Huff-N-Puff Gas Injection Pilot Projects in the Eagle Ford

摘要

The Eagle Ford formation has been an overwhelming success producing around 2 billion barrels of oil over the last seven years, yet its potential may be even greater. The projected recovery factor is only 5-10%, and using improved oil recovery(IOR)methods to increase recovery could result in billions of additional barrels of production. Significant research is required to access this oil, and while a number of companies have field tested an IOR method called huff-n-puff gas injection, most of the published results are from lab and modeling studies. This paper evaluates the results from these field tests and discusses the successes and opportunities. The huff-n-puff process involves injecting a miscible gas into a well, and then after some amount of time, producing back from that same well. The first part of this paper evaluates the publically available data from the Texas Railroad Commission and other sources for these pilots. Analytical techniques are used to predict the amount of additional recovery and the pattern efficiency from this data. This is compared to pre-injection forecasts. All cases show increased production rates with injection, and in one pattern where the data was easiest to interpret, the incremental production has doubled since the huff-n-puff project started. This paper also proposes methodologies for implementing second generation pilots for unconventional reservoirs. It is important to define clear objectives that characterize the value of the pilots. The significance of developing optimum drilling and completion strategies for primary and IOR success is also highlighted. Long term information collecting strategies are proposed along with methods to optimize the projects during the pilot, and contingency plans to deal with difficulties that may arise. Finally, we discuss how the location and infrastructure needs of a pilot are paramount to its success. Using IOR to increase recovery from unconventional oil fields is important for the continued success of plays like the Eagle Ford. Pilot tests are an integral part of developing the best IOR techniques, and this paper provides a thorough analysis of implementing IOR pilots in the Eagle Ford. It also shows how and where it has been applied successfully and discusses ideas to further improve the likelihood of success in the future.