SPE 59692

Improving Economics of Production in Heterogeneous Reservoirs by Redirecting

Water Injection Patterns
Rajan K. Prasad and Larry W. Lake, SPE, The University of Texas at Austin, James W. Jennings, SPE, and F.Jerry Lucia,
The Bureau of Economic Geology

Copyright 2000, Society of Petroleum Engineers Inc.

This paper was prepared for presentation at the 2000 SPE Permian Basin Oil and Gas
Recovery Conference held in Midland, Texas, 2123 March 2000.
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Abstract
Heterogeneous reservoirs undergoing waterflooding contain
low- permeability zones in which oil in the low-permeability
zones is bypassed by water. Profitability of producing from
heterogeneous reservoirs can be poor because of premature
water-breakthrough through high-permeability layers.
It
seems possible to improve the profitability of producing from
heterogeneous reservoirs by diverting the injected water from
preferentially flowing through high to low-permeability zones.
The profitability improves because of a small increase in
ultimate oil recovery and/or a large reduction in cumulative
water production. The objective of this study is to investigate
the applicability of the technology, referred to as indirect
waterflooding, in different types of heterogeneous reservoirs.
We performed numerical simulations of waterfloods
on a generic five-spot pattern for three different reservoir
cases. The reservoirs had properties typical of a San Andres
Formation. The first case, with vertical-heterogeneity, showed
that ultimate oil recovery might be improved by up to 13%
OOIP with indirect waterflooding. The second case, with
areal-heterogeneity and a low kv /kh , showed that water
production might be reduced by as much as 27%. The third
case, with areal heterogeneity and a zero kv /kh , showed that
water production might be reduced by 31%. Actual recoveries
are sensitive to reservoir properties, especially in the
magnitude of the vertical permeability.
Introduction
Most reservoirs consist of rocks with a broad spectrum of
permeabilities. However, to explain the proposed technology

(indirect waterflooding), we imagine two types of rock, a

high-permeability zone, through which fluid flows readily, and
a low-permeability zone. The low-permeability zone may
have slightly smaller initial oil saturation than the highpermeability zone, but both zones are initially oil saturated.
Previously drilled vertical wells penetrate both zones.
Historically, oil recoveries during primary recovery
are typically less than 10%. This percentage is reasonable
given that the primary production mechanism in San Andres
reservoirs is mainly by solution gas drive. In fact, one can
make the case that the primary recovery, as low as it is, is
greater than it should be, because of reservoir heterogeneity.
Figure 1 illustrates a possible reason for this.
During primary production, oil drains directly to
producing wells; however, a substantial amount of oil drains
from the low-permeability zone to the high-permeability zone
(and is thereby produced) because of the different rates of
pressure declines in the two zones. We will call this indirect
depletion.
Even if the pressure difference between the low and
high-permeability zones is small, the indirect depletion
(crossflow) can be substantial because the contact area
between the two zones is large. In fact, the existence of this
large contact area, in contrast to the normally very small
contact area between the low-permeability zone and the wells
penetrating it, means that the indirect depletion can be larger
than the direct depletion into the wells from the lowpermeability zone.
During water injection in secondary recovery, the
high-permeability zone accepts most of the flow (Fig. 2.).
Numerical simulations (Fogg et al., 1991; Jennings et al.,
1998; Mishra, 1993) have shown that, despite the generally
mixed-wet character of many San Andres Formations, water
entering the high-permeability zone displaces oil with
reasonable efficiency. However, so little water enters the lowpermeability zone that the displacement there, while having a
similar efficiency as in the high-permeability zone on a unit
water injected basis, contributes little to oil recovery. Even
more important for indirect waterflooding, the water injection
in the high-permeability media increases the pressure there
and defeats the indirect drainage that contributed to primary
production (Fig. 1.).
Thus, ultimate oil recoveries in

RAJAN K. PRASAD, LARRY W. LAKE, JAMES W. JENNINGS, F. JERRY LUCIA

heterogeneous reservoirs by conventional waterflooding are

lower than one would expect from knowledge of the residual
oil saturation alone (Kerans et al., 1994). The South Cowden
field, for example, has recovered only 40% of the displaceable
oil after 30 years and more than one displaceable hydrocarbon
pore volume of water injection (Jennings et al., 1998).
The displacement of oil primarily from highpermeability zones of a reservoir with most of the remaining
oil residing in the low-permeability zones, has been
substantiated by numerous simulation studies (Fogg et al.,
1991; Jennings et al., 1998; Senger et al., 1993; Mishra, 1993;
Waggoner et al., 1992; Lucia et al., 1995; Wang et al., 1998).
So far, there has been no effective means of recovering this
oil. Several approaches have been tried:
1.
The most common method of furthering oil recovery
is simply to continue water injection. This, of course, will
continue to increase recovery from the high-permeability zone
but will exacerbate the low rate of indirect recovery.
Continued injection, of course, leads to production at ever
increasing water volumes, which leads to the attainment of an
economic limit before complete recovery is reached.
2.
Another popular procedure is to inject an enhanced
oil recovery agent such as carbon dioxide. Such injectants
yield incremental recovery, but this recovery is primarily from
remaining mobile oil and residual oil in the high-permeability
zone. In fact, oil displacement by carbon dioxide may actually
reduce the amount of oil produced from the low-permeability
zone because of its adverse mobility ratio with the oil (Lake,
1989).
3.
There is a class of procedures that attempt to redirect
fluids by introducing foaming or gelling agents at the injector.
Here again, only partial success has been achieved, because
the treatments tend to affect volumes only near the wells. A
small distance into the reservoir the injected water reverts to
flowing in the high-permeability zone as if there had been no
treatment.
All of these approaches achieve only limited success
for the same reason; none effectively discourage injectants
from flowing preferentially into high-permeability zones.
Such diversion, in fact, cannot be obtained by any technology
currently used. The indirect waterflooding described below,
however, proposes to do just this using the elevated pressure
in the high-permeability zone as a diversion aid.
To divert the injected water from preferentially
flowing through the high-permeability zone, producing wells
that are connected to high-permeability zones must be
converted into injectors or shut-in. This serves two purposes:
1.
Water-cycling through the high-permeability zones
will be reduced.
2.
Injection into the high-permeability zone will
increase the pressure there causing injected water to divert into
low-permeability zones.
The next step, and the one that is the most operationally
critical to indirect waterflooding, is to tap into the low
permeability zones with another well. Since these zones will
naturally have low productivity, some way of stimulating the
production will be needed.
Figure 3 shows the low

SPE 59692

permeability region being drained by a horizontal well, one

possible approach to productivity improvement. Depending on
the results of a simulation and economics study, we may also
use multilateral wells or simply vertical wells completed only
in low-permeability zones (Fig. 4). The concepts expressed in
Figs. 3 and 4 are highly idealized to uniform layering and
especially two-dimensional flow. The remainder of this paper
is devoted to determining whether the oil recovery schemes
will translate to more realistic reservoir descriptions.
Evidence of by-passed oil from an actual San
Andres field case
An actual San-Andres field case was simulated to show the
presence of bypassed oil. A one-layer, model with a 40X56
grid on 2400-acre spacing was used. The simulated reservoir
had an average thickness of 20 ft. The porosity was 10% and
the horizontal permeability ranged from 5 to 30 md. The
reservoir consisted of 28 vertical producers and 12 vertical
injectors. A bottom-hole pressure of 50 psi/well was used for
the vertical producers and a bottom-hole injection pressure of
3200 psi/well was used for the vertical injectors.
Figure 5 shows that a history match was achieved on
primary production but the simulated secondary production is
greater than what was actually produced. The history match
of secondary production was achieved by reducing the OOIP;
however, the simulated primary production was smaller than
what was actually produced when we used the smaller OOIP.
This indicates that waterflooding is not contacting all of the
mobile oil in the actual reservoir. Additionally, these results
validate the mechanisms proposed in Figs. 1 and 2.
To
achieve a history match of both primary and second
production, we required (OOIP)primary < (OOIP)secondary . The
difference between these two--33% of (OOIP)primary in this
case--is the amount of bypassed oil in this reservoir.
Generic San Andres reservoir
A reservoir having San Andres-like properties was used in all
simulations. A ten-layer, 50-ft. thick model with an 11x11
grid on 40-acre 5-spot spacing was used. The pay-zone was
from 5030 to 5080 ft. and the porosity was 10% in all layers.
The horizontal permeability in all layers, except for layer five,
ranged from 1-10 md, with an average permeability of 5 md.
The permeability in layer five was 1000 md in uniformly
layered cases and 10 md in one-half of the layer and 1000 md
in the remaining half of the layer in cases with areal
heterogeneity. Layer 5 represents a thief zone in the
simulation. The vertical to horizontal permeability (kv /kh )
ratios used were 0.0, 0.05, and 0.5. The ratios correspond to
what is normally observed in whole core data from San
Andres reservoirs (kv /kh = 0.5), and to what is needed to effect
history matches (kv /kh = 0.05). kv /kh = 0 is, of course, the
smallest value possible. The constant kv /kh ratios are intended
to model the effect of barriers to vertical flow. Figure 6 shows
a vertical cross-section of the simulated reservoir.
Four quarter-producing wells, located at the corners
of the pattern, and one whole well located in the middle were
drilled, conforming to the original five-spot pattern. These

SPE 59692

IMPROVING ECONOMICS OF PRODUCTION IN HETEROGENEOUS RESERVOIRS BY REDIRECTING WATER INJECTION PATTERNS

wells were completed in all layers. The vertical producers

were controlled by an upper-limit, liquid-rate target of 75
Stb/day and a bottom-hole pressure lower-limit target of 50
psi/well. The horizontal producers used in the cases below
were controlled by an upper-limit, liquid-rate target of 300
Stb/day and a bottom-hole pressure lower-limit target of 50
psi/well. The vertical- and horizontal-injection wells were
controlled by a lower-limit, bottom-hole injection pressure
target of 3450 psi. We used sample PVT data and relative
permeability curves from a San Andres field. The data are in
Tables 1 and 2.
This model deviates from the two-layer model
proposed in Figure 3 and 4 to conform more closely to the
cycles found in San Andres formations. However, Figure 6 is
only a conceptual model and actual reservoirs may also
deviate from the model proposed here.
Uniformly stratified reservoirs with large kv/kh
In this case, the thief zone had a permeability of 1000
md and kv /kh = 0.5 everywhere. Primary production was
carried out for two years followed by one year of conventional
waterflooding. Indirect waterflooding was then implemented
by drilling a horizontal well through Wells #1 and #3 in layer
one and ten, respectively. Wells #2 and #4 were converted
into injectors. Well #5 was shut-in. Figure 7 shows the
simulated model as Case D. Case A is the base case of
conventional waterflooding. The result from the simulation
was compared to Case A of continuing waterflooding.
Figure 8a shows the oil rate - cumulative oil
produced (oil rate-cum plot) and Figure 8b shows the water
rate - cumulative water produced (water rate-cum plot)
comparison of the two cases. The results show that ultimate
oil recovery improved by 39 MSTB or 5% OOIP and water
production increased by 104% of the Case A value. Water
production increased because of the increase in drainage area
of the two horizontal wells used to drain the low-permeability
zones. We used oil rate-cum plots because these can be
extrapolated to an economically limiting rate, presuming the
rate decline is exponential. The water rate-cum plots cannot
be extrapolated, but they are an efficient way of comparing
cumulative water production.
The idea of redirecting injection patterns has been
successfully implemented here because:
1.
Water does not cycle through the high-permeability
zone since shutting off high water cut wells connected to the
high-permeability zone has minimized the cycling.
2.
The water injection from the vertical injectors causes
the high permeability zone to pressure-up thereby displacing
previously bypassed oil in the low-permeability zone.
Item #2 was verified through pressure and oil saturation
contour plots. Figures 9 and 10 are contour plots of the
pressure distribution in the thief zone for Case D after 1 and
38 years of indirect waterflooding, respectively. Figures 11
and 12 are contour plots of the oil saturation distribution in
layer 4 after 38 years of waterflooding for Case A and D,
respectively.

We performed an economics study to calculate the

net present value (NPV) of all cases assuming a ten-year
project life and a discount rate of 10%. Other pertinent data
for the economics study are in Table 3. Case D had a 20%
greater NPV than the base case. These results along with the
results from all other cases studied in this paper can be found
in Table 4. See Prasad (2000) for more details of the
economic analysis.
We simulated several other cases that either did not
have as great of improvement in NPV as Case D or that had a
smaller NPV than the base case (Prasad, 2000). The other
cases that were simulated can be found in Figure 7 and the
results are tabulated in Table 4.
Uniformly stratified reservoirs with small kv/kh
This case is identical to the large kv /kh case with a kv /kh ratio
= 0.05. Case D was the best scheme for this simulated
reservoir. The results of Case D were compared to the base
case (Case A) of continued waterflooding. Ultimate oil
recovery improved by 136 MSTB or 13% OOIP and water
production increased by 3.7 MMSTB or 91% because of the
two horizontal producers used to drain the low-permeability
zones. Economic analysis results gave a NPV 209% greater
than the base case (Prasad, 2000). In a small kv /kh case, the
performance is substantially improved by the use of horizontal
producer(s) tapped into low-permeability zones and the
conversion of high water-cut wells into injectors.
We simulated several other cases that did not have as
great of an improvement in NPV as Case D. The other cases
that were simulated can be found in Figure 7 and the results
are tabulated in Table 4.
The ratio of vertical to horizontal permeability is
obviously important to the success of recovering the
previously bypassed oil. Unfortunately, kv /kh is among the
most difficult reservoir properties to infer but our results show
that some effort should be expended to determine it before
implementing the process.
Areally heterogeneous reservoirs with large kv/kh
To simulate areal heterogeneity, half of layer five was 1000
md and the other half was 10 md as shown in Figure 7, Case E
(base case). kv /kh = 0.5 and primary production was carried
out for two years followed by conventional waterflooding for
one year. Indirect waterflooding was implemented by drilling
a horizontal well through Well # 1 in the top layer and
converting Wells #2 and #4 into injectors. Wells #3 and 5
were shut-off. Figure 7 shows this case as Case G.
The results of Case G were compared with the base
case. The process achieved a marginal increase in ultimate oil
recovery but water production reduced by 0.49 MMSTB or
14%. The NPV increased by 2.6% over the base case
assuming a ten-year project life and discount rate of 10%
(Prasad, 2000).
We simulated several other cases that either did not
have as great of improvement in NPV as Case G or that had a

RAJAN K. PRASAD, LARRY W. LAKE, JAMES W. JENNINGS, F. JERRY LUCIA

lower NPV than the base case. The other cases that were
simulated are in Figure 7 and the results are tabulated in Table
4.
Areally heterogeneous reservoirs with small kv/kh
This case is identical to the previous case except with a kv /kh
= 0.05. Case E is the base case and Case G is the case with
indirect waterflooding. The process achieved only a marginal
increase in ultimate oil recovery but water production reduced
by 0.9 MMSTB or 27%. The NPV increased by 10% over the
base case assuming a ten-year project life and discount rate of
10% (Prasad, 2000).
We simulated several other cases that either did not
have as great of improvement in NPV as Case G or that had a
lower NPV than the base case. The other cases that were
simulated can be found in Fig. 7 and the results are tabulated
in Table 4.
The fact that several cases actually showed a smaller
NPV than continued injection indicates the importance of
reservoir description and operational design to the process.
Areally heterogeneous reservoirs with zero kv/kh
These cases are identical to the high kv /kh case with a zero
kv /kh ratio. Case E and I are the base and indirect
waterflooding cases, respectively, as shown in Figure 7.
Indirect waterflooding was implemented by converting Wells
#2 and #4 into injectors and maintaining production through
Wells #1 and #2. Well #5 was shut-in.
The process achieved a marginal increase in ultimate
oil recovery but water production reduced by 2.3 MMSTB or
31%.
The reduction in water production allowed operations
to economically continue. This was determined from an
economic study that showed a positive NPV with the
implementation of indirect waterflooding (Base case = $0.00,
Case I = $43,000) and an extended project life of 10 years
(Prasad, 2000).
Discussion
Table 4 gives a summary of the results from all cases
simulated. Although the NPV improved with the appropriate
indirect waterflooding scheme over the base case, the decision
to implement waterflooding should depend on the confidence
in the reservoir characterization study used to determine the
thief zones and the vertical permeability, and in horizontal
well technology. Four observations can be made regarding the
effect of kv /kh on the results of indirect waterflooding. These
are:
1.
In uniformly stratified reservoirs (Cases A-D) with
large kv /kh , the largest incremental NPV achieved with
indirect waterflooding over the base case was 20% (Case D).
If this incremental improvement is not enough to justify the
risks associated with implementing new operations, the best
scheme in this reservoir type would be to continue
waterflooding.
2.
In uniformly stratified reservoirs (Cases A-D) with
small kv /kh , the results are substantially improved with

SPE 59692

indirect waterflooding as shown by Case D with an

incremental improvement in NPV of 209% over the base case.
This improvement is large enough to justify the risks
associated with drilling the horizontal wells.
3.
In areally heterogeneous reservoirs (Cases E and I),
the largest incremental NPV achieved with indirect
waterflooding over the base case was 10%. This incremental
improvement is probably not enough to justify the risks
associated with implementing new operations. The best
scheme in this reservoir type would be to continue
waterflooding.
4.
In areally heterogeneous reservoirs with small kv /kh
(Cases E and I with kv / kh =0), the economics in this reservoir
type are substantially improved merely by converting high
water-cut wells into injectors.
Conclusions
Two main benefits can be achieved by redirecting water
injection patterns into a high-permeability zone in
heterogeneous reservoirs:
1.
An increase in ultimate oil recovery because of the
additional recovery of oil from bypassed zones
2.
A reduction in water production and injection
Both benefits may not be achieved together in some cases.
However, achieving at least one benefit may lead to economic
improvements.
For reservoirs that are uniformly stratified, ultimate
oil recovery might improve by using horizontal producer(s)
tapped into low-permeability zones and converting high watercut wells into injectors.
For reservoirs that are areally heterogeneous,
converting high water-cut producers into injectors and drilling
a horizontal producer in low-permeability zones significantly
reduces water production. The reduction in water production
increases the NPV of production since operational costs are
reduced. However, only marginal improvements in oil
recovery are achieved in this case.
For heterogeneous reservoirs that have small kv /kh
ratios, improvements in profitability can be realized by
converting high water cut wells into injectors because of the
reduction in water handling costs.
kv /kh has a significant effect on item #1 and 2. The
effect is as kv /kh decreases, NPV increases.
Nomenclature
Bo = oil formation volume factor, L3 /L3 , rb/Stb
k v/k h = ratio of vertical permeability to horizontal
permeability, L2 /L2 , md/md
krw= water relative permeability, fraction
kro = oil relative permeability, fraction
NPV= net present value, percent
OOIP= original oil in place, percent
P= pressure, m/Lt 2 , psi
Rs = dissolved gas-oil ratio, L3 /L3 , MCF/ Stb
S w= water saturation, fraction
o = viscosity, m/ Lt, cp

SPE 59692

IMPROVING ECONOMICS OF PRODUCTION IN HETEROGENEOUS RESERVOIRS BY REDIRECTING WATER INJECTION PATTERNS

Subscripts
h= horizontal
o= oil
r= relative
s= solution
v= vertical
w= water
Acknowledgements
Portions of this work were supported by the Reservoir
Characterization Research Laboratory of the Bureau of
Economic Geology at The University of Texas. Larry W.
Lake holds the W. A. (Monty) Moncrief Centennial Chair at
The University of Texas.
References
1. Fogg, Graham E., F. Jerry Lucia and R.K. Senger, 1991,
"Stochastic Simulation of Interwell-Scale Heterogeneity for
Improved Prediction of Sweep Efficiency in a Carbonate
Reservoir," in Reservoir Characterization II, Larry W. Lake,
Herbert B. Carroll, Jr., and Thomas C. Wesson eds., Academic
Press, Inc., New York, pp. 355- 381.
2. Jennings, J. W., Jr., Lucia, F. J., and Ruppel, S. C., 1998,
"Waterflood Performance Modeling for the South Cowden
Grayburg Reservoir, Ector County, Texas," The University of
Texas at Austin, Bureau of Economic Geology Report of
Investigations No. 247, 46 p.
3. Jennings, J. W., Jr., Ruppel, S. C., and Ward, W. B., 1998,
"Geostatistical Analysis of Petrophysical Data and Modeling
of Fluid-flow Effects in Carbonate Outcrops," Society of
Petroleum Engineers, paper SPE 49025, 15 p.
4. Kerans, C., Lucia, F. J., and Senger, R. K., 1994,
"Integrated Characterization of Carbonate Ramp Reservoirs
Using Permian San Andres Formation Outcrop Analogs,"
American Association of Petroleum Geologists Bulletin, Vol.
78, No. 2, pp. 181-216.
5. Lake, Larry W., Enhanced Oil Recovery, Prentice Hall,
1989.
6. Lucia, F. J., 1995, "Rock-fabric/petrophysical Classification
of Carbonate Pore Space for Reservoir Characterization,"
American Association of Petroleum Geologists Bulletin, v. 79,
no. 9, pp. 1275-1300.
7. Mishra, Anil,
May 1993, Numerical Simulation of
Interwell Heterogeneity in Carbonate Reservoirs Based on an
Outcrop Study, M.S. thesis, The University of Texas.
8. Prasad, Rajan K., December 2000, Improved Waterflooding
Techniques in Heterogeneous Reservoirs, M.S. thesis, The
University of Texas at Austin.
9. Waggoner, J.R.; Castillo, J.L.; and Lake, L.W., "Simulation
of EOR Processes in Stochastically Generated Permeable
Media," SPE Formation Evaluation, Vol. 7, No. 2, June, 1992.
10.Wang, F.P., Lucia, F.J., and Kerans, C., 1998, Integrated
Reservoir Characterization Study of a Carbonate Ramp
Reservoir, Seminole San Andres Unit, Gaines County, Texas,
SPE Reservoir Evaluation & Engineering, Vol. 1, No. 2, pp.
105-114.

RAJAN K. PRASAD, LARRY W. LAKE, JAMES W. JENNINGS, F. JERRY LUCIA

Table 1. PVT data from San Andres crude.

Rs (MCF/Stb)

P (psia)

Bo (rb/Stb)

o (cp)

0.088
0.117
0.138
0.154
0.167
0.179
0.189
0.199
0.209

115
215
315
415
515
615
715
815
925
1015
1515
2015
2515
3015
3515
4015
4515
5015

1.088
1.099
1.106
1.111
1.115
1.118
1.121
1.124
1.128
1.127
1.123
1.12
1.116
1.113
1.109
1.105
1.102
1.098

2.6
2.29
2.13
2.02
1.95
1.9
1.86
1.83
1.8
1.81
1.9
1.99
2.09
2.18
2.27
2.36
2.45
2.54

Table 2. Relative permeability data from San Andres core.

Sw
0.135
0.2
0.25
0.3
0.4
0.45
0.5
0.55
0.6
0.65
0.7
0.725
0.8
0.9
1

krw
0
0.01
0.02
0.025
0.04
0.05
0.06
0.08
0.105
0.135
0.17
0.2
0.3
0.57
1

kro
0.78
0.5
0.335
0.24
0.125
0.09
0.06
0.045
0.03
0.01
0.005
0
0
0
0

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SPE 59692

IMPROVING ECONOMICS OF PRODUCTION IN HETEROGENEOUS RESERVOIRS BY REDIRECTING WATER INJECTION PATTERNS

Table 3. Cost data used for the economic evaluation.

Item
Oil Price
Water Production
Costs
Water Injection
Costs
Producing Well
Operation Costs
Injecting Well
Operation Costs
Costs of Converting
Vertical Producer to
Vertical Injector
Drilling Costs

Discount Rate

Vertical
Well
$15.00/Stb
$0.05/Stb

Horizontal
Well
$15.00/Stb
$0.05/Stb

$0.05/Stb

$0.05/Stb

$750/well

$1000/well

$375/well

$500/well

$50,000/well

n/a

n/a

$300,000/well
(using
existing
wellbore)
5% first year,
10% each
additional
year

5% first
year, 10%
each
additional
year

Table 4. Summary of results

Case

kv /kh

A
0.5
B
0.5
C
0.5
D
0.5
A
0.05
B
0.05
C
0.05
D
0.05
E
0.5
F
0.5
G
0.5
H
0.5
E
0.05
F
0.05
G
0.05
H
0.05
I
0.05
E
0
I
0
*Oil recoveries reported after 40 years of production
(primary and secondary).

Ultimate Oil
Recovery*
(% OOIP)

Water
Production
(MMSTB)

NPV
(MM$)

46
50
47
51
34
44
35
47
54
56
54
54
49
52
50
51
45
55
55

3.97
3.94
3.96
8.09
4.08
3.09
4.06
7.81
3.45
2.55
2.96
3.10
3.45
1.34
2.52
2.82
1.25
7.40
5.10

1.23
1.34
1.15
1.48
0.44
1.09
0.64
1.36
2.28
2.25
2.34
2.20
2.05
1.80
2.25
2.22
1.86
0
0.04

RAJAN K. PRASAD, LARRY W. LAKE, JAMES W. JENNINGS, F. JERRY LUCIA

Figure 1. Schematic of primary production from a heterogeneous cross section illustrating indirect depletion to a producer.

Figure 2. Schematic of production for a heterogeneous cross section during water injection.

Figure 3. Schematic of depletion of low-permeability zone with one version of proposed technology using an horizontal well.

SPE 59692

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IMPROVING ECONOMICS OF PRODUCTION IN HETEROGENEOUS RESERVOIRS BY REDIRECTING WATER INJECTION PATTERNS

Figure 4. Schematic of depletion of low-permeability zone with other versions of the proposed technology.

Stb/day

1000

Secondary Production
100

Simulated Primary
Simulated Secondary
Historical Production
10
0

1000

2000

3000
Days

Figure 5. Historical and simulated oil rate of a San Andres field case.

4000

5000

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RAJAN K. PRASAD, LARRY W. LAKE, JAMES W. JENNINGS, F. JERRY LUCIA

Figure 6. Cross section used in simulation study.

SPE 59692

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IMPROVING ECONOMICS OF PRODUCTION IN HETEROGENEOUS RESERVOIRS BY REDIRECTING WATER INJECTION PATTERNS

Figure 7. Simulated cases.

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RAJAN K. PRASAD, LARRY W. LAKE, JAMES W. JENNINGS, F. JERRY LUCIA

1000

Oil Rate, Stb/day

Base Case
Case D

100

10
Secondary production
1
0

100

200
300
400
Cumulative Oil Produced, MSTB

500

600

Figure 8a. Oil rate-cumulative plot for heterogeneous reservoir with kv /kh = 0.5.

Water Rate, Stb/day

1000

100

Secondary production
10
0.0

0.5

Base Case
Case D

1.0
1.5
2.0
2.5
3.0
Cumulative Water Produced, MMSTB

3.5

Figure 8b. Water rate-cumulative plot for heterogeneous reservoir with kv /kh = 0.5.

4.0

SPE 59692

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IMPROVING ECONOMICS OF PRODUCTION IN HETEROGENEOUS RESERVOIRS BY REDIRECTING WATER INJECTION PATTERNS

Figure 9. Pressure distribution in thief zone for Case D after one year of indirect waterflooding.

Figure 10. Pressure distribution in thief zone for Case D after 38 years of indirect waterflooding.

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RAJAN K. PRASAD, LARRY W. LAKE, JAMES W. JENNINGS, F. JERRY LUCIA

Figure 11. Oil saturation in layer 4 for the Base Case after 38 years waterflooding

SPE 59692

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IMPROVING ECONOMICS OF PRODUCTION IN HETEROGENEOUS RESERVOIRS BY REDIRECTING WATER INJECTION PATTERNS

Figure 12. Oil saturation in layer 4 for the Case D after 38 years of indirect waterflooding.

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