An Engineering Approach To Predicting Post-Treatment Well Performance Using Selective Chemical Water Shut-Off Techniques: An RPM Example

The demand for effective selective chemical water control techniques is at an all time high, as old fields tend towards maturity and decline. This has become even greater, as the industry trend is toward horizontal and high angle well completions, where techniques to mitigate water production at breakthrough and subsequent to that, still remain elusive. Even when an effective solution is identified in laboratory tests, the absence of a reliable method to predict actual job posttreatment performance remains a major obstacle to the building of confidence in the field. In addition to the difficulty in establishing conviction of potential users, a poor ability to predict the results also limits the ability to recycle and build on the successes of these technologies, as well as to explain their failures and improve on job designs. The aim of this paper is therefore to present an easy method for predicting the outcome of selective matrix water control chemical treatments - specifically with relative permeability modifiers (RPMs). This method applies reservoir fluid mechanics principles and uses tools already available in the oil industry's predictive inventory. It also links laboratory test results with field performance prediction. The method is more of a guide. Specific field circumstances may lead to modification of certain assumptions. The core reasoning should however apply to most circumstances where RPM technologies are properly applied. As an initial tool for use, this approach should help provide a first order of magnitude performance prediction, while further applications and results would be used to fine tune its predictability. This paper also presents an easy-to-follow procedure to assist with the understanding of this RPM-treatment prediction technique.