Impact of Oil-Water Relative Permeability Curves on SAGD Behaviour

Abstract

Impact of Oil-Water Relative Permeability Curves on SAGD Behaviour Qiaohui Lei; Qiaohui Lei Gushor Inc., Calgary, Alberta and Department of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering, Schulich School of Engineering, University of Calgary Search for other works by this author on: This Site Google Scholar Jacky Wang; Jacky Wang Gushor Inc., Calgary, Alberta and Department of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering, Schulich School of Engineering, University of Calgary Search for other works by this author on: This Site Google Scholar Ian D. Gates Ian D. Gates Gushor Inc., Calgary, Alberta and Department of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering, Schulich School of Engineering, University of Calgary Search for other works by this author on: This Site Google Scholar Paper presented at the International Oil and Gas Conference and Exhibition in China, Beijing, China, June 2010. Paper Number: SPE-132185-MS https://doi.org/10.2118/132185-MS Published: June 08 2010 Cite View This Citation Add to Citation Manager Share Icon Share Twitter LinkedIn Get Permissions Search Site Citation Lei, Qiaohui , Wang, Jacky , and Ian D. Gates. "Impact of Oil-Water Relative Permeability Curves on SAGD Behaviour." Paper presented at the International Oil and Gas Conference and Exhibition in China, Beijing, China, June 2010. doi: https://doi.org/10.2118/132185-MS Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Reference Manager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex Search Dropdown Menu nav search search input Search input auto suggest search filter All ContentAll ProceedingsSociety of Petroleum Engineers (SPE)SPE International Oil and Gas Conference and Exhibition in China Search Advanced Search Abstract Today, heavy oil and oil sands are starting to play a more important role. To manage and develop these resources, especially for thermal recovery processes, numerical modeling is often used to design the operating and well placement strategies. Relative permeability curves are one of the most important parameters for modelling these systems. This is especially important in systems where the saturation of each phase changes over a wide range as is the case in steam-based recovery processes such as Steam-Assisted Gravity Drainage (SAGD). Initially, before SAGD, the pore space of the oil sands reservoir is mainly occupied by bitumen with oil saturation typically between 80 and 90%. After steam is injected into the reservoir, the oil is heated and mobilized and drains under gravity and is replaced by first steam condensate and then, as the chamber propagates further into the reservoir, steam and solution gas. This means that the reservoir undergoes a series of large changes in phase saturations as the recovery process evolves in the reservoir. Thus, the interactions of the phases and their flow characteristics, that is, the relative permeability curves, are an essential component of the physics of SAGD. However, for modelling SAGD, due to limited relative permeability curve data, it is often adopted from analogs or previously history-matched curves. Given the heterogeneity of oil sands reservoirs, careless adoption of relative permeability curves will lead to serious risk of unexpected performance. The objective of this study is to investigate the impact of the endpoints of the oil-water relative permeability curves on SAGD performance by using numerical reservoir simulation. The results reveal that SAGD performance is sensitive to the values of the endpoints of the oil-water relative permeability curves. Given the range of variability of the results, it is recommended that relative permeability uncertainty analysis is always done during the simulation assessment of a targeted oil sands resource. Also, it is recommended that curves are obtained from multiple core samples of the target reservoir to reduce uncertainty and to assess the degree of heterogeneity of the endpoints. Keywords: saturation, endpoint, oil sand reservoir, operation, recovery factor, oil saturation, case 1, relative permeability curve, coefficient, reservoir simulation Subjects: Reservoir Fluid Dynamics, Improved and Enhanced Recovery, Reservoir Simulation, Flow in porous media Copyright 2010, Society of Petroleum Engineers You can access this article if you purchase or spend a download.