Integrated Water Injection System Capacity Optimization through Cluster Looping

Abstract

This paper describes an efficient approach to evaluate the water supply-to-injection cluster facilities capacity and also to define the required upgrades and areas of optimization.The supergiant filed understudy is located in Abu Dhabi and is producing for decades from multilayered carbonate reservoirs. The field is under peripheral water injection to maintain reservoir pressure and also to enhance the oil recovery.Total of 53 water injection clusters have been commissioned in the field to support water injection operation for reservoir management purpose. The water clusters consists of producing wells from water bearing formations and multiple injection wells completed in different reservoirs. Frequent down time in the water supply wells and existing bottle necks in the water supply to injection system has led Abu Dhabi Company for Onshore Operation to evaluate the clusters looping option to enhance the water injection capacity of the field and optimal re-distribution of the water through the clusters.By this strategy, the high capacity water supply wells will be able to feed the candidate clusters required extra water or the clusters with the closed water supply well under maintenance.To achieve this strategy, a fully integrated water supply to water injection system was built using a commercial fluid flow simulator. The integrated model consists of water supply well equipped with ESP, water injection facilities network with surface pumps, strainers and choke manifolds as well as injection wells. The system was validated against most reliable measured data at a snap shot of time.The full integrated water supply to injection model was used to evaluate the opportunities to loop the high capacity clusters to high demanding clusters, identify the bottlenecks in the system and also to determine the various options in the clusters facilities to enhance the water injection capacity of the field.