Water/oil cresting in horizontal wells, a sensitivity study

摘要

This work presents a rigorous sensitivity analysis on cresting using a physical model, to investigate the effects of varying oil viscosity, inclined section and lateral insertion lengths of a horizontal well. This was investigated in both thick- and thin-oil rim homogeneous reservoirs faced with strong bottom aquifer and considerable gas cap. From the results, it was observed that the geometry of the horizontal well and location of the bottom water injection points significantly influence the cumulative liquid produced, particularly in thin-oil rim reservoirs. The cumulative water produced and cumulative water cut were found to increase with an increase in oil viscosity. The oil recovered from the thin-oil rim reservoir, was as high as 17.84% and 24.92% for oil viscosity of 50 cP and 100 cP respectively, whereas water cuts of 19.15% and 13.93% were observed for cumulative water produced in thick-oil rim reservoir at 50 cP and 100 cP, respectively.