Practical Streamline Method for Quantitatively Characterizing Waterflooding in Narrow Channel Reservoirs

Area of Science:

• Petroleum Engineering
• Reservoir Engineering
• Computational Geoscience

Background:

• Waterflooding in narrow channel reservoirs leads to high water cut and low oil recovery.
• Complex oil-water distribution hinders accurate reservoir utilization assessment.
• Existing methods struggle with the intricate nature of these reservoirs.

Purpose of the Study:

• To establish a practical streamline method for quantitative characterization of waterflooding mobilization in narrow channel reservoirs.
• To provide a tool for accurate evaluation of reservoir utilization and development optimization.
• To address the limitations of existing methods in complex reservoir scenarios.

Main Methods:

• Boundary element method to characterize reservoir morphology and calculate pressure fields.
• Euler method for tracking streamlines based on the determined velocity field.
• Characteristic line method to solve saturation equations along streamlines for overall saturation distribution.

Main Results:

• The practical streamline method offers advantages over stream-tube and numerical simulations, including automatic flow path generation, lower dimensionality, faster computation, and higher accuracy.
• The method accurately depicts complex channel boundaries and enables quantitative partitioning of waterflooding mobilization.
• Streamline patterns and oil-water flow processes are clarified, leading to improved understanding.

Conclusions:

• The developed streamline method provides a robust tool for quantitative assessment of waterflooding in narrow channel reservoirs.
• Application to a case study yielded reasonable development and adjustment suggestions for a well group.
• This approach offers valuable guidance for optimizing development strategies in similar reservoir types.