A Strategy for Attacking Excess Water Production

Seright, R.S.; Lane, Robert H.; Sydansk, R.D.

doi:10.2118/84966-pa

Cited by 192 publications

(80 citation statements)

References 71 publications

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“…As of 2000, approximately USD 40 billion was spent annually to deal with the excessive water produced from oil and gas reservoirs (Bailey et al 2000;Seright et al 2003). As of 2000, approximately USD 40 billion was spent annually to deal with the excessive water produced from oil and gas reservoirs (Bailey et al 2000;Seright et al 2003).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This amount increased to 249 million B/D in 2005 (Khatib 2007). Chemical methods include silicate (Grattoni et al 2001;Nasr-El-Din and Taylor 2005;Elewaut et al 2006;Al-Dhafeeri et al 2008;Boye et al 2011), resins (Seright et al 2003), cements, and polymer gels (Seright et al 2003;Sydansk 2007;Lightford et al 2008;Al-Muntasheri et al 2010). Water is also responsible for most of the corrosion and scale problems in the oil field (Donham 1991;Nasr-El-Din 2003;Merdhah and Yassin 2009;Al-Tolaihy and Bukhari 2010).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Polymer Systems for Water Shutoff and Profile Modification: A Review Over the Last Decade

2013

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Unwanted water production is a serious issue in oil-and gas-producing wells. It causes corrosion, scale, and loss of productivity. One method of treating this problem is to chemically reduce unwanted water. This paper discusses the use of polymer systems for this purpose and presents a thorough review of available literature over the last decade. In this paper, field-application data for various polymer systems are summarized over the range of 40 to 150 C (104 to 302 F). These applications cover a wide range of permeabilities from 20 to 2,720 md in sandstone and carbonate reservoirs around the globe. Moreover, the review revealed that the last decade of developments can be categorized into two major types. The first type is polymer gels for total water shutoff in the near-wellbore region, in which a polymer is crosslinked with either an organic or an inorganic crosslinker. The second type is concerned with deep treatment of water-injection wells diverting fluids away from high-permeability zones (thief zones). These thief zones take most of the injected water, which results in a large amount of unrecovered oil. For the total-blocking gels, various systems were identified, such as polyurethane resins, chromium (Cr 3þ ) crosslinking terpolymers, Cr 3þ crosslinking foamed partially hydrolyzed polyacrylamide (PHPA), and nanoparticle polyelectrolyte complexes (PECs) sequestering Cr 3þ for elongation of its gelation time with PHPA. In addition, polyethylenimine (PEI) was identified to crosslink various polyacrylamide-(PAM-) based polymers. The Petróleos de Venezuela S.A. (PDVSA) Research and Development Center developed a PAM-based thermally stable polymer and an organic crosslinker. The system is applicable for a wide temperature range from 50 to 160 C (130 to 320 F).For the deep modification of water-injection profiles in waterinjection wells, two systems were identified: microspheres prepared from PAM monomers crosslinked with N,N 0 -methylenebisacrylamide and microspheres produced by crosslinking 2-acrylamido-2-methylpropane sulfonic acid (AMPS) with diacrylamides and methacrylamides of diamines (thermally activated microparticles known as Bright Water). This paper highlights all major developments in these areas. Important Factors for Successful CITsThe identification of the water source is a key factor for successful CITs. The characterization of water production can be performed

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Polymer Systems for Water Shutoff and Profile Modification: A Review Over the Last Decade

2013

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“…This paper is directed at a third scenario, in which fluids can crossflow between strata but fractures do not contribute significantly to channeling. Improving sweep efficiency for this case is generally acknowledged as considerably more challenging than doing so for the first two cases (Seright et al 2003).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Comparison of Polymer Flooding With In-Depth Profile Modification

Seright

Zhang

Akanni

et al. 2012

Journal of Canadian Petroleum Technology

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For stratified reservoirs with free crossflow and where fractures do not cause severe channeling, improved sweep is often needed after water breakthrough. For moderately viscous oils, polymer flooding is an option for this type of reservoir. However, in recent years, an in-depth profile-modification method has been commercialized in which a block is placed in the high-permeability zone(s). This sophisticated idea requires that (1) the blocking agent have a low viscosity (ideally a unit-mobility displacement) during placement, that (2) the rear of the blocking-agent bank in the high-permeability zone(s) outrun the front of the blockingagent bank in adjacent less-permeable zones, and that (3) an effective block to flow form at the appropriate location in the high-permeability zone(s). Achieving these objectives is challenging but has been accomplished in at least one field test. This paper investigates when this in-depth profile-modification process is a superior choice over conventional polymer flooding.Using simulation and analytical studies, we examined oilrecovery efficiency for the two processes as a function of (1) permeability contrast, (2) relative zone thickness, (3) oil viscosity, (4) polymer-solution viscosity, (5) polymer-or blocking-agent-bank size, and (6) relative costs for polymer vs. blocking agent. The results reveal that in-depth profile modification is most appropriate for high permeability contrasts (e.g., 10:1), high thickness ratios (e.g., less-permeable zones being 10 times thicker than high-permeability zones), and relatively low oil viscosities. Because of the high cost of the blocking agent relative to conventional polymers, economics favours small blocking-agent-bank sizes (e.g., 5% of the pore volume in the high-permeability layer). Even though short-term economics may favour in-depth profile modification, ultimate recovery may be considerably less than from a traditional polymer flood.

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“…They include mechanical and chemical means. Among the available chemical watercontrol techniques, polymer gels have been used widely for lowering water relative permeability while keeping oil relative permeability unaffected through disproportionate permeability reduction (Zaitoun and Kohler 1988;Liang et al 1995;Seright 2006) or for completely blocking water flow from water-producing zones (Seright et al 2003). For a given well candidate, several factors, including reservoir temperature, lithology, and salinity of the formation water, affect the selection of the required polymer-gel treatment.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Study of Polyacrylamide-Based Gels Crosslinked With Polyethyleneimine

et al. 2009

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Organically crosslinked gels have been used to control water production in high-temperature reservoirs. Most of these gels consist of a polyacrylamide-based polymer and an organic crosslinker. Polyethyleneimine (PEI) has been used as an organic crosslinker for polyacrylamide tertiary butyl acrylate (PAtBA) copolymer. Literature reported that PEI can also form ringing gels with polyacrylamide (PAM) copolymers in addition to simple PAM homopolymers.We report a comparative study of two water-control gel systems (i.e., PAtBA copolymer and PAM crosslinked with PEI). Several techniques were used in the present study, including gas chromatography (GC), carbon 13 nuclear-magnetic-resonance (C13 NMR) spectroscopy, and steady-shear viscometry. The gases produced during the reaction, structural changes, and gelationtime data were all integrated to provide further insights into differences between the two gelling systems.The evolution of isobutene gas was identified at temperatures as low as 60 C during the formation of PAtBA/PEI gels. In addition, GC studies revealed the release of carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) as a product of thermal decomposition of the tBA groups on PAtBA during PAtBA/PEI gelation.Lower initial pH values were found to delay the gelation time of the two systems. Salts were found to increase the gelation time. This paper summarizes these results and investigates the main reaction mechanisms involved. It also discusses how these new findings will affect the application of these gels in the field.

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A Strategy for Attacking Excess Water Production

Cited by 192 publications

References 71 publications

Polymer Systems for Water Shutoff and Profile Modification: A Review Over the Last Decade

Polymer Systems for Water Shutoff and Profile Modification: A Review Over the Last Decade

A Comparison of Polymer Flooding With In-Depth Profile Modification

A Study of Polyacrylamide-Based Gels Crosslinked With Polyethyleneimine

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