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Mechanisms of Formation Damage and Permeability Impairment Associated With The Drilling, Completion and Production of Low API Gravity Oil Reservoirs
Mechanisms of Formation Damage and Permeability Impairment Associated With The Drilling, Completion and Production of Low API Gravity Oil Reservoirs
ABSTRACT
9,
The economicproduction of heavy oil reservoirsrequiresan indepth understandingof the specific mechanismsof fonnation
damagewhich are unique to these types of formations. This
paperwill provide a brief descriptionof someof the dominant
mechanismsof permeability impainnentwhich can occur in low
API gravity oil-producing zones. Theseinclude:
..
..
1
3
4.
6.
Drilling induceddamage
solids entrainment
fines migration
rock/fluid incompatibilities
fluid/fluid incompatibilities
Reactiveclay induceddamage
Formationof emulsions(water-oil, oil-water)
Foamy oil phenomena
Sandcontrol and consolidationissues
Completion induced damage,acidizing, solvent injection,
etc.
Thennally inducedformation damage
mineral transformations
mineral and formation dissolution
wettability alterations
Biologically inducedformation damageissues
..
.
INTRODUCTION
Heavyoil reservoirspresenta unique challengeto reservoirand
exploitation engineersas they exhibit propertiesnot commonly
found in normal more conventionalAPI gravity oil reservoirs.
Theseinclude:
Properties associated directly with the heavy oil such as high
asphaltene(and possibly paraffm) content, extreme viscosity,
solids content and a propensity to fonn stable water in oil or
gas in oil emulsions.
~AJOR
HEAVY
FORMATION
OIL
RESERVOIRS --
DAMAGE
MECHANISMS
IN
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2.
3.
4.
Mechanicallyinducedfonnatjon damage
Chemjcally inducedfonnation damage
Biologically inducedfonnation damage
Thennally inducedfonnation damage
SPE 30320
SPE 30320
Clay Reaction
Sinceof the majority of heavyoil producingformationsareoften
containedin clastic formations, a variety of different types of
authigenicand detrital clays may be presentsuch as kaolinite,
smectite,mixed layer clays, chlorite and illite. Each of these
particularclayshastheir own potentialsensitivity with respectto
differenttypesofformation damagemechanisms.Kaolinite clay,
as already mentioned, has a propensity to be susceptibleto
velocity inducedmigration associatedwith high flow ratesand
pressureshocks. Mixed layer or smectitic clays (Figure 7) are
susceptibleto swelling causedby contactwith either low salinity
or fresh water. The expansionof the smectitic or mixed layer
lattice can causea constriction in the pore systemand result in
substantialreductionsin permeability. This phenomenahasbeen
well documentedby a number of authors(16).
Another potentially significantly damaging mechanism of
permeability impaimlent in unconsolidatedsandstonereservoirs
containing heavy oils is that of clay deflocculation. Clay
deflocculation is less well understoodthan clay swelling and
representsa disruption of electrostaticbondswhich are holding
the claystogetherin a boundor flocculatedstate. Abrupt contact
with a pH shockor significant alterationin brine chemistry(such
as the introduction of fresh or low salinity water) can causea
disruptionof theseelectrostaticforcesand result in dispersionof
the clays and subsequentmigration and significant reductionsin
permeabilitydue to blocking and bridging. This phenomenais
discussed in detail in the literature(8)and is schematically
illustrated in Figure 8.
In many cases,producing heavy oil formations are inadvertently
damaged by the use of low salinity or fresh water simply because
preliminary petrographic analysis indicates an absenceof classical
fresh water swelling clays such as smectite. A variety of other
particulates, including kaolinite clay, can be susceptible to
detlocculation induced damage and this can have significant
results with respect to impaired productivity.
Wettabilitv Alterations
Wettability of porous media is strongly controlled by the physical
adsorption of heavy polar constituents on the surface of the rock.
This adsorption is governed by temperature considerations. As
temperature becomes higher, the amount of physical adsorption
decreasesand many of the heavy polar constituents tend to be
physically desorbed from the surface of the rock. This generally
results as temperature increases in formations tending to become
more and more water-wet. This is schematically illustrated in
Figure 10. This generally has favorable connotations in that the
relative permeability to oil is generally increased while the
relative permeability to water is reduced. This is particularly
beneficial in cyclic stearnflood projects where the mobility ratio
SPE 30320
3.
REFERENCES
Sydansk, R.D.: "Stabilizing Clays With Potassium
Hydroxide", JPT (Aug. 1984) 1366.
LaboratoryTeststo EvaluateFonnationDama2eMechanismsin
Heavy Oil Reservoirs
2.
A wide suiteof avajlablelaboratorytechnologyexiststo evaluate
many of the potential fonnation damagemechanismswhich have
been discussedin this paper. A proper understandingof the
petrology and geology of the reservoir coupled with the flow
characteristicsof the rock, wettability, emulsificationpotentialof
the crude oil and specific tests with relationship to pore size
distribution and solid size distribution of the fluid systemsand
composition of the fluid systems proposed for drilling.
completion or stimulation can be evaluated in controlled
laboratorysituationsto obtain a significant degreeof confidence
in the proposed viability of specific drilling, completion,
production or operation scenarios. Additional information on
specificlaboratoryproceduresutilized for both conventionaland
heavy oil formation damage operations is contained in the
literature(2I-24).
),
4.
s.
6.
7.
8.
9.
injectivity.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The authorswish to expressappreciationto the managementof
Hycal Energy ResearchLaboratories Ltd. for pennission to
publish this paper.
CONCLUSIONS
A wide range of different potential types of fonnation damage
mechanisms have been discussed for heavy oil reservoirs. These
have been broadly classified into the subclassifications of
mechanical, chemical, biological and them1al1yinduced formation
damage. In the majority of operations in heavy oil, much of the
formation damage is typified to be of the mechanical nature with
physical invasion of solids and the formation of emulsions being
some of the more problematic offenders in many operational
situations. A proper understanding of the rock character involved
in a particular heavy oil reservoir coupled with a proposed fluid
program and the interaction of the fluids and contained solids
within the porous media is essential in understanding and
minimizing potential problems associatedwith formation damage
which will result in apparent reduction in the productivity or
Sloat, B.F.:
"Field Test Results With Alkaline
PotassiumSolutions to Stabilize Clays Pennanently",
SPERE(May 1990) 143.
10.
SPE 30320
12.
A.F.Bietz
20.
21.
22.
23.
24.
14.
1S.
16.
7.
18.
19.
FIGURE 1
IllUSTRATION OF EFFECT OF WETTABIUTY
ON FINES MOBILIZATION
FIGURE2
SOLIDS INVASIONINTOA
HOMOGENEOUSPORESYSTEM
--
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"""-
10__14_-
""
c..1.~
t-a_-
...~
to
---
AIr_-&-
~-~ ~ 10__10__&~
\It
-/
r--
FIGURE 3
MECHANISM OF SUSPENDED SOLIDS
ENTRAINMENT
FIGURE 4
MECHANISM OF
AQUEOUS PHASE TRAPPING
FIGURE 5
SEVERITY OF AQUEOUS PHASE TRAPPING
~
:a
~
m
~
Q.
~
10
20
I~
30
40
Water Saturation
50
S)
70
FIGURE 7
EXPANSION OF SWELLING CLAYS
Stabilized
Dehydrated
Expended
~ted
".,
Water
&ms~
----+
t,.-k_-tQnC!
t.,-k_-tQnC!
""
+-
--
.~
(N*:~
It8WkIg8
-diekIjed8cI
oils ~
~~
- . - 8dcIIkJfW
dam8ge
meybe~)
almpatible
n n-.abIe~ die
FIGURE 8
MECHANISM OF CLAY DEFLOCCULATION
-High
8aIk*Y
-~
-~
- Low I8InIy
-~
-DeIDcxxMI8d
- 0
H
.H
FIGURE 9
EXAMPLE OF FORMATION DAMAGE
MINERAL DISSOLUTION
FIGURE 10
INFLUENCE OF TEMPERATURE ON
RELATIVE PERMEABILITY/WETTABILITY
(Illustrative Example)