The design and application of a polymer EOR trial on Barrow Island*
Wisnu Widjanarko A , Paul Philip Welton B , Daniel Eduardo León Echeverría C , Lina Hartanto D , John Benjamin Smith Scott E , Alistair James Parr Fletcher F and Paul Leicester Creagh Costelloe GThe APPEA Journal 50(2) 702-702 https://doi.org/10.1071/AJ09066
Published: 2010
Abstract
The design and application of a chemical EOR pilot for a complex, low-permeability waterflood will be presented. Our focus has been on developing appropriate field application options, allowing flexibility of operation against a background of reservoir complexity and uncertainty.
Australia’s Barrow Island Windalia reservoir, the nation’s largest onshore waterflood, was developed in the late 1960s. Cumulative oil production to date is over 288 MMSTBO.
Planning a chemical EOR scheme needs to address the following reservoir and production characteristics:
highly heterogeneous, very fine grained, bioturbated argillaceous sandstone, high in glauconite;
high porosity (0.28) but low permeability (5 mD with 20 mD+ streaks);
production and injection necessarily stimulated by induced fractures;
highly saline and hard brine; and,
large waterflood pattern volumes (10 MMbbl at 20 acre well spacing).
Initial screening recommended that polymers be considered for sweep improvement and conformance control, although reservoir complexity presented a challenge.
In this paper, we summarise the subsurface studies, and subsequent petroleum engineering and facilities design, which lead to the successful pilot start-up in May 2009. In particular, we discuss the implications on design and operation of a pilot in a Class A nature reserve. Results from the proposed polymer pilot flood will allow assessment of further chemical EOR applications and potential field-wide scale-up.
Keywords: Australia, Barrow Island, chemical EOR, EOR, field trial, fractured injectors, low permeability, monitoring and surveillance, polymers, waterflood
Wisnu Widjanarko is the WA Oil Subsurface Development Team Leader with Chevron Australia and he joined Chevron in 2008. He has 20 years of experience in the reservoir engineering disciplines: including reservoir simulation; development planning; deserves; and, mature assets development. He has previously worked for ARCO, BP and Woodside in various locations worldwide. Wisnu has BSc in electrical engineering from Gadjah Mada University, Indonesia. |
Paul Welton has been the WA Oil Subsurface Manager since 2007 and is responsible for maximising recoveries from Barrow Island reservoirs. He has over 24 years’ experience with national and international E&P companies including: BP; Marathon; ADCO; BSP; Woodside; NAM; PDO; and Occidental in a range of petroleum engineering, production engineering, well engineering and operations roles. He has a BSc Hons in Petroleum Engineering from Imperial College, London. |
Daniel León has been involved in the EOR Windalia project since 2009, initially focussing on the surveillance and monitoring plan and after commissioning taking the role of Project Manager. He joined Chevron in 2006 as a reservoir engineer for the Gorgon Project and has been with the Barrow Island asset since 2008. |
Lina Hartanto has been the WA Oil Lead Reservoir Engineer since 2009 and is responsible for maximising and improving recoveries from Barrow Island reservoirs. She has over ten years’ experience with various oil and gas companies as a reservoir engineer at Woodside Energy Ltd and consultant at Roxar Pty Ltd in the range of reservoir engineering and reservoir characterisation. She has PhD and BEng (chemical engineering, Hons) from Curtin University of Technology, Perth. |
John Scott has been the project manager for the implementation of the Windalia EOR project since 2007. He headed up the multi-disciplinary team responsible for the reservoir surveillance and monitoring plans for the target wells and the installation and ongoing operation of the polymer injection equipment. John began his career in the oilfield with Schlumberger spending over 23 years filling various roles across the cementing, well testing, wireline, completions and integrated project management product lines, working in: Australia; Angola; China; Indonesia; Malaysia; Singapore; the UK; and Russia. He has been with Chevron since 2004 and holds qualifications in drilling engineering from Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen, UK. |
Alistair Fletcher has been an advisor to the Windalia EOR project since 2006. He has focussed on subsurface assessment, the laboratory and coreflood program, and design of the in-depth flow diversion (IFD) concept. Alistair began his career with BP as a reservoir engineer specialising in chemical EOR. He has also held positions with Curtin University of Technology, CSIRO Petroleum and the Petroleum Science and Technology Institute in the UK. |
Paul Costelloe has been the WA Oil Senior Facilities Engineer since 2005 and is responsible for mechanical equipment packages on Barrow Island. He has over 20 years’ experience in oil and gas production, petrochemical industries and original equipment manufacturers with companies such as: Saudi Aramco; SABICl; ExxonMobil; Shell; MK Kellogg; ABB Lummus; and Sulzer, covering a range of project engineering roles for mechanical packages and rotating equipment. He studied mechanical engineering at Coventry University, UK and also served with the British Armed Forces. |
References
Allard, D.N., Hillyer, M.G., Gerbacia, W.E., and Rychener, L.M., 1999—Empirical Risk Assessment of Infill Drilling Locations, Barrow Island, Australia. Society of Petroleum Engineers ATCE, Houston, 3–6 October. SPE 56816.Emanuel, A.S., Tang, R.W., McKay, D.M., and Ellis, M.H., 1993—A Hybrid Simulation Study of the Windalia Sand Waterflood. Society of Petroleum Engineers ATCE, Houston, 3–6 October. SPE 26477.
Fletcher, A.J.P., and Morrison, G.R., 2008—Developing a Chemical EOR Pilot Strategy for a Complex, Low Permeability Water Flood. Society of Petroleum Engineers, Improved Oil Recovery Symposium, Oklahoma, 19–23 April. SPE 112793.
Hatcher, G.B., Chen, H., Rahman, S.S., and Hogg, P.F., 1996—Evaluating Formation Damage Risks in a Glauconitic Sandstone Reservoir: A case History from the Offshore North West Shelf of Australia. Society of Petroleum Engineers, Asia Pacific Oil and Gas Conference, Adelaide, 28–31 October. SPE 37014.
Williams, C.T. (1977). An analysis of the production performance of the Windalia Sand Reservoir of the Barrow Island Oil Field. The APPEA Journal , 105–113.
