Evaluation of Volumetric Conformance for Fenn-Big Valley Horizontal Hydrocarbon Miscible Flood

Abstract

ABSTRACT Many experimental and mathematical studies of volumetric conformance in a miscible flood have been presented in the literature. However, little attention has been paid so far to the field evaluation of volumetric conformance. In the Fenn-Big Valley hydrocarbon tertiary flood, several techniques and a simulation study have been used to evaluate volumetric conformance. Nine water and gas tracers were injected early in the life of the tertiary flood to trace the movement of both injected water and solvent. The results of the tracer tests along with Bi-weekly compositional analyses of produced fluids and field measurement of viscosity provided valuable information. A reservoir simulation study served as a tool to describe the interaction of the miscible flood process and the reservoir geology. The historical performance of the primary natural water drive and the first five years of solvent injection were reproduced with a fair degree of accuracy by a simulation model of one pattern element within the project area. The miscible flood description which resulted in the best fit of the observed pattern flood performance depicts a displacement that is characterized by modest viscous instabilities and gravity override.