Experimental Study of the Dynamic Water–Gas Ratio of Water and Gas Flooding in Low-Permeability Reservoirs

Abstract

WAG flooding is a dynamic process of continuous reservoir flow field reconstruction. The unique advantages of WAG flooding cannot be utilized, due to the fixed water–gas ratio. Therefore, we must investigate the dynamic adjustment of the water–gas ratio for WAG flooding. Using nine cases of long-core displacement experiments in low-permeability reservoirs, the development effects of three different displacement methods, namely, continuous gas flooding, WAG flooding with a fixed water–gas ratio, and WAG flooding with a dynamic water–gas ratio, were investigated after elastic development, water flooding, and gas flooding. This study shows that for early elastic development in low-permeability reservoirs, WAG flooding can significantly improve oil recovery, but WAG flooding with a dynamic water–gas ratio is not conducive to the control of the water cut rise and gas channeling. As a result, it is more suitable to adopt WAG flooding with a fixed water–gas ratio. For early water flooding in low-permeability reservoirs, WAG flooding more clearly improves oil recovery and suppresses gas channeling, but WAG flooding with a dynamic water–gas ratio exhibits a higher oil recovery and thus is recommended. For early gas flooding in low-permeability reservoirs, whether the development effect of WAG flooding can improve oil recovery and inhibit gas channeling strongly depends on whether the water–gas ratio is adjusted. The development effect of WAG flooding with a dynamic water–gas ratio is significantly better than that with a fixed water–gas ratio. Therefore, WAG flooding with a dynamic water–gas ratio is recommended to achieve the best displacement effect. This research has important practical significance for further improving the development effect of WAG flooding in low-permeability reservoirs.