Excess water production is a major concern for Russian oil companies. Maturing fields are producing at ever-increasing water cut resulting in problems such as the cost of disposal and environmental issues. In recent years, operators have shown a rising interest in Relative Permeability Modifiers (RPMs) as a potential solution to reduce water production. RPMs are designed to disproportionately reduce the relative permeability to one phase (water) over the oil phase. RPMs are a preventive approach to reduce water production. Ideally, they should completely block water flow without affecting oil flow. While RPMs are used worldwide, they must be adjusted to the reservoir conditions. This becomes even more important in the case of hydraulic fracturing of formations with nearby water-saturated layers. Commonly, service companies recommend one type of RPM which fits all reservoirs. This paper demonstrates how RPM selection on reservoir cores is critical for successful application in the field. We describe laboratory testing and review field trial results of RPMs in a low permeability (2 to 14 mD), highly laminated formation. Because RPMs are typically used only in high-permeability reservoirs, this application is unique. We evaluated chemically different RPMs on actual core material and found strong performance variations of the tested RPMs. We selected a suitable RPM following both core flow testing and compatibility testing. For the field test, wells in the Krasnoleninskoe oilfield were selected for RPM treatments. Oil production was increased in most cases while the water cut was reduced or only slightly increased by up to 5% during 6 months following the treatment. These results show that with proper evaluation, RPMs can also be successfully used in low-permeability reservoirs. We demonstrated also that otherwise proven successful RPMs may not fit every reservoir and proper evaluation and monitoring is critical for success.
Scale formation and accumulation is a major concern for Russian production companies. In Western Siberia, most wells produce fluids via Electric Submersible Pumps (ESP), and it is believed that up to 30% of the ESP failures result from scale damage. Despite that scaling is commonly first recognized at the ESPs, it can ultimately affect the whole production system. The most efficient treatment strategy to prevent scale induced damage in the tubular, including ESP, is scale inhibition. Traditionally, this involves an inhibitor squeeze treatment which is a localized inhibitor placement covering the near-wellbore area or the continuous injection of the inhibitor via a capillary tube. However, these techniques are designed to protect the production system. Squeeze treatments in hydraulically fractured formations are not always effective. Scale inhibitors together with compatible borate fracturing fluids can be used for a more effective scale inhibitor placement throughout the created hydraulic fracture to prevent scale formation from the reservoir level to the production system. This technique combines hydraulic fracturing and scale inhibition into one treatment resulting in operational simplicity. Since 2008, the combined fracturing/scale treatments have been successfully applied in the Krasnoleninskoe oil field in Western Siberia. This paper outlines the learning procedure and presents designs, testing and monitoring results from the campaign conducted at Krasnoleninskoe oil field (including Talinskaya and Em-Egovskaya sections).
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