Factors influencing oil recovery by surfactant-polymer flooding in conglomerate reservoirs and its quantitative calculation method

This study aims to clarify the factors influencing oil recovery of surfactant-polymer(SP)flooding and to establish a quantitative calculation model of oil recovery during different displacement stages from water flooding to SP flooding.The conglomerate reservoir of the Badaowan Formation in the seventh block of the Karamay Oilfield is selected as the research object to reveal the start-up mechanism of residual oil and determine the controlling factors of oil recovery through SP flooding experiments of natural cores and microetching models.The experimental results are used to identify four types of residual oil after water flooding in this conglomerate reservoir with a complex pore structure:oil droplets retained in pore throats by capillary forces,oil cluster trapped at the junction of pores and throats,oil film on the rock surface,isolated oil in dead-ends of flow channel.For the four types of residual oil identified,the SP solution can enhance oil recovery by enlarging the sweep volume and improving the oil displacement efficiency.First,the viscosity-increasing effect of the polymer can effectively reduce the permeability of the displacement liquid phase,change the oil-water mobility ratio,and increase the water absorption.Furthermore,the stronger the shear drag force of the SP solution,the more the crude oil in a porous medium is displaced.Second,the surfactant can change the rock wettability and reduce the absorption capacity of residual oil by lowering interfacial tension.At the same time,the emulsification further increases the viscosity of the SP solution,and the residual oil is recovered effectively under the combined effect of the above two factors.For the four start-up mechanisms of residual oil identified after water flooding,enlarging the sweep volume and improving the oil displacement efficiency are interdependent,but their contribution to enhanced oil recovery are different.The SP flooding system primarily enlarges the sweep volume by increasing viscosity of solution to start two kinds of residual oil such as oil droplet retained in pore throats and isolated oil in dead-ends of flow channel,and primarily improves the oil displacement efficiency by lowing interfacial tension of oil phase to start two kinds of residual oil such as oil cluster trapped at the junction of pores and oil film on the rock surface.On this basis,the experimental results of the oil displacement from seven natural cores show that the pore structure of the reservoir is the main factor influencing water flooding recovery,while the physical properties and original oil saturation have relatively little influence.The main factor influencing SP flooding recovery is the physical and chemical properties of the solution itself,which primarily control the interfacial tension and solution viscosity in the reservoir.The residual oil saturation after water flooding is the material basis of SP flooding,and it is the second-most dominant factor controlling oil recovery.Combined with the analysis results of the influencing factors and reservoir parameters,the water flooding recovery index and SP flooding recovery index are defined to further establish quantitative calculation models of oil recovery under different displacement modes.The average relative errors of the two models are 4.4%and 2.5%,respectively;thus,they can accurately predict the oil recovery of different displacement stages and the ultimate reservoir oil recovery.

Similarity-based laboratory study of CO_(2) huff-n-puff in tight conglomerate cores

Tight conglomerate reservoirs are featured with extremely low permeability,strong heterogeneity and poor water injectivity.CO_(2) huff-n-puff has been considered a promising candidate to enhance oil recovery in tight reservoirs,owing to its advantages in reducing oil viscosity,improving mobility ratio,quickly replenishing formation pressure,and potentially achieving a miscible state.However,reliable inhouse laboratory evaluation of CO_(2) huff-n-puff in natural conglomerate cores is challenging due to the inherent high formation pressure.In this study,we put forward an equivalent method based on the similarity of the miscibility index and Grashof number to acquire a lab-controllable pressure that features the flow characteristics of CO_(2) injection in a tight conglomerate reservoir.The impacts of depletion degree,pore volume injection of CO_(2) and soaking time on ultimate oil recovery in tight cores from the Mahu conglomerate reservoir were successfully tested at an equivalent pressure.Our results showed that oil recovery decreased with increased depletion degree while exhibiting a non-monotonic tendency(first increased and then decreased)with increased CO_(2) injection volume and soaking time.The lower oil recoveries under excess CO_(2) injection and soaking time were attributed to limited CO_(2) dissolution and asphaltene precipitation.This work guides secure and reliable laboratory design of CO_(2) huff-n-puff in tight reservoirs with high formation pressure.

Quantitative evaluation methods for waterflooded layers of conglomerate reservoir based on well logging data

The rapid changing near source, multi-stream depositional environment of conglomerate reservoirs leads to severe heterogeneity, complex lithology and physical properties, and large changes of oil layer resistivity. Quantitative evaluation of water-flooded layers has become an important but difficult focus for secondary development of oilfields. In this paper, based on the analysis of current problems in quantitative evaluation of water-flooded layers, the Kexia Group conglomerate reservoir of the Sixth District in the Karamay Oilfield was studied. Eight types of conglomerate reservoir lithology were identified effectively by a data mining method combined with the data from sealed coring wells, and then a multi-parameter model for quantitative evaluation of the water-flooded layers of the main oil-bearing lithology was developed. Water production rate, oil saturation and oil productivity index were selected as the characteristic parameters for quantitative evaluation of water-flooded layers of conglomerate reservoirs. Finally, quantitative evaluation criteria and identification rules for water-flooded layers of main oil-bearing lithology formed by integration of the three characteristic parameters of water-flooded layer and undisturbed formation resistivity. This method has been used in evaluation of the water-flooded layers of a conglomerate reservoir in the Karamay Oilfield and achieved good results, improving the interpretation accuracy and compliance rate. It will provide technical support for avoiding perforation of high water-bearing layers and for adjustment of developmental programs.

Origin and depositional characteristics of supported conglomerates

The origin and depositional characteristics of supported conglomerates in the Mahu Sag, Junggar Basin, Xinjiang, China, are examined. Based on the terminological comparison, modern sedimentary survey and core description, the initial connotation and similarities and differences in definition between supported conglomerates and other similar concepts are discussed, the modern sedimentary environment in which supported conglomerates develop is analyzed, and the sedimentological characteristics of supported conglomerates formed in different depositional environments revealed by the cores of Mahu conglomerate oil field in the Junggar Basin are described. The supported conglomerate is similar in texture to grain supported conglomerate and openwork conglomerate but has differences from them, so it is suggested to keep the term "supported conglomerate", but the formation mechanism of supported conglomerate needs to be re-examined. Through field survey of modern sediments in Baiyanghe alluvial fan, Huangyangquan alluvial fan, and Wulungu Lake in Xinjiang, it is found that supported gravels not only formed by flooding events but also by sieving, avalanching, fluvial sorting as well as wind and wave reworking in the depositional environments such as inter-mountain creek, colluvium fan, gravel channel on gobi and the fan surface, lake beach, delta front, subaerial debris flow and subwater grain-flow etc. Supported gravels could form supported conglomerate after being buried. Supported conglomerates of seven different origins have been recognized in the cores of the Triassic and Permian stratum of Mahu Depression, Junggar Basin, namely, supported conglomerates in gravel channel deposits, in wind reworked channel deposits, in gravel beach bar deposits, in wave reworked delta front deposits, in mouth bar deposits and in debris flow deposits respectively. The study shows the supported conglomerates may be formed by a single depositional event or by multi-events during the post-depositional sedimentary reworking and even in diagenesis stage. Through flume experiment, numerical simulation, empirical model and modern sediment survey, infiltration process of gravelly channel can be reconstructed and the primary pore structure of supported gravel can be estimated. Statistics on physical properties of various types of reservoirs in Triassic Baikouquan Formation of Mahu oilfield show that granule conglomerate and pebbly conglomerate have higher porosity and permeability, while the cobble and coarse pebble conglomerate have lower permeability, which indicates that the supported gravels are easy to be reworked by post depositional filtration and diagenesis, and thus decrease in porosity and permeability.

Conglomerate Reservoir Pore Evolution Characteristics and Favorable Area Prediction: A Case Study of the Lower Triassic Baikouquan Formation in the Northwest Margin of the Junggar Basin, China

This study examines the characteristics and pore evolution of the Baikouquan conglomerate reservoir in the Mahu sag of the Junggar Basin from original sedimentation and diagenesis.Analysis is based on core observation,thin section,X-ray diffraction,cathodoluminescence and image analysis,and combined with physical property and well log data.The results show that conglomerate reservoir in the Baikouquan Formation can be divided into three lithofacies types:TypeⅠis argillaceous filling conglomerate facies,in which cementation and dissolution are not developed,and the interstitial material is mainly argillaceous;TypeⅡis tuffaceous filling in fine conglomerate facies,in which volcanic rock debris,illite and dissolution are developed;TypeⅢis sandstone filling conglomerate facies,in which cementation and dissolution are developed.The reservoir undergoes complex diagenesis,and the diagenetic sequence is:compaction→early chlorite film→early calcite cementation→detritus,feldspar and tuffaceous dissolution→quartz secondary enlargement→late calcite cementation→oil invasion→forming illite.Quantitative study of pore evolution shows that dissolution and calcite cementation are relatively developed in lithofacies Type III,and that compaction has a great influence on lithofacies TypeⅠand II.According to comprehensive evaluation of lithofacies,diagenesis and pore structure characteristics,the reservoir space type is mainly the dissolution pore.It is mainly primarily mainly composed of lithofacies Type III,thickness of the gravel body is more than 25 m,porosity is generally more than 12%,which represents favorable conditions for the distribution of favorable reservoir.