Scaling Immiscible Displacements in Porous Media with Horizontal Wells

Abstract

Despite the increase in horizontal well applications, scaling fluid displacement in porous medium with horizontal wells is yet to be fully investigated. Determining the conditions under which horizontal wells may lead to better oil recovery is of great importance to the petroleum industry. In this paper, a numerical sensitivity study was performed for several well configurations. The study is performed in order to reveal the functional relationships between the scaling groups governing the displacement and the performance of immiscible displacements in homogeneous reservoirs produced by horizontal wells. These relationships can be used as a quick prediction tool for the fractional oil recovery for any combinations of the scaling groups, thus eliminating the need for the expensive fine-mesh simulations. In addition, they provide the condition under which a horizontal well configuration may yield better recovery performance. These results have potential applications in modeling immiscible displacements and in the scaling of laboratory displacements to field conditions.