Integrated Production Data Analysis and Water Injection Optimization in a Giant Carbonate Field

Abstract

In case of giant brown fields, a proper water injection management can result in a very complex process, due to the quality and quantity of data to be analysed. Main issue is the understanding of the injected water preferential paths, especially in carbonate environment characterized by strong vertical and areal heterogeneities (karst). A structured workflow is presented to analyze and integrate a massive data set, in order to understand and optimize the water injection scheme. An extensive Production Data Analysis (PDA) has been performed, based on the integration of available geological data (including NMR and Cased Hole Logs), production (allocated rates, Well Tests, PLT), pressure (SBHP, RFT, MDT, ESP) and salinity data. The applied workflow led to build a Fluid Path Conceptual Model (FPCM), an easy but powerful tool to visualize the complex dynamic connections between injectors-producers and aquifer influence areas. Several diagnostic plots were performed to support and validate the main outcomes. On this basis, proper actions were implemented to optimize the current water injection scheme. The workflow was applied on a carbonate giant brown field characterized by three different reservoir members, hydraulically communicating at original conditions, characterized by high vertical heterogeneity and permeability contrast. Moreover, dissolution phenomena, localized in the uppermost reservoir section, led to important permeability enhancement through a wide network of connected vugs, acting as water preferential communication pathways. The geological analysis played a key role to investigate the reservoir water flooding mechanism in dynamic conditions. The water rising mechanism was identified to be driven by the high permeability contrast, hence characterized by lateral independent movements in the different reservoir members. The integrated analysis identified room for optimization of the current water injection strategy. In particular, key factor was the analysis and optimization at block scale, intended as areal and vertical sub-units, as identified by the PDA and visualized through the FPCM. Actions were suggested, including injection rates optimization and the definition of new injections points. A detailed surveillance plan was finally implemented to monitor the effects of the proposed actions on the field performances, proving the robustness of the methodology. Eni workflow for water injection analysis and optimization was previously successfully tested only in sandstone reservoirs. This paper shows the robustness of the methodology also in carbonate environment, where water encroachment is strongly driven by karst network. The result is a clear understanding of the main dynamics in the reservoir, which allows to better tune any action aimed to optimize water injection and increase the value of mature assets.