Optimizing Waterflood Review through an Integrated Platform; An Example from the South of Oman

Abstract One of the critical success factors of waterflood developments, is how efficient the dynamic management of its operating envelop is. While data availability may not be an issue, the challenge remains in effectively and frequently integrating and interpreting all relevant up-to-date data, e.g. injection, production, pressure, voidage replacement, etc. Having these visualized and dynamically updated in one platform with pre-defined workflows and metrics will allow easy identification of performance gaps and will make decision-making a more straightforward process. A successful application of the one-platform-approach is shown in a sandstone waterflood field in the South of Oman. It consists of over 20 inverted nine-spot patterns operating under matrix conditions. The online webpage platform provides an immediate hierarchical overview of pressure and sweep performance with automated recommendations on further injection optimization. At field level, property bubble maps, intake- and offtake trends with well averages are visualized. At pattern level, performance is ranked based on the pattern sweep efficiency and reservoir pressure. Zooming to the well level; allocated performance trends are easily accessible and linked to the injector performance. With the offered minimal data gathering and processing time, the waterflood performance reviews become a more frequent and easily accessible multi-disciplinary task. The automated pattern and well performance ranking with the built-in recommendations, based on the pre-defined limits in pressure, injection, voidage, etc. allow faster mitigating actions in areas of concern. It also provides quicker guidance of where further optimization in throughput can yield better conformance in sweep and pressure. Having the performance visualized in the geological and petrophysical maps readily highlights if the shortage in performance is linked to the reservoir quality or to the assumptions of the connectivity between the producers and the injectors. With the data seen in both time and space, gaps in surveillance, e.g. static pressure surveys, are easily identified. The integrated platform helped identify multiple opportunities to improve field performance; VRR moved from 0.6 to 0.9 with oil production increasing by about 5-10%, arresting the field decline. This approach adds to the continuous efforts in the oil industry to better manage waterflood developments within their operational constraints while aiming to maximize sweep and maintain a healthy pressure picture. It gives a holistic and hierarchal workflow allowing integrated understanding of the fields’ performance. It allows a better use of the resources efforts in addressing performance gaps and optimization opportunities rather than being spent on multiple-source data gathering & visualization.