An Integrated Geologic and Engineering Reservoir Characterization of the North Robertson (Clearfork) Unit: A Case Study, Part 1 Academic Article uri icon

abstract

  • BRIEF SUMMARY Infill drilling of wells on a uniform spacing, without regard to reservoir performance and characterization, must become a process of the past. Such efforts do not optimize reservoir development as they fail to account for the complex nature of reservoir heterogeneities present in many low permeability carbonate reservoirs. These reservoirs are typically characterized by:Large, discontinuous pay intervalsVertical and lateral changes in reservoir propertiesLow reservoir energyHigh residual oil saturationLow recovery efficiency The operational problems we encounter in these types of reservoirs include:Poor or inadequate completions and stimulationsEarly water breakthroughPoor reservoir sweep efficiency in contacting oil throughout the reservoir as well as in the near-well regionsChanneling of injected fluids due to preferential fracturing caused by excessive injection ratesLimited data availability and poor data quality Infill drilling operations only need target areas of the reservoir which will be economically successful. If the most productive areas of a reservoir can be accurately identified by combining the results of geologic, petrophysical, reservoir performance, and pressure transient analyses, then this "integrated" approach can be used to optimize reservoir performance during secondary and tertiary recovery operations without resorting to "blanket" infill drilling methods. New and emerging technologies such as cross-borehole tomography, geostatistical modeling, and rigorous decline type curve analysis can be used to quantify reservoir quality and the degree of interwell communication. These results can be used to develop a 3-D simulation model for prediction of infill locations. In this work, we will demonstrate the application of reservoir surveillance techniques to identify additional reservoir pay zones, and to monitor pressure and preferential fluid movement in the reservoir. These techniques are: long-term production and injection data analysis, pressure transient analysis, and advanced open and cased hole well log analysis. The major contribution of this paper is our summary of cost effective reservoir characterization and management tools that will be helpful to both independent and major operators for the optimal development of heterogeneous, low permeability carbonate reservoirs such as the North Robertson (Clearfork) Unit. Introduction There are many complicated factors that will affect the successful implementation of infill drilling programs in heterogeneous, low permeability carbonate reservoirs such as the Clearfork/Glorieta of west Texas. Before we began this project, we conducted an extensive literature review to gain a better understanding of the producibility problems we face at the North Robertson Unit (NRU). Fortunately, these reservoirs have a long producing history and there is a large quantity of useful data available from case studies for primary, secondary, and tertiary operations in the Clearfork and other analogous reservoirs. In a 1974 case study concerning waterflooding operations at the Denver (San Andres) Unit, Ghauri, et al gave valuable insights concerning reservoir discontinuity, injector-producer conformance, and the effect of reservoir quality on reservoir sweep efficiency. Poor reservoir rock quality and the existence of discontinuous pay between injection and producing wells resulted in a recommendation to reduce nominal well spacing from 40 acres to 20 acres. An outcrop study on the San Andres was performed to verify reservoir discontinuity. Injection wells were completed and stimulated preferentially in an effort to flood only the continuous layers of the reservoir. The original peripheral injection design was converted to inverted nine-spot patterns in an effort to decrease the amount of water channeling and early water breakthrough via the most permeable members. P. 465

published proceedings

  • All Days

author list (cited authors)

  • Doublet, L. E., Pande, P. K., Clark, M. B., Nevans, J. W., & Blasingame, T. A.

citation count

  • 10

complete list of authors

  • Doublet, LE||Pande, PK||Clark, MB||Nevans, JW||Blasingame, TA

publication date

  • January 1995