Water Induced Compaction in the Ekofisk Field

Abstract

Abstract Over 7.8 meters of seafloor subsidence has occurred at the Ekofisk Field in the Norwegian sector of the North Sea since the start of production in 1971. Full field water injection was initiated at Ekofisk on a limited scale in 1987. The surface subsidence is a result of reservoir compaction, which is considered primarily to be due to pressure depletion until the early 1990's and water weakening thereafter. Rock compressibility was input as a function of initial porosity and increasing net effective stress (i.e. declining reservoir pressure) in earlier Ekofisk studies. In 1994, under a voidage balancing reservoir management program, water injection was increased sufficiently to stabilize reservoir pressure. However, no reduction in surface subsidence rate was seen. This, in combination with other field and lab observations, led to the conclusion that water was weakening the reservoir chalk and necessitated revising the rock compressibility functions at Ekofisk to include the effect of additional compaction due to the water weakening. The development and implementation of the water induced compaction functions at Ekofisk is presented in this paper. Rock compressibility is now input into the model as a function of initial porosity, net effective stress, and water saturation. As water saturation increases in a model cell due to water injection or water influx, the model cell transitions to a weaker stress-strain curve. The effect of increasing water saturation, and the resulting water weakening of the chalk, is that compaction and subsidence may continue in spite of stable or increasing reservoir pressure. Both laboratory and field data are presented which support the use of the water weakening functions. The development and calibration of these curves is presented, which includes the effects of fracturing, creep, water dispersion effects, hysteresis logic, and strain hardening. A comparison of the calculated and measured compaction and subsidence bowls is also presented.