A Production Performance Model of the Cyclic Steam Stimulation Process in Multilayer Heavy Oil Reservoirs

Tingen Fan, Wenjiang Xu, Wei Zheng, Weidong Jiang, Xiuchao Jiang, Taichao Wang and Xiaohu Dong
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Tingen Fan: State Key Laboratory of Offshore Oil Exploitation, Beijing 100028, China
Wenjiang Xu: China National Offshore Oil Corporation, Beijing 100010, China
Wei Zheng: State Key Laboratory of Offshore Oil Exploitation, Beijing 100028, China
Weidong Jiang: China National Offshore Oil Corporation, Beijing 100010, China
Xiuchao Jiang: State Key Laboratory of Petroleum Resources and Prospecting, China University of Petroleum (Beijing), Beijing 102249, China
Taichao Wang: State Key Laboratory of Offshore Oil Exploitation, Beijing 100028, China
Xiaohu Dong: State Key Laboratory of Petroleum Resources and Prospecting, China University of Petroleum (Beijing), Beijing 102249, China

Energies, 2022, vol. 15, issue 5, 1-21

Abstract: Cyclic steam stimulation (CSS) is a typical enhanced oil recovery method for heavy oil reservoirs. In this paper, a new model for the productivity of a CSS well in multilayer heavy oil reservoirs is proposed. First, for the steam volume of each formation layer, it is proposed that the total steam injection volume will be split by the formation factor ( Kh ) for the commingled steam injection mode. Then, based on the equivalent flow resistance principle, the productivity model can be derived. In this model, the heavy oil reservoir is composed of a cold zone, a hot water zone, and a steam zone. Next, using the energy conservation law, the equivalent heating radius can be calculated with the consideration of the steam overlay. Simultaneously, a correlation between the threshold pressure gradient (TPG) and oil mobility is also applied for the productivity formula in the cold zone and the hot water zone. Afterward, this model is validated by comparing the simulation results with the results of an actual CNOOC CSS well. A good agreement is observed, and the relative error of the cumulative oil production is about 2.20%. The sensitivity analysis results indicate that the effect of the bottom hole pressure is the most significant, followed by the TPG, and the effect of the steam overlay is relatively slight. The formation factor can affect the splitting of the steam volume in each layer; thus, the oil production rate will be impacted. The proposed mathematical model in this paper provides an effective method for the prediction of preliminary productivity of a CSS well in a multilayer heavy oil reservoir.

Keywords: heavy oil reservoir; productivity; cyclic steam stimulation; steam overlay; threshold pressure gradient (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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