in a super-heavy oil reservoir

Abstract

Abstract In order to improve the recovery effect of steam huff and puff in a super-heavy oil reservoir, the displacement efficiency of CO 2 and viscosity breaker assisted steam flooding was studied through in-lab displacement experiments. The viscosity reduction mechanism of CO 2 and viscosity breaker assisted steam huff and puff for horizontal wells was realized by numerical simulation. The results show that the displacement efficiency of CO 2 and viscosity breaker assisted steam flooding (80.8%) is higher than that of steam flooding (65.4%). The CO 2 and viscosity breaker assisted steam huff and puff technology for horizontal wells realizes the rolling replacement of viscosity reduction of viscosity breaker, CO 2 and steam, thus effectively reducing the steam injection pressure, expanding the steam sweep area, i.e., expanding the viscosity reduction region and improving oil production rate. The viscosity region can be divided into four compound viscosity reduction areas according to temperature distribution and viscosity reduction mechanism. They are steam compound viscosity reduction region, hot water compound viscosity reduction region, low temperature water compound viscosity reduction region, and CO 2 -viscosity breaker compound viscosity reduction region. Field tests show that the CO 2 and viscosity breaker assisted steam huff and puff technology for horizontal wells is effective in reducing viscosity and improving production of super-heavy oil reservoirs with deep and thin layers, deep and heavy layers, shallow and thin layers.