Allied In-Situ Injection and Production for Fractured Horizontal Wells to Increase Hydrocarbon Recovery in Tight Oil Reservoirs: A Case Study in Changqing Oilfield

Abstract

Poor energy supplement and low hydrocarbon recovery are the two main shortcomings for water or gas injection in tight oil reservoir development. Horizontal well flooding can improve oil recovery and sweep efficiency of water flooding. However, the economic benefits need to be considered for long horizonal well injection. Based on a case of Changqing Oil filed, this paper presents a novel development approach, Allied In-Situ Injection and Production (AIIP), for fractured horizontal wells to increase hydrocarbon recovery, and explores its feasibility with simulation work, compared with traditional water flooding method. The impact for the existence of natural fractures in tight oil reservoir is also studied in this work. Although requiring costly special equipment, a series of simulations prove that AIIP is a more reliable and efficient approach to increase the performance of fractured horizontal wells compared to conventional methods, oil recovery and oil rate were improved significantly after AIIP was conducted. Water injectivity increased sharply than traditional water flooding with a lower injection pressure. The existence of natural fracture in tight oil formation improved the water flow inside the formation, leading better sweep efficiency and higher oil recovery factor. However, water cut in producers increased faster in natural facture enriched model than that of basic model. Thereforem it is essential to evaluate the performance of AIIP process before application.