PETROLEUM EXPLORATION AND DEVELOPMENT

Volume 44, Issue 6, December 2017

Online English edition of the Chinese language journal

Cite this article as: PETROL. EXPLOR. DEVELOP., 2017, 44(6): 1010–1015. RESEARCH PAPER

New water drive characteristic curves at ultra-high water

cut stage
WANG Jiqiang1,*, SHI Chengfang1, JI Shuhong1, LI Guanlin2, CHEN Yingqiao2
1. PetroChina Research Institute of Petroleum Exploration & Development, Beijing 100083, China;
2. Key Laboratory for Petroleum Engineering of the Ministry of Education, China University of Petroleum, Beijing 102249, China

Abstract: A function expression of the oil-water relative permeability ratio with normalized water saturation at high water saturation
was proposed based on statistics of measured oil-water relative permeability data in oilfields. This expression fits the later section of con-
ventional relative permeability ratio curve more accurately. Two new water drive characteristic curves at the ultra-high water cut stage
(fw>90%) were derived by combining the new oil-water relative permeability ratio expression and reservoir engineering method. Then,
the numerical simulation results of five-point well pattern and production data of Yangerzhuang Oilfield and Liuzan Oilfield were used to
verify the adaptability of the new water drive characteristic curves. The results showed that the new water drive characteristic curves are
more accurate than conventional water drive characteristic curves after A type and B type water drive curves rise, and can be used to pre-
dict production performance at ultra-high water cut stage, ultimate recovery efficiency and recoverable reserves.

Key words: water flooding development; ultra-high water cut stage; water drive characteristic curve; recoverable reserves

Introduction error. Thus, this paper, based on the mathematical model of

Type A and type B water drive characteristic curves are
widely used in waterflooding oilfields in China and overseas,
to predict production performance of reservoirs, ultimate re-
covery efficiency and recoverable reserves[1-3]. However, from
actual field production and laboratory experiments, it is found
that the type A and type B water drive curves are not suitable
for the ultra-high water cut stage, if the straight-line extrapo-
lation method is used to obtain the ultimate recovery effi-
ciency or recoverable reserves, the value will be significantly
larger than the actual value.
Theoretically, the main reason for the up-warping trend of
the water drive curve is that the semi-logarithmic relationship
between the relative permeability ratio and water saturation
used in deriving the characteristic curves of type A and B no
longer meet the linear relationship[4]. Therefore, the theoreti-
cal deduction of the characteristic curve in the extreme high
water cut period shall be founded on the appropriate relative
permeability ratio relation. Many studies have been done in
this field before[511]. The new water drive curves established
can fit the actual production data in the high water cut period
to some extent, but most of the water drive curves are nonlin-
ear relationship, not easy to apply and larger in extrapolation
Willhite water-oil phase permeability and the method of char-
acterization proposed by Fan Haijun[12], puts forward a new
type of relative permeability relationship and derives a new
water drive curve using the measured effective permeability
data of oilfields.
1. New water-oil relative permeability characteri-
zation relationship
To make application and research easier, the Krw/Kro ratio is
often expressed as a function of water saturation Swe, and the
most commonly used function is that proposed by Craft et
al.[13]:
K rw
  e  S we (1)
K ro
Measurement results show that the relative permeability ra-
tio curves of most rock samples feature a straight line in the
middle section and bending section at tail in the single loga-
rithmic coordinates. Since the bending characteristics of curve
cannot be described by equation (1), the corresponding type A
and B water drive curves in the high water cut stage will show
upwarp.
Water-oil relative permeability data of four oilfield blocks
were used in this study, including the commonly seen wa-

Received date: 20 Mar. 2017; Revised date: 23 Jun. 2017.

* Corresponding author. E-mail: wangjiqiang08@petrochina.com.cn
Foundation item: Supported by the China National Science and Technology Major Project (2016ZX05010-003); the Petrochina Science and Technology Major
Project (2016B-1202).
Copyright © 2017, Research Institute of Petroleum Exploration and Development, PetroChina. Published by Elsevier BV. All rights reserved.
 WANG Jiqiang et al. / Petroleum Exploration and Development, 2017, 44(6): 1010–1015

ter-oil relative permeability curve types in water flooding characteristic curves of water drive[4,15], a water drive charac-
development of oilfields[14], the concave up type of water teristic curve suitable for extreme high water cut stage was
phase, the straight line type of water phase and concave down derived from the water-oil relative permeability characteriza-
type of water phase. Based on the fitting analysis of the tion relationship.
up-warping section of water-oil relative permeability ratio According to the calculation method of volumetric method
curve, a new type of characterization relationship which can in reservoir engineering, the following relationship can be
better describe the characteristics of water-oil relative perme- obtained between recovery percent and formation average
ability ratio curve in the late stage was obtained: water saturation under stable formation pressure by water
K rw m injection:
 (2)
K ro (1  S wd ) n N p S w  S wi
R  (5)
that is N 1  S wi
K rw Since formation average water saturation in extreme high
lg  lg m  n lg(1  S wd ) (3)
K ro water cut period can be replaced by the formation average
The normalized water saturation Swd can be expressed as: water saturation at the outlet end, and the Equation (5) can be
S  S wi written as:
S wd  we (4) S  S wi
1  Sor  S wi R  we (6)
According to this, the upwarping section in the late stage of 1  S wi
commonly used lg(Krw/Kro)-Sw curve can be converted into the Extreme oil displacement efficiency ED is expressed as:
linear relationship in equation (3). Furthermore, the actual 1  Sor  S wi
ED  (7)
measured relative permeability curves at the tail section of 1  S wi
Yushulin, Lamadian, Punan and Qiuling oilfields were used to Equation (4) can be rewritten as:
make lg(Krw/Kro)-lg(1-Swd) relationship curves (Fig. 1), and a  S  Swi   1  Sor  S wi 
new relative permeability characterization relationship with S wd   we    (8)
good correlation was obtained through regression (Table 1).  1  Swi   1  S wi 
Substituting Equation (6) and (7) into (8), we get:
2. Theoretical derivation of new water drive curve R Np
S wd =  (9)
Based on the derivation methods of the type A and type B ED NED
The movable oil reserve Nom is:
N om  NED (10)
Equation (9) can be rewritten as:
Np
S wd  (11)
N om
Under the stable percolation condition, the water-oil ratio is
defined as:
Q  B K
WOR  w  o o w rw (12)
Qo  w Bw  o K ro
Substituting Equations (2) and (11) into (12), we get:
o Bo w m
WOR  (13)
 w Bw  o  Np 
n
Fig. 1. New relationship curve of Krw/Kro and water saturation.
1  
 N om 
Table 1. Fitting results by using the new Krw/Kro and water sat- Taking the logarithm of both sides of Equation (13):
uration relation.
 Np 
Correlation lg WOR  a  n lg 1   (14)
Oilfield block Fitting relation
coefficient
 Nom 
Block Dong14 in where
lg( K ro /K rw ) = 3.12lg(1  S wd )  1.36 0.997 7 mo Bo  w
Yushulin oilfield
a  lg (15)
Block La 7 in  w Bw  o
lg( K ro /K rw ) = 1.79lg(1  S wd )  0.64 0.994 3
Daqing oilfield Equation (13) also can be written as:
A block in dWp o Bo  w
lg( K ro /K rw ) = 2.12lg(1  S wd )  0.79 0.997 1 m
Punan oilfield  (16)
A block in dN p  w Bw  o  Np 
n

lg( K ro /K rw ) = 1.8lg(1  S wd )  0.15 0.995 3 1  

Qiuling oilfield  N om 
 1011 
 WANG Jiqiang et al. / Petroleum Exploration and Development, 2017, 44(6): 1010–1015

Integrate Equation (16) to get the common logarithm: Table 2. Oil-water relative permeability data.
 Np 
lg Wp  C   b  (1  n) lg 1 
Water Water phase relative per- Oil phase relative
 (17)
saturation/f meability permeability/f permeability/f
 Nom 
0.292 0.000 0 1.000 0
where
0.295 0.000 4 0.986 8
mo Bo w Nom
b  lg (18) 0.320 0.005 9 0.880 0
w Bw  o (n  1)
0.345 0.011 1 0.778 9
With the production of an oilfield, the cumulative produc-
0.370 0.017 2 0.683 8
tion of water will increase constantly, the impact of constant C
is negligible in Equation (17), thus, making d=n-1, then Equa- 0.395 0.024 6 0.594 5

tion (17) can be written as: 0.420 0.032 2 0.511 1

 Np  0.445 0.039 5 0.433 8

lg Wp  b  d lg 1   (19) 0.470 0.047 8 0.362 5
 N om 
0.495 0.057 7 0.297 3
Equations (14) and (19) are the water drive curve relationship
0.520 0.069 1 0.238 2
in extreme high water cut stage, which indicate the relationship
0.545 0.082 8 0.185 4
between water-oil ratio and the recovery percent of movable
reserves in the late stage of water drive development[16]. 0.570 0.102 1 0.138 8
0.595 0.126 3 0.098 7
3. Validation
0.620 0.154 1 0.065 1
In order to verify the applicability of the new water drive 0.645 0.190 2 0.038 2
curve in the extreme high water cut stage, it was used in cal- 0.670 0.230 4 0.018 2
culation results of the numerical model and actual oilfield 0.695 0.284 7 0.006 3
production data, and compared with the conventional water
0.720 0.369 4 0.000 9
drive curve.
0.726 0.408 9 0.000 0
3.1. Verification by numerical model calculation

According to the characteristic of waterflooding reservoirs,

a five-spot well pattern model of 31313 grids was built[17,
18]
, with the grid spacing on plane of (1010) m, and vertical
grid step of 5m. The reservoir had a porosity of 29.6%, and
balance between injection and production. The oil viscosity
was 5 mPas, the oil-water viscosity ratio was 10, and the
oil-water relative permeabilities are listed in Table 2.
The calculation results of Np and lgWOR were fitted by type
B water drive curve (Fig. 2). It can be seen from Fig. 2 in the
medium to high water cut stage, the lgWOR-Np curve has a
linear relationship, but when it comes to the extreme high
water cut stage, the curve has an up-warping trend. The pre-
Fig. 2. Type B water drive curve.
dicted recoverable reserves by the type B water drive curve
are 17.489 8× 104 t, but the actual recoverable reserves are
15.558 0×104 t, showing larger error of the method.
The water cut is 92.2% when the lgWOR-Np curve up-
warps in this model. The data between the water cut of
92.2%99.2% was fitted by the new water drive curve (14)
(Fig. 3). The fitting results show that the new water drive
curve has a good linear relationship with production data, and
can be used for dynamic production prediction in extremely
high water cut stage.
In order to compare with the prediction result of type B
water drive curve, Equation (14) was used to fit the produc-
tion data of the upwarping section (with the water cut between Fig. 3. New water drive curve.
92.2% and 95.4%), the fitted relation is Equation (20), which
has a correlation coefficient of 0.999 5. The movable oil re- curve and the geological reserves. The calculated recoverable
serves were calculated from the water-oil relative permeability reserves are 15.654 6104t by using the new type of water
 1012 
 WANG Jiqiang et al. / Petroleum Exploration and Development, 2017, 44(6): 1010–1015

drive curve, which indicates that in the extreme high water cut
stage, the prediction result of new water drive curve is more
accurate.
 Np 
lg WOR  1.195 4  3.559 4 lg 1   (20)
 18.518 1

3.2. Verification of production data of a block in

Yangerzhuang oilfield
The actual production data of a block in Yangerzhuang oil-
field (Table 3) was taken to make lgWOR-Np curve (Fig. 4). A
series of measures were implemented in this block in 1996 to
control water production. With the production of the oilfield, Fig. 4. Type B water drive curve of the block in Yangerzhuang
when the water cut reached around 94.5% in 2005, the curve oil field.
started to upwarp.
The production data was fitted by using the type B and new
water drive curves respectively (Figs. 4 and 5), the type B
water drive curve relationship predicts a cumulative oil pro-
duction of 727.573 6104 t at the water cut of 97%, and the
prediction error is 10.06%. The original oil in place of this
block is 1 319.98104 t. By normalizing several oil-water

Table 3. Actual development data of the block in Yangerzhuang

oilfield.
Cumulative oil Cumulative water Average
Year
production/(104 t) production/(104 t) water cut/%
1983 257.052 3 361.549 1 69.8
Fig. 5. New type water drive curve of the block in Yangerz-
1984 289.944 2 441.232 2 70.8
huang Oilfield.
1985 327.088 7 536.311 7 71.9
1986 357.237 2 654.028 1 79.6 relative permeability curves, the irreducible water saturation
1987 385.278 6 779.412 3 81.7 of the block is 0.277 and the residual oil saturation is 0.227.
1988 413.996 6 921.919 3 83.2 Thus, the movable oil reserves are 905.5464104 t. Then,
1989 440.368 8 1 114.073 0 87.9 Equation (14) was used to fit the production data at the water
1990 462.434 5 1 298.419 0 89.3 cut between 94.5% and 95.5%, which delivered the fitting
1991 482.092 7 1 473.739 0 89.9 relationship (21) with a correlation coefficient of 0.9913. The
1992 501.655 8 1 665.922 0 90.8 predicted recoverable reserves are 670.3025104 t, with a
1993 518.888 9 1 854.277 0 91.6 prediction error of 1.4%.
1994 531.148 4 2 021.637 0 93.2  Np 
1995 542.874 5 2 185.401 0 93.3 lg WOR  1.174 9  4.585 9 lg 1   (21)
1996 553.405 3 2 339.208 0 93.6
 905.546 4 
1997 563.507 1 2 454.611 0 92.0 3.3. Verification with production data of a block in Liuzan
1998 573.449 9 2 560.166 0 91.4 oilfield
1999 582.612 9 2 653.619 0 91.1
2000 592.719 5 2 764.027 0 91.6
The actual production data of a block in Liuzan oilfields is
listed in Table 4. The block has an original oil in place of
2001 603.593 9 2 894.027 0 92.3
901.08104 t. According to its normalized oil-water relative
2002 613.308 9 3 031.479 0 93.4
permeability curve, the block has an irreducible water satura-
2003 621.342 2 3 153.260 0 93.8
tion of 0.265 and a residual oil saturation of 0.315, so the
2004 628.441 4 3 274.04 0 94.4
movable oil reserves calculated are 514.9104 t. Based on the
2005 635.630 7 3 397.059 0 94.5
data in Table 4, the type A water drive curve was plotted in
2006 641.158 3 3 502.842 0 95.0
Fig. 6. The curve shows an up-warping trend when the cumu-
2007 647.417 2 3 634.382 0 95.5
lative oil production reaches around 175.297104 t. Type A
2008 652.893 1 3 768.552 0 96.1
water drive curve predicts the cumulative water production
2009 657.371 0 3 897.203 0 96.6 will be 258.223104 t at the water cut of 98.25%. The fitting
2010 661.069 1 4 015.882 0 97.0 relationship of the new water drive curve is Equation (22),

 1013 
 WANG Jiqiang et al. / Petroleum Exploration and Development, 2017, 44(6): 1010–1015

Table 4. Actual development data of the block in Liuzan oil-

field.
Cumulative oil Cumulative water
Water cut /%
production/(104 t) production/(104 t)
36.130 38.770 54.51
45.021 52.912 63.99
55.974 77.770 75.19
66.874 119.046 80.89
78.487 168.082 81.42
91.075 224.639 79.23
112.748 323.435 86.70
132.585 487.499 92.32 Fig. 7. New type water drive curve of the block in Liuzan oil-
field.
145.495 629.021 90.18
156.473 696.680 86.27 can describe the characteristics of water-oil relative perme-
167.028 785.458 91.78 ability ratio under high water saturation better, and is the basis
175.297 862.522 90.77 for deriving the water drive curve in extreme high water cut
178.489 904.996 92.05 stage.
182.054 961.163 95.12 The new water drive curve is a linear relationship on the
185.704 1 030.860 94.77 log-log plot. Compared with type A and type B water drive
189.535 1 100.029 94.42 curves, its predicted results at extremely high water cut stage
193.759 1 171.939 94.69 are closer to the actual values. After the conventional water
196.686 1 230.038 95.29
drive curve shows an up-warping trend, the new water drive
202.072 1 358.356 96.33
curve can be used to predict the recoverable reserves and the
205.934 1 480.184 96.96 ultimate recovery.
208.895 1 606.369 97.71
211.897 1 711.787 96.99 Nomenclature
216.829 1 930.118 98.17
218.969 2 045.629 98.25 a, b——factor;
Bo, Bw—formation oil and water volume factor respectively, m3/m3;
C—constant;
ED —extreme displacement efficiency, %;
Kro, Krw—oil and water relative permeability, dimensionless;
m, n —factor;
N—original oil in place, 104 t;
Nom—movable oil reserves, 104 t;
Np—cumulative oil production, 104 t;
Qo—oil production rate, t/d;
Qw—water production rate, t/d;
R —recovery percent of reserves, %;
Sor—residual oil saturation, %;
S w —average formation water saturation, %;
Fig. 6. Type A water drive curve of the block in Liuzan oilfield. Swd—normalized water saturation, %;
Swe—water saturation at outlet, %;
with a correlation coefficient of 0.9989 (Fig. 7). The cumula- Swi —irreducible water saturation, %;
tive oil production predicted by Equation (22) is 222.840104 WOR—water-oil ratio, f;
t, while the actual cumulative oil production is 218.969104 t. Wp—cumulative water production, t;
Clearly, the prediction result of the new water drive curve is , —constant relate to reservoir and fluid properties;
closer to the actual value. μo, μw—formation oil viscosity and water viscosity, mPas;
 Np  γo, γw—formation oil and water relative density, f.
lg Wp  1.894 9  5.750 2 lg  1   (22)
 514.9 
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