The present method is directed towards the improved recovery of hydrocarbons from subterranean formations. More specifically the present method relates to a method of providing a preferential injection distribution in to a permeable formation from a horizontal well bore.
One process commonly used for in-situ recovery of highly viscous “tar-sand” based hydrocarbons (bitumen) is steam assisted gravity drainage (SAGD). SAGD relies on pairs of horizontal wells arranged such that one of the pair of horizontal wells, called the producer, is located below the second of the pair of wells, called the injector. Recovery of bitumen is accomplished by injecting steam into the injector wellbore. The steam then proceeds from the injector wellbore into the hydrocarbon bearing formation where it creates a steam chamber. As steam is continuously injected into the formation, it enters the steam chamber, migrates to the edge of the steam chamber and condenses on the interface between the chamber and bituminous formation. As the steam condenses, it transfers energy to the bitumen, which improves its mobility by heating it up and decreasing its viscosity. The mobile bitumen and condensed water flows down the edges of the steam chamber and into the producer wellbore. The fluid mixture that enters the producer well is then produced to surface.
One strategy used for preferred injection distribution of steam is to use a slotted liner with a low open area. In this strategy, the active mechanism for providing the improved injection fluid distribution is an increased radial flow resistance due to near well bore divergence losses.
Another strategy is to use a technique called “limited entry”. This technique involves injecting steam into a tubing string which is inside the substantially perforated liner of an injection well. The tubing string is equipped with a limited number of distributed perforations. The active mechanism in this strategy is utilization of the choked-flow phenomenon which limits mass-flow velocity through a restriction to sonic velocity.
There is therefore provided a method for distributing injection fluid in a horizontal well bore in fluid communication with hydrocarbon bearing formation comprises determining flow resistance characteristics of the formation along at least a portion of the length of the horizontal well bore. An injection tubing string having a sidewall defining a tubing bore is injected into the horizontal well bore. An annulus is defined between the horizontal well bore and the tubing string, the tubing string being provided with ports having a selected distribution and geometry communicating fluid between the tubing bore and the annulus. The annulus geometry is selectively controlled along the length of the tubing string through at least one of axial distribution of eccentricity and flow area of the annulus, so as to provide selected flow restriction characteristics along the annulus, such that when injection fluid is pumped into the tubing, a resulting flow resistance network is formed by the tubing bore, the ports, the annulus and the formation, resulting in a desired distribution of the fluid into the formation.
According to another aspect of the method, a preferential injection distribution of steam and heat from a horizontal well bore into a subterranean formation is provided. Initially, a horizontally oriented well is drilled into the formation. Next an apparatus according to the present invention is installed in the well bore. Steam is then supplied to the apparatus such that it provides a preferential distribution to the subterranean formation. The preferential distribution of steam may be uniform or it may be directed to the preferential recovery of hydrocarbons by targeting injection to areas of specific formation permeability or depletion history.
According to another aspect of the method, a first step includes determining the preferential distribution of injected fluid along the length of the horizontally positioned wellbore. A second step includes configuring the injection apparatus to deliver the preferential distribution of injection fluid by determining the appropriate sizing and spacing of injection openings, and the required annular gap. The apparatus consists of a sand control device and a smaller diameter tubular with a plurality of preferentially distributed injection openings positioned within the sand control device for the purpose of distributing fluid within the sand control device. A third step includes positioning the apparatus in a horizontal well bore. A fourth step includes supplying steam to the apparatus for preferential distribution to the well bore.
These and other features will become more apparent from the following description in which reference is made to the appended drawings. The drawings are for the purpose of illustration only and are not intended, in any way, to limit the scope of the method to the particular embodiment or embodiments shown, wherein:
Horizontal injection wells are most effective if the volume of injected steam is preferentially distributed along the length of the horizontal well which allows for creation of a uniform steam chamber along the length of the injector. In some cases the preferential distribution is uniform along the length of the well and in other cases the preferential distribution targets specific sections of the reservoir which are less depleted than other sections. The method described below may be used provide a preferential distribution of steam to a subterranean formation via a substantially horizontally positioned wellbore based on an assessment of the formation characteristics (such as permeability distribution, flow resistance in the formation, and depletion history), and to minimize injection pressures.
Referring to
Referring now to
Referring to
When determining how to obtain the preferred injection distribution, the various flow restrictions present in the system, or the flow resistance network, must be considered. In the tubing string 22, there is an axial flow restriction, and a radial flow restriction out of ports 19. In the annulus between tubing string 18 and ether well bore 12 or liner 28, there will be a radial flow restriction into through the liner 28 (if present) and into the formation, as well as an axial flow restriction along the annulus. Finally, there is also a flow restriction within the formation. It will be noted that these restrictions may be non-linear and variable along the length of the annulus. The actual restriction applied will depend on factors such as the fluid pressure, the geometry of the annulus or the ports 18, the flow resistance of the formation, the design of liner 28, etc. Thus, the flow resistance network may be manipulated to provide desired results by controlling certain variables. These variables include: the geometry of the tubing string including the shape and diameter; the geometry, density and position of ports 18; the geometry of the annulus including the size of the annulus, the eccentric position of tubing string 22 within bore 12, and restriction points within the annulus; and the presence or absence of a liner 28, including the geometry and permeability of the liner 28. This list is not intended to be exhaustive, and once the principles discussed herein are understood, other variables may be apparent to those skilled in the art. The details of these factors are discussed below.
With the method described herein, the distribution of flow from the tubular string into the annulus is controlled primarily by the through-wall flow resistance provided by the injection openings on the removable tubular string, the axial variation in pressure along the injection tubing 22, and the pressure differential between the injection tubing 22 and the annulus. Where the number and geometry of injection openings 18 imposes a significant restriction to flow and the cross-sectional area of the removable tubing string is adequate, the pressure distribution in the tubular annulus will be substantially more uniform than the distribution within the removable tubular string. The radial flow resistance of the tubing string and the associated improvement in injection fluid distribution must be balanced with the incremental pressure required to supply the desired flow rate through increased total flow resistance.
If the relationship between flow-rate and pressure drop for fluid flow through injection openings is non-linear such as the example shown in
Referring to
Various means may be provided to selectively control the annulus flow area. Examples of these include selection of the inside diameter of well bore 12 or liner 28 along the horizontal well length. Where no liner is used, in so called barefoot completions, selection of bit size combined with selectively under reaming may be used to control bore hole diameter, as is known in the art. Where liner 28 is used, the liner tubular inside diameter may be selected to provide a constant inside diameter or may be selected to provide intervals of differing diameter. Further means to control annulus flow area may be obtained by providing tubular fixturing 84 at intervals along the tubing string 84, as shown in
With reference to
An example of a situation where it would be desirable to narrow the annular gap would be where the well bore 12 being completed had axial non-uniformity in its flow resistance. In this situation, annulus geometry control would be exercised to make the annulus relatively narrow so that more of the injection fluid is forced to flow radially into the formation because the axial resistance to annular flow has been increased. By making the annulus smaller, more of the injection fluid is forced to flow radially into the formation because the axial resistance to annular flow has been increased.
An example of a situation where it would be desirable to change the geometry of the annulus by restricting certain points, such as by using tubular fixturing to provide an increase in the axial annular flow resistance at discrete points along the length of the well bore is where certain portions of the formation are to be targeted, or certain portions are to be avoided. For example, if the formation has previously been completed, but the injected fluid was not preferentially distributed, there may be some portions of the formation that it would be beneficial to inject steam into. Alternatively, there may be a “thief zone”, or a zone with a low flow resistance that accepts the injected fluid at a lower pressure than other areas, such that the effectiveness of the pressurized fluid is reduced in other areas. Other such situations will be apparent to those skilled in the art.
Slotted tubing perforations provide the preferred geometry for tubing perforations as they are the least sensitive to the proximity of the inside diameter of the sand control device 28. The injection tubing may be resting on the bottom surface of the inside diameter of the sand control device 28 thus restricting injection through perforations aligned with or nearly aligned with the bottom of the injection tubing. In this configuration, the relatively large perimeter to flow area ratio of the slotted perforation decreases the flow restriction caused by the proximity of the inner diameter of the sand control device 28. This allows more accurate prediction of flow characteristics and thus more accurate distribution of steam. Additionally, slotted tubing perforations provide the preferred injection opening geometry because they can be produced economically in a range of quantities and distributions to provide the radial flow control required.
Another advantage of this method is that the preferentially distributed injection openings are located on a retrievable tubing string and as such the tubing string may be cleaned, replaced, modified, or re-positioned at any point in the well life. Similarly, existing injection wells may be re-completed with such an injection string to improve overall injection performance, or to direct injected fluid to regions of the reservoir that were not reached with the original completion strategy. In these situations an understanding of the well history, the permeability distribution and the preferred injection distribution will allow optimal recompletion.
It will be also noted that other factors may be considered when characterizing the well. For example, the well spacing in SAGD operations may be taken into account. In locations where injector and producer wells were closer together, pressure variations along the injection well may be desirable to prevent steam breakthrough to the production well. Another factor includes the evolution of steam chamber/preferential steam chamber growth. If through field measurements, taken using, for example, tiltmeter, microseismic, etc., steam chamber growth is determined not to be ideal, the well can be recompleted with adjusted steam distribution.
In some instances, the preferred distribution of injection fluid in horizontal well bores is uniform. It has been discussed in the prior art that to achieve uniform distribution, the radial flow resistance for the injection fluid must be increased relative to the axial flow resistance. The trade-off to increasing radial flow resistance is that the injection pressure must be increased in order to supply the equivalent amount of injection fluid to the reservoir. Increasing injection pressure places higher temperature and pressure demands on the fluid injection apparatus.
In other instances, the preferred distribution of injection fluid will not be uniform. This may be the case in a situation with variable formation permeability as previously described, wherein the central formation region has permeability five times lower than outer regions. If more fluid injection into the low permeability zone is required, the perforations may be preferentially distributed along the central portion of the well bore. An example of the resulting injection distributions is shown in
In certain cases the flow rate exiting the perforations in the tubing may have high enough velocity that it creates a risk of damage to the inside surface of the sand control device 28 due to impingement. Referring to
One of the advantages of the method and apparatus described above is that it can be used to provide a preferential injection distribution into a subterranean formation where the injection distribution is largely independent of local variations in formation permeability. Another advantage is that it can be used to provide a preferential injection distribution into a subterranean formation where the preferential injection distribution is not uniform.
In this patent document, the word “comprising” is used in its non-limiting sense to mean that items following the word are included, but items not specifically mentioned are not excluded. A reference to an element by the indefinite article “a” does not exclude the possibility that more than one of the element is present, unless the context clearly requires that there be one and only one of the elements.
The following claims are to understood to include what is specifically illustrated and described above, what is conceptually equivalent, and what can be obviously substituted. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that various adaptations and modifications of the described embodiments can be configured without departing from the scope of the claims. The illustrated embodiments have been set forth only as examples and should not be taken as limiting the invention. It is to be understood that, within the scope of the following claims, the invention may be practiced other than as specifically illustrated and described.
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PCT/CA2008/000135 | 1/29/2008 | WO | 00 | 2/2/2010 |
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