CO2 Enhanced-Oil-Recovery Project Injects New Life Into Madison Reservoir in Wyoming

Abstract

This article, written by Editorial Manager Adam Wilson, contains highlights of paper SPE 152862, ’Beaver Creek Madison CO2 Enhanced-Oil-Recovery Project: Case History - Riverton, Wyoming,’ by Charles A. Peterson, SPE, Edward J. Pearson, SPE, and Veronica T. Chodur, SPE, Devon Energy, and Carlos Periera, M3 Petroleum Engineering, prepared for the 2012 SPE Improved Oil Recovery Symposium, Tulsa, 14-18 April. The paper has not been peer reviewed. The Madison reservoir, located in the Beaver Creek field, 14 miles south-southeast of Riverton, Wyoming, (Fig. 1) is found at an average depth of 11,235 ft, making it among the deepest CO2 enhanced-oil-recovery (EOR) projects in the United States. The Beaver Creek Madison project is the most recent CO2 EOR project in Wyoming. With a preproject oil production of 43 million bbl, this flood is projected to increase recovery by 11.1 million bbl, or 10% of the estimated 109 million bbl of original oil in place. Early CO2-flood response has been increased production from a preflood rate of 280 BOPD to the current rate of 5,100 BOPD. Introduction The Beaver Creek field produces from 12 different formations, ranging from the shallow Lower Tertiary Ft. Union formation at 1,150 ft to the Mississippian Madison formation at depths down to 11,664-ft true vertical depth. To date, the field has produced in excess of 80 million bbl of oil and 800 Bcf of gas. The Madison reservoir itself produced 44.6 million bbl of oil up through the beginning of the EOR flood. The Madison project, designed as a combination peripheral and gravity-stable CO2 EOR project, began construction in 2007, with initial CO2 injection in July 2008. Since then, production increased from 280 BOPD to more than 5,100 BOPD as of January 2012 and recovered an incremental oil volume in excess of 2.6 million bbl through the end of 2011. Field History and Madison Development The Beaver Creek field was discovered in June 1938 with the drilling of the Standolind (Amoco) Beaver Creek Unit (BCU) 1. The well is still active today, having produced more than 38 Bcf and still flowing at 176 Mcf/D. In January 1954, the Madison reservoir was discovered with the drilling of Standolind’s BCU 30 to a depth of 11,447 ft. The Madison oil-production rate peaked at 8,797 BOPD in November 1962 (Fig. 2). Production remained fairly stable until 1966, when the reservoir’s oil rate began declining while water production increased. Production eventually stabilized in 1999 and remained at approximately 280 BOPD until the beginning of the CO2-flood project. Through this period, the reservoir produced a total of 44.6 million bbl of oil, 12.8 Bcf of gas, and 282.5 million bbl of water.