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Green River Formation Water Flood Demonstration Project

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Fluvial deltaic reservoirs contain a significant portion of the known world oil resources. Due to the sinuous nature of the sands, it is difficult to implement improved oil recovery projects in these reservoirs. The current project targeted three fluvial deltaic reservoirs in the Uinta Basin, Utah. Water flood has been in progress in the Monument Butte unit for the last six years and has been highly successful. In primary recovery, the reservoir performance of the Monument Butte unit was typical of an undersaturated reservoir whose initial pressure was close to the bubble point pressure. The Unit had produced about 5% of the oil in place at the end of primary production and was producing at a rate of 40 stb/day, when the water flood was initiated. The water flood design was novel and was engineered to maximize water injectivity into the reservoir. The response to the water flood was extraordinary and the unit has been producing at more than 300 stb/day for the past four years. About 10% of OOIP has been recovered to date. The reservoir characteristics of Monument Butte were established in the geologic characterization study. The reservoir fluid properties were measured in the engineering study of the unit. Results of a comprehensive reservoir simulation study using these characteristics provided excellent match with the field production data. Extended predictions using the model showed that it would be possible to recover a total of 20-25% of the oil in place. Wellbore temperature profile calculations showed that there is a strong possibility of paraffin (wax) deposition and injectivity reduction in the vicinity of the wellbore. The two wells drilled in the unit clearly illustrated the nature of the ongoing water flood. Well 10-34 behaved in a manner similar to a partially depleted well in primary production, while 9-34 responded as a well repressurized from the water flood. In the Travis unit, logs from the newly drilled 14a-28 showed extensively fractured zones. A new reservoir was discovered and developed on the basis of the information provided by the formation micro imaging logs. This reservoir also behaved in a manner similar to undersaturated reservoirs with" initial reservoir pressures close to the reservoir fluid bubble point. The water flood activity was enhanced in the Travis unit. Even though the reservoir continued to be gradually pressurized, the water flood in the Travis unit appeared to be significantly affected by existing or created fractures. A dual-porosity, dual permeability reservoir model provided a good match with the primary production history. The well drilled in the Boundary unit did not intersect any producible zones, once again illustrating the unique challenges to developing fluvial deltaic reservoirs. Technology transfer has been an extremely successful aspect of this project. Based on the results of the project, paper presentations have been made at technical meetings. Two large water floods have been initiated in the Uinta Basin based on the experience gained in this project and several others are being planned.

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Last Updated September 29, 2016, 14:47 (LMT)
Created September 29, 2016, 14:47 (LMT)
Citation Bill I. Pennington, John D. Lomax, Milind D. Deo, Dennis Neilson ---- Roy Long, Green River Formation Water Flood Demonstration Project, 2016-09-29, https://edx.netl.doe.gov/dataset/green-river-formation-water-flood-demonstration-project01
Netl Product yes
Poc Email Roy.long@netl.doe.gov
Point Of Contact Roy Long
Program Or Project KMD
Publication Date 1994-12-1