Laboratory Investigation of Permeability Impairment Caused by Asphaltene Precipitation during Screening for Gas-Injection Enhanced Oil Recovery and Pressure Change in a Major Gulf of Mexico Field

Abstract

Summary As part of studying miscible gas injection (GI) in a major field within the Green Canyon protraction area in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM), asphaltene-formation risk was identified as a key factor affecting a potential GI project. The industry has not conducted many experiments to quantify the effect of asphaltenes on reservoir and well performance under GI conditions. In this paper we discuss a novel laboratory test for evaluating the asphaltene effect on permeability. The goals of the study were to define the asphaltene-precipitation envelope using blends of reservoir fluid and injection gas, and measure permeability reduction caused by asphaltene precipitation in a core under GI. To properly analyze the effect of GI, a suite of fluid-characterization studies was conducted, including restored-oil samples, compositional analysis, constant composition expansion (CCE), and differential vaporization. Miscibility conditions were defined through slimtube-displacement tests. Gas solubility was determined through swelling tests complemented by asphaltene-onset-pressure (AOP) testing. The unique procedure was developed to estimate the effect of asphaltene deposition on core permeability. The 1-ft-long core was saturated with the live-oil and GI mixture at a pressure greater than the AOP, and then pressure was depleted to a pressure slightly greater than the bubblepoint. Several cycles of charging and depletion were conducted to mimic continuous flow of oil along the path of injected gas and thereby to observe the accumulation of asphaltene on the rock surface. The test results indicated that during this cyclic asphaltene-deposition process, the core permeability to the live mixture decreased in the first few cycles but appeared to stabilize after Cycle 5. The deposited asphaltenes were analyzed further through environmental scanning electron microscopy (ESEM), and their deposition was confirmed by mass balance before and after the tests. Finally, a relationship was established between permeability reduction and asphaltene precipitation. The results from the asphaltene-deposition experiment show that for the sample, fluids, and conditions used, permeability is impaired as asphaltene flocculates and begins to coat the grain surfaces. This impairment reaches a plateau at approximately 40% of the initial permeability. Distribution of asphaltene along the core was measured at the end by segmenting the core and conducting solvent extraction on each segment. Our recommendation is numerical modeling of these test results and using this model to forecast the magnitude of the permeability impairment in a reservoir setting during miscible GI.