SPE-85

SOCIETYOF P?W+OLEUMENGINEERSOF AIME

6300 North central~pressway
Dallas 6, Texas
TRIS IS A PREPRINT---3~

WATER

INJECTION,

ABQAIQ

FIELD,

TO CORF@HION

ARAB-D

MEMBER,

SAUDI ARABIA
.,

By
R. Malinowski,Member AIME,
Arabian
AmericanOil CO., DhahranjSaudi Arabia
PublicationRights Reserved
Thispapgr is to be presenteda% the 36th Annual Fall Meettngof the Sooietyof Petroleum
Engineersof AIMI?in Dallas,Ootober8-11, 1961, and is consideredthe propertyof the Societyof
Permissionto publishis hereby restricted1A;an abs+raotof not more than
PetroleumEngineers.
300 words, withno illustrations,
unless the paper,isspeoifioallyreleaeedto the pressby the
Editor of the Journalof Petroleum!leohnology
or tiheExecutiveSeoretary. Suoh abstraotshouldcoritain oonspiouousacknowledgmentof where an& by whom the paper is presented. Publicationeleewhere
after publicationin Journalof PetroleumEngineersJournalis gramtedon request,providingproper
credit is given that publica%%onand the originalpresentationof the paper.
oopies of any discussionshouldbe sent to the
Discussionof this paper is invited.!J?hree,
Societyof PetroleumEngineersoffioe. Such discussionmay be presentedat %he above meetingand
consideredfor publicationin one of the two SPE magazineswith the paper.
ABSTRACT

/.

A peripheralwater injectionsystemwas
begun in%he AbqatqField of Saudi Arabia in1956.
The initialsystemoonsistedof gravityinjeotion into three nose wells. Folhxdng the completionof the fknk installationsand electrificationin 1958, injeotionrates were inoreaped
to the preaentra%e of 30 tio
40 MBD per well. The
fieldwater injeotionrate is approximately300
MBD.. The volumetriceffectivenessof injeoted
wa+er is 50 per @entand is expeotedto inorease
to 70-80per sent.,

J?IEKOHISTORY
The Abqaiq field was discoveredin 1940,but
full-soaledevelopmentdid not begin until 1946.
Figure 1 is a stmuctureoontourmap of the
Abqaiq field, For analy$i~alpurposesthe field
has been dividsdintotwo areas designatedA and
B as shown on %he map.
At presentthere are 61 producibleWS1lS in
the field. They are drilledon a contourpattern
and the averagespacing,
is about 5,000 feet.

Initialpressureat -6,500 feet datum was

The wate; supplysouroe,theWaqia formation,
i9 a prolificaquifercontainingnon-potablewater 3,395 psigand the bubble point of the resemoir
of 8,000 ppm total dissolvedsolids, The water is fluid is 2,545 psig. The reservoirwas undersaturated.
at disoovery.
oorros%ve, however,oorrosionis controlledby
inhibitorinjection. The Wasia water injeotion
Averagesolutiongas-oilratio is 850 eaf/SWl
systemis a dosed pressureays%em.
no ohange inproduoing
There has been essentially
gas-oilratio. Separationis done at oentrali~ed
A tenporaryseawater injeotionsyatemwas
separatorplants of whiah there arethree: one,
installedto evaluatethe problemsof a seawater
in AreaB and two in Area A. The etude goes
injeotionproject. The re4!uliX
of this projeot
throughseparationstagesof 500, 250, 50 and 2
are presented.
,, psig.
;
;
/
1
/

>

-----

n.

i5ri?i.o

The produo,tive
horizon is the Arab-D member
of Jurassioage and is encounteredat an average
depth of 6,5oo feet. It is a oaloarenite
primarilyof pel~et-type,althoughthere is a
oons~derableamount of true oolitehaving swell
developedoonoentriostruaturewith some dolomitization. The member is overiainby a seotionof
anhydrite, The produat%veintervalha~ a net
thicknessof 185 feet with an averageporosityof
21% and permeabilityof 410 md.

1957 and the completionoftheflank installation

a+ mid-1958,injwtion rates continuallyinorease
to the present rate of 30-40 l@ per well.

The water supplysourae,the Wasia formation

is a prolificaquifercontainingnon-potable
water of 8,000 ppm total dissolvedsolids. When
the well produ~ingrake is maintainedoonetant,
the produoedwater will have a suspendedsolfds
oontentof less than 1 ppm. This obviatedthe
need for filters; At the end of 1960, 230
millionbarrelsof water had been producedwith
In early 1954 pressuremaintenarmewas
no obsemable pressurechwdown. The water is
initiatedinAreaA when datum pressurehad
aorrosive
and am be controlledby inhibitors.
reaohed 2,450 psig. Pressurewas maintainedby
The corrosionrate has been reduce&from 10-20
injeotionof gas into Wells 6 and 50 near the
crest of the structure. Pressuremaintenancewas MPYwLth uninhibitedwater to less than 1 MPY
begun in 1957 Ln Area B by peripheralwater injec- using up to 10 ppm of various inhibitors. The
most effectivewas found to be Kontol 141 made by
Area A and B pressuresare to be
tion. !l!he
Tretolite.
maintainedas nearly equal as possible. In 1958
a third gas injectionwell, ?lell
80, was drilled
The water supply~ells are open hole comnorth of Well 50 to permit betlierdistributionof
pletionswith 9-5/8casin::set at the top of
injecrtion
gas and to lower the injeutionplant
the WaBia. Corrosioninhibitoris injecteddown
disohargepressure.
a small tubing stringin the supplywelle. In
As of the end of 1960 cumulativewithdrawals this reamer, the entireinjectionsystemis
wre 1.6 billionSI!Band the averab%daily produo- proteoted. Figure 6 is a photographof AWfl.34,
tion rate was 355,000STB. Figure 2 summarizes
awa$er SUPPlywell. The water injectionwells t
are open hole completionswith a 7 Liner setat
the fieldlsproduehlonhistory.
the top of the Arab-Dmember extendingtapabove
WATER INJECTIONFACILITIES
the shoe of the 9-5/8cwing. Figure7 sho?vs
the surfacefacilitiesat Yell 71.
Figure 3 shows the water injeotionfacilities
Figure 8 shows the generallayoutof the
installedin the B Area of the Abqaiq field.
PersianGulf intake~lant. The operationsonVlasiawater is injectedinto eight wells and
PersianGulf water is injectedinto one well, Well sists of liftingthq waier from the Gulf, passing
it through sand filtersand runningit t~rougha
74. The injectionwells are looatedin the
vacuum deaeratoroolumnwhere entrainedoxygen
aquiferaroundArea B. The wells a??e.spa~ed
.
equallyapprox~mately2-1/2 kilometersbeyond the 5s removed. Additionaloxygen removaltakes
place by the additionof sodium sulphite. A
originaloil-wateraorrtsct.The presentwater
b~cterioideaormsion inhibitor%s then injected.
injectionrate is approximately300 MBD,
The water is then pumped 10 miles througha 10-12
The Wasiawaterinjectionsystem,oonsists
of inch pipelineto the east flank injectionarea.
Here a second stage of filtrationis employed
%eupplywell and injectionwell(s)with twd
using a diatomac$eous
earth and asbestosfilter
eleotriaallydriven800 HP oentrifigzil
pumps at
eaoh plant. The east and westflank installationsmedia, Figures9 and 10 are oloseupviews of the
salt water intakeplant. Figure 11 is aphotoare identical. They consistof one Wasia supply
graph of the secondstage of filtration. The
well servingthree injeotiogwells. The three
plant was initiallystartedup on August 4, 1958,
nose injeationwell systemsarealso the same as
the flank installations;
howeverreach injection however,sustainedoperationswere not begun
well has its own supplywell. Power is del%yered until June 8, 1959.
to these locationsfrom the 66 KV Une whiah is
OPERATINGPROBLEMSOF WATER INJECTION
tied into the Abqaiq-RasTanura electrical
FACILITIES
distributionsysttim.Figures.4and ~ show the
general layoutat awa%er injectioninstallation.
Operatingyproblems
on the Wasia water injecThe opera%ionis essentiallyunatteniled
with failsafe shut-downdevioes. Annunciatorpanels indi- tion systemare pump hydraulicdesign,pump seals
and bearinga,motor bearingsand eleotriopower
Gate the troublesouroe.
outages. The pumps as originallyinstalledhad
of
Wasiawaterinjectioninto the Arab-D &ember exoessivethrustbearingfailuresbeoaus,e
hydraulicuxibalance.Changingthe first stage
beganon February7, 1956 into Well 71. Xnitial
injecrbion
was by gravitypending%he,completion impellerdestgnoorreotedthisoondition. Seal
life hps been extecdedto six months by the use
of the power installation.I?hese
rates were
10-15 MED. Following%he elewtrifioation
of the of throttlebushingpressurebleed-offand
alteredsealoiriaula%ion
piping. Improved ,
three nose water injdotion.
plants at the end of
/
,
,,
b

,.

.,

. .

l-,

C!DV-nK

-2

this well. A regionalpressurebuild-ppof

approxiinately
300 psi has ooourred. Skin effeot
and injectivityindex indioateno plugging
beaause of !Yasia
water injeotion. A positive
skin effect indicates pluggingwhereasa negative
value indioatesan improvementin the vicinity
of thewell bore; The ohdge in skin effect and
injeotivity
index are relatedto the aoid jobs
performedon the well. The survey in April,
Operationof the PersianGulf water injeo1956,indioatesan increasein skin effect and a
tion systemhas been erratia. The gravi%ysan&
index. Thisis attribfiltersat the IntakePlantwere Opera%in$poorly, decreasein ,injeotivity
the aement lined pipe deteriorateddepositingsand uted to pluggingof the formationwith soalewhen
a reoiprooatingpump was used for pumpingtests
and cement in the deaeratoroolumn and pipel%ne,
prior to completionof permanentpumping
and considerabledifficultywas encounteredwith
facilities.Aaidizingremovedthe plugging
the.diesel driversfor the shippingpump arid
material.
generation,Foran initialperiod,considerable
problemsexistedwith the precoatof the dia%omite
filters. However,after some experimentation,
a
PURPOSEAND OPERATIONOF PERSIANGULF
INSTALLATION
successfulpreaoatmixturewas determined, At
initialstart-upit was foundthat considerable
The PersianGulf tes% plant was installed
sand was in the pipeline. This could only be reto evaluate the problemsof a PersianGulf water
moved by piggingthe line.
in,jecrtion
project. Three differentconditions
could have a largeeffect on the oosts of suah
RESERVOIRPERF(XMINCE
a pro~ect. !Pheoheapestwould be no treating
of the waker at all. Next would be the reFigure 12 summarizesthe benefitsderived
quirementof meohanioalfiltering. The most
toda%e from the injectionof water%nto the
escpeneive
operationwould be a requirementfor
Arab-3 member. The in~ectionof water into Area
ohemicaltreatment,removingchemicalc+onB has caused a pressureincreaseof 100 psi in
s~%tuentswhich would reaat with fluidsin the
the oil field. From materialbalancecalculations, the effectivenessof the injectedwater was reservoir,precipitatingsolids and plugging
the formation. Abqaiq Well 76 was selectedto
determined. This effeotive.ness
js 50 per cent
evaluatetheee conditions. Prior %0 %he injectoday and ie expeo%edto increaseto70-80 per
. tion o??PersianGulf water, Wasiawater had been
of the incent. The vokmelmic effectiveness
in$eotedin$o ?!ell76. !l!his
prooedureeliminatgi
jettedwater is tbe differencein water influx
the danger of chemicalpluggingdue to incomra%ee dividedby the water injectionrate. The
patibilityof PersianGulf and Arab-Dmember
o@nge in the volumetriceffectivenessourve is
water ss no plugginghas been ob~ervedwith
primarilya reflectionofwa-terinjeationrate
This was concludedfrom an analysis
changesand the time when the effeotsof injected T/asiawater.
water are fezt in the oil field. Pressurechanges of fall-offsurveys made on the AbqaiqWasia
wster injectionwells. The injectionhistory
within the reservoirare shown in Figure 13.
Ihiring1956 and 1957, the pressurewave ie moving of Well 76 is sholrmin Figure 16. Injeotionof
a Wasia water bu$ferwas startedin July, 1958,
out from the oil field. With increasedwater
injectionin 1958, the pressurewave was reversed. and ended in,June,1959. A total of 9.0 million
barrels of water wae injeotedduringthis period,
The dis+ribu+ionof the 211 millionbarrelsof
No pluggingwas observed.
water injeotedas of June 30, ~960, is ehown
sohematiually.The three nose wells have
FilteredPersianGulfwater injection
reoeived&pproximately50 per cent of the water
injected. The remainingvolumehas been injewted startedon June 8$ 1959, and oon+inuedthrough
January10, 1960. J30thdfatomite
and rapid sand
equallyinto,bothflanks. Figure 14 is an
filterswere used. Flow was ohara~terizedby
3.sobario
map of the area as of June 30, 1960.
Inje&ion well pressureswere obtainedfrom fall- frequentstoppagesdue to mechanicalfailuresin
off surveys. No Unusual,pressures
are observed
the Salt Water Intake Plant. During this period,
injeotionand production
2.6 millionbarrelsof PersianGulf water were
as a resultof previou$f
distributionschedules. !Cheproduction.
rate fron injected. An ahalysisof pressurefall-off
A-GOSP-3was increasedto 16o MBD,in September,
surveyswas made and the conclusionwas reaohed
1960, with the ins%alla%ionof additionalseparat- that filteredPersianGulf water injectiondid
ing capacity. With additionalflowlinelooping
not plug the well,
and the drillingof AW-75, the rate from *his
The evaluationof skin effect and inje@area will be increasedto 200 MBl)this year.
ivity indexwas complicatedin this well,because
of the ohange in injectionwaters. Wasia water
Resultsof.a typiaalanalysismade~on the
fall-offsurveysfrom AbqaiqJlell71 are show in
is injeatedat atem~eratureof 170Fand Pereiar
Figure 15. llasiawaterhas been injeatedinto
Gulf
water is injectedat temperaturesvarying
,,
maintenanceand lubricationprocedureshave
Iar&tily.eliminated
pump and motor bearing failures. Instrumentation
for automaticshutdownin
case of high bearingtemperatureshas been installedon all pumps and motors. During periods
of high humidi%y,poweroutagesoaour beoauseof
insulatorflashover.

.,

,,

,.

SPE.8
..-
-

from 60 to 120 F. The viscositiesassociated

Injeotionofd:atofflite
filteredwater (sand
with thesewaters and %ernperatures
range from 0.4 filtereby-passed)was aommenoedfollowingthe
to 1.1 ops. To permitcomparisonsof skin effed
ao?idjob. Since this date, a continuousdecrease
and injectivityindex,betweenWasia and Persian
in rake due to pluggingtendenciesof the well
to make an adjustGulf waters, it is neoemmy
has been observed. The eauae of this plugging
ment for viscosity. Tbiswas acmompl%~hedby
~is believedto be the resultof the sand around
multiplyingthe in~ec-tion
rate by the ratio of
the well bore acting ae abridging agent for the
the viscosi-ty
of injectedwater at injection
emall suspendedsolids inthe filteredwater.
temperatureto the visoosityof Was5a water at
Laboratoryteats indioatethat %hese solids are
injeotiontemperature. Thisfaotor is unity when mostly d%atomaoeouaearth partioles.
injectingWasia water and varies frou 2 to 3 when
injeotingPersianGulf wa+er. !fhecalculated
As a reaul%of iiheabovevthe following
injectivityindexesarenow comparableand show
programwas initialed:
no plugging. The skin effeatwas modifiedin the
same manner and the resultsshow no plugging. As
10 InjeotTasiawa%er @to AY-76 to observe
filteredPersianGulf water behind aWasia water
whetherthe pluggingeffeotwill continue.
,..,
bank showedno plugging,the next step in the
evaluationwas to determineif unfilteredPersian
2, Aoid~zeAW-76 after injectingWasia water
for a short period of time (approximately
Gulf water plugs the formation.
2 months).
A review of suspendedsolids data showed
3. Soheduleaworkover to cleanout the well
that the diatomitefilterremovedthe majorityof
bore and the formationface if the above
sand and orgaiiic
particlesfrom the water, but
added small quantitiesof diatomaceousearth to
does not restorethe well to a satisfactory
the stream. PersianGulf water was found to be
1.1.
considerablyless turbid than had been antioipatd
AbqaiqWell 74 is be.in&used to evaluate
I%was noted that the gravitysand filterswere
not performing%heir funoiionsatisfactorily.
theohemioalcompatibilityof Arab-Dmember water
and PersianGulf water. Figure 18 shows the
Eoth the gravitysand filtersand diatomite historyand future plans for this well. Priorto
filterswere bypasseti
and injeotionof unfiltered the start of theinjectionof filteredPersian
wa+er began on January 26P 1960. However?susGulf water; no water had been injectedinto the
well. The plans for Well 74 oonsistof the
tained injectiondid not start until June, at
whioh time a seriesof injectivitytests were
injeotionof filteredPersianGulf water for
performed. These testswere run betweenJune,8
approximatelysix months and pressurefall-off
and September18, dying which time 1.5 million
surveysas required. Assumingno ohemical inbarrels of water were injected. The well was
compatibilityand plugginghas ocmurred,this
pluggedasthe resultof this injeotion,and it
will be followedby the injectionof unfiltered
six months and fall-off
was decidedto revertb=ak %0 filteredinjecrbion,waker for approximately
,.
Figure
17 shows
using diatomiteftltersonlYi
surveys.
this period.
,.
CApZTALANDOpRRATsNGcOSTS
While repsirsto the SWIP were being
i
The capitalcosts associatedwith the
effected,a stipleof sand wae obtainedfrom iihe
bottom of AIW-76.!Thesand was identifiedby
PersianGulf installationare %1.6 mtllion. The
geologistsas being roundedquartz of surfaoe
capitalcostq for the Wasia injectionsystem
origin. Subsequently,it was tound that sand had are approximately$12 million. The operating
cloggedup the packing in the deaeratorcolumn
cost associatedwith the PerkianGulf and V?asia
causingit *o malfunction. An investigation
system are shown in Figure 19.
waker injection
revealedthat the sand grainsin the deaerator
.Wasiawater injeotion00s+s 0.70 aents per
and well were identioal. It is probablethat-the barrel. PersianGulf water injectioncosts 6,0
sand originatedfrom the semen% liningof the
cents per barrel,approximatelyten times the
.lntak~
Plan% piping system;this lininghas
cost of Wasia water injection. These operating
deterioratedconsiderablyduring its 1-1/2years
costs.inqludelabor,materials,transportation,
of operation.
shops serviceand prorates. The variationAn
PersianGulf costs is primarilydue to changes..
AW-76 was,aoidizedearly in November,1960.
in injeotiion
rate.
;
The injectivityindexwas substantiallyincreased
however,the resultant1.1. was only about 50%
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
of its originalvalue. It is possiblethat the
weli was no% res%oredto its originalcondition
The,authorexpresseshis appreciationto
~ecauseof the quartz sand whioh enteredthe well the ArabianAmeriwrOil Companyfor granting
and lodged in the pores of the formationsurround
- permissionto presentthis paper.
inE -thewell bore.
/.

. ,
CIW-RK

REFERENCES
1. Stanley,L.T.: Approximationof Gas Drive
Recoveryand Front Movement In The Abqaiq
Field, SaudiArabia,Trans.AIME (1960)
21Q, 273.
2. Jeers, J.C. and Smith, R,V.: Dete~inaiion

of FormationPermeabilitiesand Operation
Effioienoiesof Water.Inputi
Wells,The
petrolew Engineer (October1954), B-82.
3.

Ha%ebrock,V., Rainbow,H. and Mathews,C.S.:

!lpress~~Fall-offin Water hIjeCtiOn Vielh?
AIME (1958)~,
2j0.
Trans.

1-

,40

+,48

*m
I

Fig.I.-Structure
member,

Abqslq

contour
ma , top
Field,
Saudi
~rabta.

of

Arab.

60%

40
20
0

REIO
300
200
100
MRil

,,

Fig.
4--Wa
la
Abqalq
Fle!d.

writer

inJeetion

FiE.
6--WE
in
Abqa4q
Fia!d.

feeilttiqe,

Fig.

7.-

Wate?

inject

ion,

water

well,

lnJection

AW-71,

facilities,

Abqaif.i

Fiald

.
,..-

.F*.

d.PartlilIaoulf

.,,

s*l*:w*tar ifit:ko ,Plaqtj

..

,:,
.

,..
,.,

?;c.

10--

Per@isn

Ou:f

alt

mtei

intmke

Plsnt.

Fig.

11.-U,

S.

Flltar

st AW.74.

Abaala

Flel13.

I
/

7
.

so INJECTIVITY
t

25

+:1

11

I-ACID

INDEX BPE)/PSl s
1 I 1 I I I I
I
JOBS

.
x

+5
0-

1 .1.1

-:

Sm m
Q -

-5

IN FF FFCT.

txa -Q*.

.,

im
w-..

b?

.:

3000
2900

. .-n

=f-x--x-- x----- -

A- .-. .

71

RESERVOIR PRESSURE _
PSIQAT -S500

2800
. 2700

PERSIAN GULF

INJECTION

rms,, pm.+

~90Q
~8@3

,
50
e

25

1956
Fig
Fte!d,

15-.

1957

InJection

1958

hlotory

1959

AW-71.

of

I 1

yj#&y! MMB-

1-

1950

ACIO

11

INJECT.

0+

~FILTERE

ACld

50-

&ASIA

I: NO,FILTER

1959

FALL OFF SURVEYS

Fig.

Abctalq

16 --lnjectlon

19s1

1960

46

78
hlntory

15
io
5
0

of

AW-76,

Abqetq

SURFACE PRESSGRE- PSIQ

1600
1-

1400

,,

!200
/.
1000

. .. ......-

.~o

.
,
600
.

f
FAL+ OFF SURVEY

WASIA WATER INJECTI?O

WELL ACIOIZEO
-

P
INJECTION RATE.8D

/
+PERSlAt4WFWATEi!&
/s0 FILTfRS+af&~pB

~w

~ -,*

WASIA WATER

P ERS}AN QULF
WA,,,

lNJ~CTION

F1 LTEREO

20,0G-CI
\
1 -

mew

~
*

*
o
#JFIE

-.

AU9

JULY

SEPF

OCT

NOV

DEC

-.

1960

-------

.. .

FEE

hlet$ry

.. .

tiAR

bPR

.,

1961

--

In Jeatlon

17--

FIs.

JAN

of

AW-76,.

AbQaiq.

..

.~

.1
i

--.~--,.....

?00
CENTS PER
BARREL
600

PRES=
AT
-6500PSIG k

PERSIAN GULF
WATER INJECTION

~
500

r
3000
d

2900

400

/==

,,

2800

300

FALL OFF SURVEYS

2600

Eao

..
1
NO kATEd lNtlE!TION

FILTERE9
Prowl

.,

1958

..

GULF

WLF
WATER

1960

1959

1961

18--EEintory

and

plane

for

.)
{.

AW-74.

57

58

60

59

1S62
Fig.
Abrlaiq

F16.

56

WATER INJ ECTION

.

_WASIA
\

1.OO

uMFILTEKD
WAN

WATER

NSJEW

INJECT

Abqaiq.

19-.0
,.

Fie~d.

erailni!

cnat

of

water

in

Jection,