Simulation of gelled polymer treatments in the Arbuckle Formation, Kansas Conference Paper uri icon

abstract

  • Gel polymer treatments have been carried out on a large number of producing wells in the Arbuckle Formation of Central Kansas. These treatments are aimed both at reducing water coming from an underlying aquifer and increasing oil production. Computer simulation of two of these gel-treated wells are presented. One is a well for which the treatment was successful and the second is a well which responded far less favorably. Well performance during the polymer injection period of the treatments and the post-treatment behavior were such that there were major differences in history matching between the single porosity model (no fractures) and the fracture model. For the well that was treated successfully, behavior during polymer injection as well as post-treatment performance could be matched only with the dual permeability model. For the well that was treated unsuccessfully, the converse was true. An acceptable history match was obtained only with the single porosity model or with the fracture model with a very sparse fracture density. The presence of natural fractures connected to an aquifer is an important feature of the Arbuckle wells that respond favorably to polymer gel treatments. This is an abstract of a paper presented at the 15th SPE-DOE Improved Oil Recovery Symposium: Old Reservoirs New Tricks A Global Perspective (Tulsa, OK 4/22-26/2006).

published proceedings

  • SPE - DOE Improved Oil Recovery Symposium Proceedings

author list (cited authors)

  • Barati, R., Green, D. W., & Liang, J. T.

complete list of authors

  • Barati, R||Green, DW||Liang, JT

publication date

  • July 2006