State of the Art of Western Canadian Heavy Oil Water Flood Technology

Abstract

State of the Art of Western Canadian Heavy Oil Water Flood Technology K.A. Miller K.A. Miller Search for other works by this author on: This Site Google Scholar Paper presented at the Canadian International Petroleum Conference, Calgary, Alberta, June 2005. Paper Number: PETSOC-2005-251 https://doi.org/10.2118/2005-251 Published: June 07 2005 Cite View This Citation Add to Citation Manager Share Icon Share Twitter LinkedIn Get Permissions Search Site Citation Miller, K.A. "State of the Art of Western Canadian Heavy Oil Water Flood Technology." Paper presented at the Canadian International Petroleum Conference, Calgary, Alberta, June 2005. doi: https://doi.org/10.2118/2005-251 Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Reference Manager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex Search nav search search input Search input auto suggest search filter All ContentAll ProceedingsPetroleum Society of CanadaPETSOC Canadian International Petroleum Conference Search Advanced Search AbstractHeavy oil water floods have been operated in Saskatchewan and Alberta for up to 50 years, yet remarkably little discussion of the theory or operation of heavy oil water flooding has been published.Conventional water flood theory is based on assumptions that are not met in heavy oil reservoirs, and those theoretical and operational experiences should not be substituted.This discussion uses information from the relatively small number of significant theoretical and field discussions of Western Canadian heavy oil water flooding available in the public domain to establish the ‘state of the art,’ including proposed production mechanisms, prediction of performance, and improvement of performance.IntroductionThe initial challenge to this study was deciding which water flooded pools to include under the ‘heavy oil’ umbrella. An imprecise definition of heavy oil is use by both government agencies and water flood operators. Definitions are often based on API gravity (a value of 蠄 20 ° API is sometimes used), but often the driving criterion is geography. If a water flood is located in an area near heavy oil cold production, it is sometimes simply classified as heavy oil, and given to the heavy oil group to operate.Emphasis on an oil-gravity-based definition of heavy oil is convenient, but unfortunate, as it de-emphasizes oil viscosity even though viscosity has repeatedly been shown to be a controlling parameter in numerical simulation runs. Aversion to a viscosity-based-definition for heavy oil may be due to occasional problems obtaining consistent heavy oil viscosity measurement1,2, and to confusion about whether available viscosity values were collecting using dead oil, live oil, or something in between. Despite this general neglect of viscosity data when discussing heavy oil water floods, the most cited statement about heavy oil water floods is "You can't have a successful heavy oil water flood if the dead oil viscosity is greater than" a particular value. 1,000 to 2,000 cp dead oil viscosity range (at reservoir temperature) is often cited as ‘the limit,’ but no study establishing this guideline could be located.Conventional water flood theory is based on assumptions regarding mobility ratio or fractional flow values that do not apply to heavy oil reservoirs, and should not be used to make project decisions. Even if ‘heavy oil’ is shown in the title of a water flood article, be aware that some conventional oil water flood technical staff consider oil with viscosity in the range of 3 to 10 cp, (much lower than the hundreds to thousands of cp oil more typically water flooded in Western Canada) to be heavy oil.There is a historic connection between conventional and heavy oil water flooding, and therefore an explanation for prior theory transfer, as early Western Canadian projects were likely initiated by those familiar with conventional water flooding to ‘see what would happen.’ Enough good things happened at selected projects for them to be continually expanded, and to sustain economic performance for up to 50 years and counting. Keywords: modeling & simulation, producer, production rate, heavy oil water flood, injection, viscosity, water flooding, water flood performance, water injection, water flood Subjects: Improved and Enhanced Recovery, Waterflooding This content is only available via PDF. 2005. Petroleum Society of Canada You can access this article if you purchase or spend a download.