Gel treatments in production wells with water-coning problems

This paper discusses some of the reservoir conditions, gel properties, and placement problems that influence how effectively gel treatments reduce water coning. For gel treatments in unfractured production wells, analysis using different theoretical coning models suggests that the desired production rate should be less than one and one-half to five times the pretreatment critical rate. Calculations also suggest that under ideal conditions, gel treatments in fractured wells could increase the critical rate by two orders of magnitude. For gels applied to reduce water coning, an essential property is an ability to reduce water permeability much more than oil permeability. Some studies directed at understanding this phenomenon are described.

Gel treatments in production wells with water-coning problems Academic Article