Efficiency of Horizontal and Vertical Well Patterns on the Performance of Micellar-Polymer Flooding.docVIP

Efficiency of Horizontal and Vertical Well Patterns on the Performance of Micellar-Polymer Flooding 　　1Department of Natural Resources and Geoenvironmental Engineering, Hanyang University, Seoul 133-791, South Korea 　　*Corresponding author. 　　Supported by Korea Gas Corporation. 　　Received 12 January 2012; accepted 15 February 2012 　　Abstract 　　 There is increasing interest in micellar-polymer flooding because of the need to increase oil production from depleted and waterflooded reservoirs. Using horizontal wells for injection and production in a micellar-polymer flood process, higher sweep efficiency is expected compared with the use of conventional patterns by vertical wells. However, the use of horizontal wells is very sensitive to the well pattern designed to operate the process. This paper presents an analysis of how the overall performance of a micellar-polymer flood process in anisotropic reservoirs is influenced by the well pattern using horizontal injector and producer in different configurations. 　　A three-dimensional numerical simulator for fluid flow and mass transport is used to analyze the effectiveness of well combinations in micellar-polymer applications. The potential for a horizontal well application was assessed through different situations in combinations of injection and production wells and degree of reservoir anisotropy. Results from the study have demonstrated that significant amount of oil can be recovered additionally and injectivity was remarkably improved by utilizing a combination of horizontal wells. The improvement of injectivity through a horizontal injection well was higher when it was combined with horizontal producer parallel to the injector. The overall performances in anisotropic reservoirs strongly depend on the type of wells considered and the orientation of the horizontal wells with respect to the permeability directions. Combination of horizontal wells placed parallel to the low permeability direction yields the bes