Study of Water Huff-n-Puff in Low-Permeability Oil Reservoirs With Horizontal Fractures: A Case Study of Chang 6 Reservoir in Yanchang, China

Abstract

Water huff-n-puff is an effective technology to enhance oil recovery (EOR) of low-permeability reservoirs, which are usually developed with hydraulic fracturing. Fluid exchange between fractures and the matrix is the main EOR mechanism. However, the presented water huff-n-puff simulations usually assume vertical fracture morphology, while the horizontal fractures formed in shallow reservoirs are rarely reported. In this study, we first introduced the water huff-n-puff process in a low-permeability oil reservoir with horizontal fractures and described the multiphase flow characteristics during the huff, soak, and puff stages. Then combined with a series of experiments, a comprehensive method is used to determine the key flow parameters, that is, capillary pressure and relative permeability. Finally, using the Chang 6 reservoir as an example, a series of numerical simulations were conducted to demonstrate the effect of water huff-n-puff on the well performance in this field. The simulation results showed that oil production is mainly affected by the injection volume and injection rate, while water production mainly depends on the well shut-in time. For a typical well in this field, the optimal injection volume, injection rate, and well shut-in time are 300 m3, 10 m3/d, and 30 days, respectively. In addition, our results showed that increasing the number of cycles not only benefits fluid exchange but also enhances the formation pressure. Both of them can accelerate the development of low-permeability oil reservoirs.