The effect of gas column thickness on primary oil recovery from a horizontal reservoir.
| Main Author: | |
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| Other Authors: | , , |
| Format: | Thesis Book |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
1984.
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | Link to ProQuest Copy |
| Abstract: | A numerical model is used to study the depletion performance of horizontal oil reservoirs overlain by gas zones varying in size from 0 to 3 times the thickness of the oil zone. The depletion is studied and described in terms of a gas coning stage for which the oil recovery is correlatable with dimensionless rate and time and a drainage stage for which the oil recovery and time are correlatable with a dimensionless gravity number. Specific cases studied include a low API gravity oil and a high API gravity oil with production taken from the bottom ten percent of the oil zone. The results indicate that oil recovery can vary from 5 to 60 percent of the original oil in place depending on the size of the gas-cap, the nature of the fluid, the dimensionless drainage radius, the abandonment pressure and the production rate. At rates less than the initial maximum gas-free production rate, recovery increases with the size of the gas-cap. At higher rates, recovery decreases to a minimum, which depends upon the nature of the fluid, the dimensionless drainage radius and the abandonment pressure, and then generally increases as the size of the gas-cap increases. Recovery is significantly greater when the oil has a high API gravity. The recovery-rate relationships developed have important implications for current production and regulatory practice. |
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| Item Description: | Typescript (photocopy). Vita. "Major subject: Petroleum Engineering." |
| Physical Description: | x, 103 leaves : illustrations ; 29 cm |
| Bibliography: | Includes bibliographical references (leaves 86-88). |