INTRODUCTION

Forwater to be
produced in the
reservoir, 3
factors must be
present:

Source of water.
Pressure drawdown.

High water relative

permeability.

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NOW LETS DISCOVER OUT:

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WHAT IS WATER
CONING?

Water coning is defined

as the upward
movement of water into
the perforations of a
producing well under
certain conditions.
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WHAT IS WATER
CONING?

GOC

OWC
WHAT IS WATER
CONING?

Low production rate

OWC
WHAT IS WATER
CONING?

High production rate

OWC
MECHANISM OF WATER
CONING
Three forces that affect the
mechanism of water coning:

Capillary force.

Gravity force.

Viscous force.
MECHANISM OF WATER
CONING (CONTD)
(1) Capillary Force:
Pc
Capillary pressure is the
difference in pressure
across the interface
between two immiscible
fluids.
dPc
Capillary force S , psi / ft
dSw
Ithas a negligible effect on
water coning and can be
Sw
neglected.
MECHANISM OF WATER
CONING (CONTD)
(2) Gravity Force:

Arises
from the density difference
between fluids.

Gravity force , psi / ft
144
MECHANISM OF WATER
CONING (CONTD)
(3) Viscous Force:

Results due to pressure drawdown.

Viscous force , psi / ft
0.00633k
MECHANISM OF WATER
CONING (CONTD)

WOC deforms (rise up) when the

viscous force has the major
effect that overcome the
gravitational force in the
reservoir.
 FACTORS THAT AFFECT
THE NATURE AND SHAPE
OF THE CONE

Production rate,
Mobility ratio,
Horizontal and vertical
permeability, and
Well penetration.
IMPACT OF WATER CONING

Loss of the total field overall recovery,

Early abandon of the afflicted well,

Reduction in the efficiency of the drive

mechanism,
Corrosion of casing, tubing, and surface

facilities,
High cost due to water disposal,

Strong environmental impact due to the huge

volumes of water produced at the surface.
CRITICAL RATE IN
VERTICAL WELLS
Two Criteria :

Critical
Oil Production
It is defined as theRate:
maximum
allowable oil flow rate that can be
Time To from
charged Breakthrough.
the well to avoid
water coning.
CRITICAL RATE IN VERTICAL
WELLS (CONTD)
To determine the critical flow rate,
there are many approaches:
Meyer and Garder method.
Chaperon's approach:
hk h
q oc 4.886 * 10 4
( h) q oc
*

o o
Where:
h Kh
q *
oc (0.7311 1.943 )
r Kv
CRITICAL RATE IN VERTICAL
WELLS (CONTD)
Joshiapproach.
Abass and Bass Method.
The Chierici-Ciucci Approach:
Assumptions:
Homogenous reservoir (either
isotropic or anisotropic).
Limited aquifer that doesnt
contribute to the energy of the
reservoir.
CRITICAL RATE IN VERTICAL
WELLS (CONTD)
The Chierici-Ciucci Approach:

They used these studies to:

Determining the value of the critical

coning rate at given reservoirs and fluid
properties.

Optimizing the position and length of the

perforated interval at critical coning rate.
 TIME TO BREAKTHROUGH
IN VERTICAL WELLS
Two Criteria :

IfaCritical
well produces above its
Oil Production Rate: critical
rate, the cone will breakthrough
after a given time
Time To Breakthrough:
period, this
time is called time to
breakthrough Tbt.
 TIME TO BREAKTHROUGH
IN VERTICAL WELLS
(CONTD)
1) The Sobocinski-Cornelius
Correlation:

He correlated this equation using

two dimensionless parameters:
Cone height (z)
dimensionless breakthrough time ( T DBt ).
 TIME TO BREAKTHROUGH
IN VERTICAL WELLS
(CONTD)
2) The Bournazel-Jeanson Method:

His correlation is based on

experimental data:
 TIME TO BREAKTHROUGH
IN VERTICAL WELLS
(CONTD)
3) Kuo and Desbrisay (1983) :

Prediction of the rise in WOC

using MBE.
His results depend up on:
Dimensionless breakthrough time TDBt
.
Dimensionless limiting water-cut
limit.
CASE STUDY ON A
VERTICAL WELL
A vertical well was given these
data:
w=62.4 lb/cuft h=175 ft
o=59 lb/cuft h =15 ft
p
o=1.0841 res cuft/ =60 cp
o
scf re=1900 ft
Kh=1000 md
Q =4000
o
Kv=0.6Kh md
STB/day
 CASE STUDY ON A
VERTICAL WELL (CONTD)
(1) Critical Oil Rate:
Using Chaperons Approach,
calculate Qoc :
At this base case we find:
Qoc =100 STB/day

Make a sensitivity on o, kh , and hp

to find their effect on Qoc.
EFFECT OF OIL VISCOSITY
ON THE CRITICAL RATE
o Qoc
60 100
55 110
50 120
45 135
40 150
35 170
30 200
25 240
20 300
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EFFECT OF PERMEABILITY
ON THE CRITICAL RATE
Kh Kv Qoc
1000 600 100
950 570 95
900 540 90
850 510 85
800 480 80
750 450 75
700 420 70
650 390 65
600 360 60
500 300 50
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 EFFECT OF PERFORATION
LOCATION ON THE CRITICAL
RATE
hp Qoc

15 100
20 95
25 88.5
30 82.5
40 71.5
50 61.5
60 52
70 43

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AT THIS CASE STUDY:
hp....kh....o

350
300
250
200
Q oc 150
100
50
0
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2

Normalized parameter

We can find that o & kh and hp have the same

effect on Qoc in the interval from o =36 to 60 cp.
o affects Qoc sharply from o =20 to 36 cp.

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 CASE STUDY ON A
VERTICAL WELL (CONTD)
(2) Time to Breakthrough:
Using Bournazel-Jeanson method,
calculate Tbt :
At this base case we find:
Tbt =30 days.
Make a sensitivity on o, kh & Qo to

get their effect on Tbt.

EFFECT OF VISCOSITY ON
TBT
o Tbt
60 30

50 33

40 38

30 45

20 58
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EFFECT OF ROCK
PERMEABILITY ON TBT
Kh Kv Tbt
1000 600 30
900 540 27
800 480 24
700 420 21
600 360 18

500 300 15

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EFFECT OF OIL
PRODUCTION RATE ON TBT
Qo Tbt
4000 30

3000 40

2000 60

1000 123

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AT THIS CASE STUDY:

o and kh may have the same effect on Tbt.

Qo has the great effect on Tbt.

o affects Tbt sharply from 20 to 39 cp.

WATER CONING IN
HORIZONTAL WELLS
 WATER CONING IN
HORIZONTAL WELLS
(CONTD)
Water-oil interface deforms into a
crest.

As production rate is increased, the

height of the water crest also
increases until the rate reaches a
critical rate, at which the crest
becomes unstable and water flows
into the well.
(2-phase interface coning)
 FACTORS AFFECT
CONING IN HORIZONTAL
WELLS
Effect of Length.
Effect of production rate.
Effect of well spacing.
Effect of anisotropy ratio.
Effect of well position.
Effect of reservoir geometry.
 EFFECT OF LENGTH
1. Simulation Study by Kossack and
Kleppe:

A 1500ft horizontal well would produce

the same amount of oil as two
vertical wells in a typical sector
pattern.

A 2000ft horizontal well would perform

even better than three vertical wells.
 EFFECT OF LENGTH
(CONTD)
Time to shut in is the time the well
produces before shut-in is necessary due
to high water-cut.
TIME TO SHUT-IN

STB/D 8000
STB/D 4000

LENGTH OF HORIZONTAL
SECTION
 EFFECT OF LENGTH
(CONTD)
2. Work of Butler:
S: spacing between Hz. wells.
L: length of Hz. well.
A length equal to one quarter of the
spacing between parallel horizontal wells
has the same critical rate as a vertical well.

Critical rates in horizontal wells are

proportional to the length of the horizontal
wells.
EFFECT OF RATE
1. Study by Karcher:
For favorable mobility ratio critical rate
did not exhibit any major sensitivity.

For unfavorable mobility ratio recovery

dropped from 11.6% to 6.5% as rate
increased from 22 to 42 times the
critical rate.
EFFECT OF RATE
(CONTD)
2. Work of Zagalai and Murphy:
Reservoir simulation study of horizontal
wells in the Helder-Field (Dutch
Continental Shelf).
Results:
A horizontal well is affected more
adversely by high gross rates.
Rate has a strong influence on water cut
performance (Q increase W.C.
increase).
EFFECT OF WELL
SPACING
1. Work of Yang and
Wattenbarger:

They found that increasing drainage

width in horizontal wells resulted
in delayed breakthrough.
EFFECT OF WELL
SPACING (CONTD)
2. Work of Lacy et al.:
They found that higher well spacing is
desirable in horizontal wells for two
reasons:
1) Incremental reserves should be
proportional to incremental costs.
2) Early production data demonstrates
that the horizontal wells can drain a
large area in a small time even in
tight reservoirs.
EFFECT OF ANISOTROPY
RATIO (CONTD)
As Kv increases, Qcv decreases. But
for horizontal wells, an increase
in Kv results in an increase in Qch.

High values of the vertical permeability Kv

resulted in later breakthrough of water.
EFFECT OF WELL
POSITION
Criticalrate was analyzed by
determining the critical rate for well
positions corresponding to ZD values of
1.0, 0.75, 0.50, 0.25.
ZD: the dimensionless number,

Hoil
Ht
WOC
EFFECT OF WELL
POSITION (CONTD)
Horizontal Reservoir
(a=1.0)
Length Qc Qc Qc Qc
(ft.) (STBPD) (STBPD) (STBPD) (STBPD)

ZD= 1.0 ZD= ZD= ZD=

0.75 0.50 0.25
500 120 100 80 40
1000 220 200 140 80
2000 380 340 240 140
3000 540 480 340 200
EFFECT OF WELL
POSITION (CONTD)
EFFECT OF WELL
POSITION (CONTD)
EFFECT OF RESERVOIR
GEOMETRY
We have three reservoir geometries:
1.Case (A): 4500*4500 sq.ft. (Square)
2.Case (B): 2250*4500 sq.ft.
(Rectangular)
3.Case (C): 1250*4500 sq.ft. (Base Case)

Itwas observed that increasing the area of

the reservoir results in an increase in the
critical rate.
 EFFECT OF RESERVOIR
GEOMETRY (CONTD)
HORIZONTAL RESERVOIR
ZD = 1.0 ZD = 0.5
4500x4500 2250x4500 4500x4500 2250x4500

Well Qc Qc Qc Qc
Length (STBPD) (STBPD) (STBPD) (STBPD)
(ft)
1000 260 240 160 160
2000 460 420 300 260
3000 680 640 440 400
CHAPERONS APPROACH
Assumptions:
The well was assumed to be near the
top.

The flow would be radial around the

well bore.

It might approach linear properties as

the distance from the well bore
increase.
WE WILL WORK ON OUR
CASE USING:

Chaperon method:

kh h 2 5L
Qoc ~
0.00049 w o
o ye

L=well length(ft)
Ye=the drainage area half length(ft)
Water density& oil density (gm/cc)
CASE STUDY ON A
HORIZONTAL WELL
A horizontal well was given these
data:
w=62.4 lb/ cuft h=59 ft
o= 59 lb/ cuft =0.3

o=1.05 res cuft/ o=60 cp

scf L=500 m
Kh=5500 md Qo=6000 bbl/day
Kv=0.6*Kh md

Mohamed May 6, 2017 53

 CASE STUDY ON A
HORIZONTAL WELL
(CONTD)
(1) Critical Oil Rate:
Calculate Qoc .

At this base case we find that:

Qoc =47 STB/day

Make a sensitivity on o, kh , and L

to find their effect on Qoc.
EFFECT OF PERMEABILITY
ON THE CRITICAL RATE
Kh o h L(m) Ye(ft) w o Qoc
5500 60 59 500 1500 62.4 59 47
5000 43
4500 38
4000 34
3500 30
3000 27
2500 21
2000 17
1500 13
1000 8.5
EFFECT OF WELL LENGTH
ON THE CRITICAL RATE
o Kh L(m) Ye(ft) w o h Qc

60 5500 500 1500 62.4 59 59 47

400 38

300 28
EFFECT OF OIL VISCOSITY
ON THE CRITICAL RATE
o Kh L(m) Ye(ft) h(ft) w o Qc

60 5500 500 1500 59 62.4 59 47

50 56

40 70.5

30 94

20 141
AT THIS CASE STUDY:

We can find that kh & L have the same

effect on Qoc.

o affects Qoc sharply from 20 to 40 cp.

o may be consider have the same effect of

 CASE STUDY ON A
HORIZONTAL WELL
(CONTD)
(2) Time to Breakthrough:
Using Papatzacos method:
 CASE STUDY ON A
VERTICAL WELL (CONTD)

Calculate Tbt .
At this base case, we find that:

Tbt =67 days.

Make a sensitivity on o, L, kh, &

Qo to get their effect on Tbt.
EFFECT OF VISCOSITY ON
TBT
L(m
o o Qo h w o Kh Kv qd Tdbt Tbt
)
6 1.0 600 5 62. 5 550 330 5.48 0.03 0.
500 67
5 0 9 4 9 0 0 1 1 3
0
5 0.03 67.
4.57
0 7 1

4 3.65 0.04 67.

0 5 7 5

3 0.06
2.74 68
EFFECT OF WELL LENGTH
ON TBT
o o Qo
L h w o Kh Kv Qd Tdbt Tbt
6 1.0 600 60 5 62. 5 550 330 4.5 0.037 0. 80.

0 5 0 0 9 4 9 0 0 7 4 3 5
50 5.4 0.031 67
0 8

40 6.8 0.024 53
0 5 7

30 9.4 0.018 40
0 1 6
 EFFECT OF ROCK
PERMEABILITY ON TBT
o o Qo L(m h w o Kh Kv qd Tdbt Tbt
)
6 1.0 600 500 5 62. 5 550 330 5.4 0.03 0. 67
0 5 0 9 4 9 0 0 8 3
500 300 6.0 0.028 66.7
0 0 3
450 270 6.7 0.025 66.5
0 0
400 240 7.5 0.022 66.4
0 0 4
350 210 8.6 0.019 66.3
0 0 1
300 180 10 0.016 66.2
0 0 7
250 150 12 0.013 66
EFFECT OF POROSITY ON
TBT
o o Qo L(m h w o Kh Kv qd Tdbt Tbt
)
6 1.0 600 500 5 62. 5 550 330 6.3 0.02 0.3 67
0 5 0 9 4 9 0 0 1 7
0.2 56
5
0.2 44.
5
0.1 33
5
0.1 22
EFFECT OF OIL
PRODUCTION RATE ON TBT
o o Qo L(m h w o kh kv qd Tdbt Tbt
)
6 1.0 600 500 5 62. 5 550 330 5.4 0.03 0. 67
0 5 0 9 4 9 0 0 8 1 3
500 4.5 0.03 80.5
0 7 7
400 3.6 0.04 101
0 5 7
300 2.7 0.06 136.
0 4 3 5
200 1.8 0.09 209.
0
Mohamed 2
May 6, 2017 7 5 65
AT THIS CASE STUDY:

We can find on horizontal wells:

Qo have the greatest effect on Tbt,
either has a contrast effect on Tbt
L play a major role in Tbt.
STUDY RESULTS FOR THE
HORIZONTAL WELLS

1. o has the chief effect on

Qoc.

2. Qo has the greatest effect

on Tbt.
REMEDIAL PROCEDURES

Why do we need remedial

procedures?

Mohamed May 6, 2017 68

REMEDIATION OF WATER
CONING
Can Be Divided into Two Categories:

After coning occurs.

Before coning occurs.

 REMEDIATION OF WATER
CONING
SqueezeAfter coning occurs
cement:

Perforation at or
closed to OWC. Oil
Squeeze cement
into the formation.
Formation of O.W.C
impermeable
barriers. Water

Mohamed May 6, 2017 70

REMEDIATION OF WATER
CONING (CONTD)
After coning occurs

Plug off
lower
perforatio Oil

n:
O.W.C

Sealthe lower Water

perforation
REMEDIATION OF WATER
CONING (CONTD)
After coning occurs

Mobility reduction:

Polymer injection.

M<=1 Favorable mobility ratio

REMEDIATION OF WATER
CONING (CONTD)
After coning occurs
Cross Linked Polymer Gels:

Injecting a gelling fluid into the well or

into a high permeability watered-out
zone.

Restricting flow in that zone.

REMEDIATION OF WATER
CONING (CONTD)
After coning occurs
Cross Linked Polymer Gels:

Problems of Cross-Linked Gels:

Retention and adsorption of the cross-

linking agents on the rock surface.
Long term stability of polymers.
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REMEDIATION OF WATER
CONING (CONTD)
After coning occurs
Cross Linked Polymer Gels:

Problems of Cross-Linked Gels:.

Environmental undesirability of using cross-linking

agents such as chromium.

Difficultyin controlling gelation kinetic placement

of the gel deep into the formation.
Mohamed May 6, 2017 75
REMEDIATION OF WATER
CONING (CONTD)
After coning occurs
PH Triggered Gels:

Placeddeep into the water bearing

parts of the reservoir.

Doesnt
involve any cross linking
polymer for inducing gelation.
REMEDIATION OF WATER
CONING (CONTD)
After coning occurs
PH Triggered Gels:

Advantages:
Depends on the pH of the polymer
solution.
More environmentally friendly.
Easily reversible and readily cleans up.

Mohamed May 6, 2017 77

REMEDIATION OF WATER
CONING (CONTD)
After coning occurs

shut in well:

Stabilize OWC. Oil

O.W.C

Water
REMEDIATION OF WATER
CONING (CONTD)
Before coning occurs
Fracturing:
Fracturing the formation.
Increasing QC by 3 times.

Multilateral wells:
Intelligent completions.
 PREVENTING CONING
PROBLEM BY
COMPLETION CONTROL

Perforation under oil water contact.

Dual Completion.

Downhole Water Sink Technology.

PREVENTING CONING
PROBLEM BY COMPLETION
CONTROL(CONTD)
Could be the best choice in case
of:

Bottom water drive

Strong tendency to water coning

 PERFORATION UNDER
OIL-WATER CONTACT
Technique
Description:

Perforation interval
Oil Zone
is extended to the
O.W.C
water zone. .

Water Zone
The comingled
production of water
and oil in one string.
 PERFORATION UNDER
OIL-WATER CONTACT
(CONTD)
The Main Purpose of this
Technique:
Maintain radial flow of fluid.

Disadvantages:
Unwanted environmental problems caused
by the disposal of the contaminated water.
Corrosion to the tubing.

High lifting cost.

DUAL COMPLETION
(CONTD)
Two perforations in the oil
zone:

Oil zone

.O.W.C

Water zone
DUAL COMPLETION
(CONTD)
Perforation in both oil & water
zones:

Oil zone

.O.W.C

Water zone
DOWNHOLE WATER
SINK TECHNOLOGY

Mohamed May 6, 2017 86

DWS SYSTEMS
There are 2 applicable systems:

Drainage-injection systems.

Drainage-production systems.
DWS SYSTEMS (CONTD)
Drainage Injection
System
DWS SYSTEMS (CONTD)
Drainage Production System

Mohamed May 6, 2017 89

THE FIELD FIELD
APPLICATIONS
California Field.

East Texas Field.

CALIFORNIA FIELD
APPLICATION
Conventional Completion:
6 BOPD with 99 % W.C.

DWS Completion:
900 BWPD
25 BOPD
58 % W.C.
EAST TEXAS FIELD
APPLICATION
Conventional Completion:
Watered-out well

DWS Completion:
24 BOPD with 97 % W.C.
ADVANTAGES OF DWS
Eliminateor reduce water from the upper
perforation.

Produceuncontaminated water from the

lower perforation.

Improves productivity up to 77%.

Reduces the pressure drawdown.

TECHNIQUE
RECOMMENDATIONS
Optimum well Production rates should be
used.

Adjusting the oil and water drainage

rates.

createsopposing pressure drops on the

water-oil contact.

thereby stabilizing the cone.

COMPARISON BETWEEN
DWS AND
CONVENTIONAL WELLS
 DWS AND
CONVENTIONAL WELLS
(CONTD)