Influence of the Clay Content and Type of Algerian Sandstone Rock Samples on Water–Oil Relative Permeabilities

Abstract

The objective of this work is to study the effect of certain factors on oil–water relative permeability curves following a considerable drop in the production of certain oil wells at the Hassi Messaoud field in southern Algeria. In the present study, oil–water relative permeability experiments and irreducible water (Swᵢ) and residual oil (Sₒᵣ) saturations have been investigated. The effect of the clay particle content in the samples (such as illite and kaolinite) on oil recovery is investigated. Indeed, other factors, such as injected pressure, wettability alteration, and petrophysical properties, of the reservoir rock interact with each other and, particularly, in the presence of injected Albian water. Results of the waterflooding experiments show that oil recovery (IOP) increases with increasing clay content, namely, kaolinite and illite type; this IOP is clearly higher for plugs containing more kaolinite than illite. The tested samples have water-wetting behavior, showing a decrease in Sₒᵣ and an increase in Swᵢ, and are characterized by a strong presence of clays, 70% kaolinite and 30% illite, with a breakthrough from about 40 to 50%.