The demand for oil and gas is increasing yearly, whereas proven oil and gas
reserves are being depleted. The potential of stripper oil and gas fields to supplement the
national energy supply is large. In 2006, stripper wells accounted for 15% and 8% of US
oil and gas production, respectively. With increasing energy demand and current high oil
and gas prices, integrated reservoir studies, secondary and tertiary recovery methods,
and infill drilling are becoming more common as operators strive to increase recovery
from stripper oil and gas fields. The primary objective of this research was to support
optimized production of oil and gas from stripper well fields by evaluating one stripper
gas field and one stripper oil field.
For the stripper gas field, I integrated geologic and engineering data to build a
detailed reservoir characterization model of the Second White Specks (SSPK) reservoir
in Garden Plains field, Alberta, Canada. The objectives of this model were to provide
insights to controls on gas production and to validate a simulation-based method of infill
drilling assessment. SSPK was subdivided into Units A ? D using well-log facies. Units A and B are the main producing units. Unit A has better reservoir quality and
lateral continuity than Unit B. Gas production is related primarily to porosity-netthickness
product and permeability and secondarily to structural position, minor
structural features, and initial reservoir pressure.
For the stripper oil field, I evaluated the Green River formation in the Wells
Draw area of Monument Butte field, Utah, to determine interwell connectivity and to
assess optimal recovery strategies. A 3D geostatistical model was built, and geological
realizations were ranked using production history matching with streamline simulation.
Interwell connectivity was demonstrated for only major sands and it increases as well
spacing decreases. Overall connectivity is low for the 22 reservoir zones in the study
area. A water-flood-only strategy provides more oil recovery than a primary-then-waterflood
strategy over the life of the field. For new development areas, water flooding or
converting producers to injectors should start within 6 months of initial production. Infill
drilling may effectively produce unswept oil and double oil recovery. CO2 injection is
much more efficient than N2 and CH4 injection. Water-alternating-CO2 injection is
superior to continuous CO2 injection in oil recovery.
The results of this study can be used to optimize production from Garden Plains
and Monument Butte fields. Moreover, these results should be applicable to similar
stripper gas and oil field fields. Together, the two studies demonstrate the utility of
integrated reservoir studies (from geology to engineering) for improving oil and gas
recovery.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:tamu.edu/oai:repository.tamu.edu:1969.1/ETD-TAMU-2008-12-222 |
| Date | 14 January 2010 |
| Creators | Wang, Jianwei |
| Contributors | Ayers, Walter, McVay, Duane |
| Source Sets | Texas A and M University |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Book, Thesis, Electronic Dissertation |
| Format | application/pdf |
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