SPE 152689

Mature Carbonate Heavy Oil Field Exploitation Strategies:

The Cretaceous Ku Field, Mexico
E. Pérez-Martínez, A. Rojas-Figueroa, PEMEX E&P

Copyright 2012, Society of Petroleum Engineers

This paper was prepared for presentation at the SPE Latin American and Caribbean Petroleum Engineering Conference held in Mexico City, Mexico, 16–18 April 2012.

This paper was selected for presentation by an SPE program committee following review of information contained in an abstract submitted by the author(s). Contents of the paper have not been
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Abstract
This paper aims to present the strategy for future exploitation of the Ku oil field, based on its historical behavior of
pressure-injection-production profiles and the advance of gas-oil and oil-water contacts.
The production performance of all wells in Ku oil field was analyzed in order to evaluate the gas and water
breakthrough and production.
A pressure maintenance program was started in 2009 by injecting nitrogen at a rate of 160 MMsfc/D, which reduced
the pressure decline from 4.45 to 1.36 kg/cm2 per year. At the end of 2011, the nitrogen injection rate was increased to 250
MMscf/D in Ku field in order to maintain reservoir pressure and minimize advance of the OWC (oil-water contact), which is
estimated at 3,140 vertical meters subsea (vmss). On the other hand, the GOC (gas-oil contact) continues to advance at a rate
of 25 m/year. To maintain production, a staggered workover schedule is utilized to open new producer intervals in every well
where the gas cap approaches.
Ku is one of the offshore oil fields located in the Ku-Maloob-Zaap Asset. It produces mainly from naturally
fractured carbonates in the Upper Cretaceous (UC), Middle Cretaceous (MC) and Lower Cretaceous (LC) formations. In
addition to high net pay thickness and structural relief, UC rocks have a very high permeability, which ranges between 4 and
9 Darcies, because of high fracture density. This condition gives the formation a thief zone characteristic during drilling,
cementing and completion jobs. In fact, during cementing of the last casing pipe on many wells, most or all cement slurry
volumes are lost to the formation, creating an unrestricted channel to flow and thus an increased tendency towards water
coning.
The remaining oil reserves volume in Ku oil field will be recovered from the oil column located between the
contacts. Therefore, it is necessary to understand the production performance under these conditions in order to establish the
optimal operative ranges under which wells will be producing. The water coning and fluids channeling effects depend upon
the rock – fluids properties, well geometry and design, and, finally, the production conditions under which the wells will be
operated.

Introduction
The production performance of all wells in Ku oil field was analyzed in order to evaluate the gas and water
breakthrough and production. A total of 48 wells were analyzed, with 18 wells exhibiting high water production rates and 9
wells with high instantaneous gas-oil ratios. Water production is controlled by the use of mechanical and chemical
treatments, which have reduced watercuts to a minimum in 4 wells. Of the 9 high gas production wells, deepening
interventions are scheduled for 6 producers, one well will be converted to a nitrogen injector and one well will be used to
continuously monitor pressure and temperature behavior in the gas cap.
A pressure maintenance program was started in 2009 by injecting nitrogen at a rate of 160 MMcf/D, which reduced
the pressure decline from 4.45 to 1.36 kg/cm2 per year. At the end of 2011, the nitrogen injection rate was increased to 200
MMcf/D in Ku field in order to maintain reservoir pressure and minimize advance of the OWC (oil-water contact), which is
estimated at 3,140 vertical meters subsea (vmss). On the other hand, the GOC (gas-oil contact) continues to advance at a rate
of 25 m/year. To maintain production, a staggered workover schedule is utilized to open new producer intervals in every well
where the gas cap approaches.
Ku is one of the offshore oil fields located in the Ku-Maloob-Zaap Asset. It produces mainly from naturally
fractured carbonates in the Upper Cretaceous (UC), Middle Cretaceous (MC) and Lower Cretaceous (LC) formations. In
2 SPE 152689

addition to high net pay thickness and structural relief, UC rocks have a very high permeability, which ranges between 4 and
9 Darcies, because of high fracture density. This condition gives the formation a thief zone characteristic during drilling,
cementing and completion jobs. In fact, during cementing of the last casing pipe on many wells, most or all cement slurry
volumes are lost to the formation, creating an unrestricted channel to flow and thus an increased tendency towards water
coning.
The remaining oil reserves volume in Ku oil field will be recovered from the oil column located between the
contacts. In order to optimize reservoir exploitation, it is very important to monitor closely the advance of gas and water, to
reduce the risk of unsuccessful workovers and therefore to extend well life and increase the recovery factor. It is necessary
to understand the production performance under these conditions in order to establish the optimal operative ranges under
which wells will be producing. The water coning and fluids channeling effects depend upon the rock – fluids properties, well
geometry and design, and, finally, the production conditions under which the wells will be operated.
To fulfill the goal of proper reservoir management, the future exploitation of the Ku oil field Cretaceous must be
based on a thorough understanding of the pressure-injection-production field history and the advance of gas and water into
the oil bearing zone.

Background
The Ku oil field was discovered in 1980 with the Ha-1A well. Field production began in March 1981, from the Ku
47 and Ku 89 wells (Fig. 1). These wells produced a total oil rate of 75 thousand of STB/D at the original reservoir pressure
of 323 kg/cm2, measured at 3000 vmss (reference datum). The oil produced from the Cretaceous formation is considered
heavy oil (21 °API). The bubble point pressure is 187 kg/cm2 at 116 °C reservoir temperature and the oil viscosity is 1.7 cp at
these conditions.
The current field average reservoir pressure is 121 kg/cm2. This is below the bubble point and therefore the oil is in
a saturated state. The field’s cumulative oil production is 2,353 million of STB and average daily production rate is 290
thousand of STB/D.

Behavior of Pressure-Injection-Production
The Ku oil field reservoir development has experienced five production and injection stages (Fig. 2):

Stage 1. Discovery and start of production: The Cretaceous Ku oil field was discovered in 1980 with the Ha-1A
well. First oil was in March 1981, with two wells, Ku 47 and Ku 89. At that time the reservoir average pressure was 323
kg/cm2, at 3000 vmss. Two years later oil production rate reached 200 thousand of STB/D (1980-1983).
Stage 2. Sustained total oil production rate at 200 thousand of STB/D by increasing the number of producing wells
to 20 (1983 – 1993).
Stage 3. Production declined due to reservoir depressurization (1993-1995).
Stage 4. At the end of 1995, a continuous gas-lift system was implemented. To maintain a field rate of 200 thousand
of STB/D during the ten years of this stage, surface facilities were optimized, the gas-lift network pressure was increased, and
the downhole gas-lift mandrels were deepened (1995-2005).
Stage 5. Additional development of Ku oil field: drilled 30 new wells, initiated a secondary recovery project (Fig.
3), and installed an 8-leg jacket platform for Ku-C and a Production Complex for Ku-S in 2007. This complex processes the
production and its installation reduced the back pressure of production platforms located in Ku – C, Ku – G and Ku – I,
which resulted in a field maximum production rate of 391 thousand of STB/D in 2009, with 55 producing wells. Also in
2009, a secondary recovery project to maintain reservoir pressure was started by injecting nitrogen into Ku oil field. For this
purpose, three turbo compressors were put into operation and three producing wells invaded by gas were converted to
injection wells, Ku-45, Ku-47 and Ku- 67A (2005 to present).

Currently the production rate from Ku oil field remains at 290 thousand of STB/D (see Fig. 2) by means of 45
production wells and nitrogen injection at a rate of 200 MMscf/D.

Historical pressure
Nearly 389 well tests have been conducted to date for the Ku Cretaceous reservoir, including initial pressure
measurements of 323 kg/cm2 at datum (3,000 vmss), Fig. 2. The pressure decline behavior is indicative of four phases of field
drive mechanism, Fig. 4.
The first phase occurred from the initial exploitation date (1981) until 1982, with a steep pressure drop of 14.57
kg/cm2/year and a production-pressure ratio of 1.64 million of STB/kg/cm2.
The second phase occurred from 1982 to 1989. The reservoir pressure decline decreased to 13 kg/cm2/year and the
production-pressure ratio approached 5.34 million of STB/kg/cm2. In 1988, the reservoir pressure declined below the bubble
point at the top of the Ku Cretaceous structure, resulting in a continuous gas phase (secondary gas cap) identified by 1992,
which further decreased the pressure decline rate.
The third phase occurs between 1992 and 2009. As a result of the secondary gas cap formation, the pressure decline
dropped to 4.45 kg/cm2/year, with an oil production-pressure ratio of 19.29 million of STB/kg/cm2 and an average reservoir
SPE 152689 3

pressure of 126 kg/cm2. Because of the high reservoir pressure decline, a pressure maintenance project was initiated.
Finally, in the fourth phase of reservoir drive, from 2009 to the present, nitrogen injection started in January 2009,
which lowered the pressure decline rate from 4.45 to 1.36 kg/cm2/year. Currently, reservoir pressure has declined to 121
kg/cm2. At the end of 2011, the reservoir managment strategy is to maintain reservoir pressure and thereby retard the
oil/water contact advance into the oil zone.
Maintaining reservoir pressure in the oil band is integral to achieving high recoverable reserves in this secondary
recovery project and this is a critical element for Ku field development strategies.

Drive mechanisms
The drive mechanisms for moving oil from the reservoir to the wellbore are usually present in combination; however
dominating mechanisms dominate performance changes with time. There are basically four drive mechanisms to provide
natural energy to the reservoir for production purposes, including: rock and liquid expansion, water drive, gravity drainage
and gas cap pressure support and/or a combination of these. The drive mechanisms provide different levels of contribution to
supporting the oil production during different phases of reservoir exploitation.
The drive mechanisms supporting pressure in the Ku Cretaceous reservoir are discernable by changes in the slope of
the pressure versus cumulative production graph in Figure 4. At the beginning, the pressure decline is steep, associated with
the rock and liquid expansion drive mechanism, followed by a less steep slope due to a combination of drive mechanisms:
rock and liquid expansion plus water drive. After reservoir pressure declines below the bubble point, a secondary gas cap is
creating, and the dominant drives are gas cap expansion combined with gravity drainage (third slope). Currently there is an
artificial drive mechanism, pressure maintenance by means of nitrogen injection into the reservoir, indicated by the last trend
in the Reservoir Pressure vs Cumulative Oil Production graph (Fig. 4).

Dynamic reservoir characterization

During a well test, a transient pressure response from the reservoir is created by a temporary change in the well
production rate. The response is monitored over a short period of time relative to the reservoir life, depending upon the well
test objectives. The pressure variation in time is a function of the well geometry and the reservoir properties, such as
permeability (horizontal and vertical) and the degree of reservoir heterogeneity. Well test interpretation focuses on the
transient pressure response and there are several time stages, including: near wellbore conditions, then, as drainage area
expands, the response reflects the reservoir properties, and after in late time, where boundary effects are observed. The main
results obtained from a well test are reservoir pressure, wellbore storage, transmissibility, permeability, skin factor, reservoir
heterogeneities parameters and boundary effects.
The degree of horizontal and vertical communication has been evaluated by means of multiple interference and
radioactive tracer tests as well, as pressure buildup tests in all wells drilled in the reservoir (Fig. 5). Analysis of these tests
indicate that, the deeper the wells penetrate the Cretaceous formation, the lower the intensity of fracturing and therefore
lower permeabilities. The UC formation exhibits high permeability levels of several darcies due to high fracture density and
the presence of interconnected vugs. The MC exhibits an intermediate intensity of fracturing, with corresponding lower
permeability ranges, from 800 to 2000 md. And the LC formation has the lowest intensity of fracturing and therefore the
lowest permeability, ranging from 600 to 1400 md, as shown in Fig. 6.
The pressure transient tests were also used to characterize the main geologic faults and determine the degree of
compartmentalization in the reservoir, as shown in Fig. 7.

History of advance of OWC and GOC

When the exploratory Ku-101 well was drilled, it was found that the Cretaceous formation was invaded entirely by
formation water, over the 3,500 to 3,900 vmss traversed by the well. After drilling and conducting a production test in Ku-
1292 well, the OWC was located at 3,244 vmss (see Fig. 8). In May 2003, the OWC was found at 3,156 vmss and 3,140 vmss
in Ku 85 well (Agust 2010). Both wells were logged with Thermal Decay Tools (TDT) in carbon-oxygen mode.
The monitoring of OWC behavior has been limited because wells were drilled only to depths shallower than 3,000
vmss and there is evidence of water production only at depths deeper than 3,000 vmss. This water production is due to a
combination of two phenomena, water-oil contact movement and water coning. This creates an uncertainty range from 3,140
vmss (Ku 85 TDT) to 3,080 vmss, determined by the current simulation model, Fig. 8.
The gas-oil contact (GOC) was evaluated with TDTs in sigma mode and compensated neutron logs (CNLs), which
were initially run in the Ku 64-A well in July 1991 which located the GOC at 2,443 vmss. After monitoring the GOC by
means of three TDT logs, two CNLs, 9 Thermal Multi-Gate Decay Lithology logs (TMDLs) and one RST, the last GOC value
of 2,835 vmss was obtained in December 2011.
According to this reservoir information and a study of water coning effects in naturally fractured reservoir
conducted by E. Pérez, F. Rodriguez and F. Samaniego (2010), five vertical regions in the reservoir were identified,
illustrated in Fig. 9 and 10.

1. The first region includes a secondary gas cap which is between the top of the formation and the GOC of
2,835 vmss (December 2011).
4 SPE 152689

2. The second region is the upper oil column between the GOC and a horizontal plane at a depth of 3,000
vmss. This column defines the “oil production window” region of Ku oil zone with water-free production.
3. For the third region located between two horizontal planes at 3,000 and 3,080 vmss there is evidence of
water production, which may be due to water coning.
4. A fourth region is defined as a region with high uncertainty, the vertical region between the last measured
OWC at 3,140 vmss (TDT log in Ku-85) and a depth of 3,080 vmss calculated as the current OWC by the
current simulation model.
5. Finally, the fifth region is the aquifer, at 3,140 vmss, the OWC determined by TDT log in Ku-85.

Definition of critical production rate and water coning

When a well starts production under certain conditions, a water cone will grow slowly until it reaches the drainage
radius (see Fig. 11). When this happens, the water cone stops growing and all points which define a surface by the oil-water
interface move upward at the same speed under a pseudo stationary flow regime. When the oil-water interface reaches a few
meters below the perforated interval it accelerates and a few hours later water breakthrough occurs. At this time, height of
water cone can be determined (hwc), as the differenced between the depth to the base of the perforated interval and the depth
of the OWC in the drainage radius, as illustrated in Fig. 11.
The phenomenon of water coning involves several factors; the oil production rate is one of the primary control
parameters to minimize water coning and production. There is a critical production rate, which if the well is producing under,
water coning can be avoided.
In massive formations with a thick oil zone and high structural relief, the wells can produce at high flow rates
initially. However, it is necessary to continuously monitor the OWC, because of the need to control its advance by re-
evaluating the operative conditions and estimating the height of water cone. That is, if the distance of the water interface
underlying the producer well is less than 5 m from lower limit of the producing interval, it will be necessary to reduce the
choke size in order to minimize the imbalance of gravitational and viscous forces due to oil extraction.
The maximum height of the water cone was determined by using the Perez-Rodriguez-Samaniego correlation, where
wells with good and bad cement bonding in the annular space (AS) can be evaluated by means of a dimensionless bad
cementing factor, Fbc. (Eq. 1).
.
/
9.721 , ...................................................................................................(1)
∆

where,
Fbc = 0.712 for a bad cemented or with no cement well in the AS.
Fbc = 0 for a good cemented well.
∆ Represents the potential of two non-miscible liquids in contact, grm/cm³.

Present exploitation conditions

The Ku oil field has 45 producer wells completed in Upper Cretaceous (UC), Middle Cretaceous (MC) and Lower
Cretaceous (LC), with an average oil production rate of 290 thousand of STB/D at first of January 2012. Oil production tends
to decline due to gas breakthrough in shallower producer intervals. Whether the wells are only producing under current
conditions and without doing any kind of intervention or drilling new infill wells, the oil production would decline to 265
thousand of STB/D in 2013 and this rate will be maintained until 2016. See Fig. 12.
The exploitation plan for the Ku oil field aims to maintain the level of production for as long as possible (see Fig.
12) by means of a pressure maintenance program; well interventions to change producer intervals; drilling of new high angle
wells; building of necessary infrastructure for processing and ensuring security of facilities and staff.
It is considered to drill new high angle wells because at the beginning of exploitation, the wells completed at
relatively shallow depths were firstly affected by of the GOC progress. Although most of them are good candidates to be
repaired by sidetracking or deepening, some wells have greater risk of intervention. Therefore, to recover the remaining oil
from the reservoir, a project drilling infill and replacement wells was developed, rather than doing unfeasible workover
operations.
In accordance with this analysis the following development plan was drawn up to maximize recovery of reserves
and economic value of the oil field.

Development
The present strategy of exploitation is based on the three dimensional location of well production intervals in the
reservoir; by modeling the water cone behavior due to oil production rate and optimizing the oil production at maximum
permissible rates, without water breakthrough coning in the short term (see Fig. 12) to extend the productive life of wells and
oil of the field and increase the produced reserves and recovery factor.
The future exploitation of the Cretaceous reservoir in Ku oil field can be divided into the following two stages:
SPE 152689 5

• First Stage (from 2012 to 2015).

The first stage is related to exploitation of the oil column between the present GOC (2,835vmss) and 3,000 vmss, which
represents an oil pay thickness of about 165 vm (vertical meters). This interval was chosen for the well with less than 5%
water cut (Fig. 13).
As part of the strategy to exploit efficiently this oil column, the recompletion of wells which were initially
completed at shallow depth close to GOC, by isolating and perforating new producing intervals at depths of 2,950 to 3,000
vmss, as well as keeping production below critical oil rates taking account the GOC behavior in terms of time and an added
gas column due to gas coning. On the other hand, to stop the advance of the OWC a full oil reservoir pressure maintenance is
being considered; however, at the current explotation conditions, to reduce the risk of producing water, a calculation of water
coning effect was made from the top of the transition zone, which under current operating conditions (shown by the dotted
red rectangle in Fig. 12) generates a water cone of about 70 vm the Middle Cretaceous formation (MC).
In order to maintain production of Ku oil field and increase recoverable reserves, it has been planned to drill 17
high-angle wells between 2012-2015 in two phases. The first phase consists of seating of 9 5/8 inches casing pipe at 3,000
vmss and producing the oil zone from 2,835 – 3,000 vmss. At the same time, a strict monitoring and surveillance program of
wells that produce near the GOC should be carried out, to maintain producing gas-oil ratio (GOR) below 100 m3/m3 and to
optimally manage the reservoir considering to ensure an injection volume of 250 MMscf/D of Nitrogen.

• Second Stage (from 2015 onwards).

The second stage involves the exploitation of the oil column between a depth of 3000 and 3,140 vmss (OWC). At
this stage the wells would produce oil with water cuts over 5%. Also the second phase of drilling new high angle wells is
planned to seat the 7 5/8 inches casing pipe at 3,150 vmss and place swellable packers in clayey or compact zones behind
casing pipe, as well as to run in hole several slotted casing joints with flow control devices (ICD), to cover a ±20 meters
distance between packers as is shown in Fig. 15. These packers can be swollen by water, gas or a mixture contact.
These implementations in casing design enable the wells to be produced in fractured zones with a minimum risk of
water channeling; as flow regulators allow all the producion intervals (covered by slotted casing joints with ICD) have a
homogeneous contribution profile and promote an even pressure drop throughout the producer interval. If a well is being
produced under critical oil production rate according to its areal and vertical location in the reservoir, its life can be extended.
At this second exploitation stage it is important that both the strategy of flowing wells under critical oil production
rate and reservoir pressure maintenance program by injecting 250 MMscf/D of nitrogen must be operating.
To sum up, the future development plan for Ku oil field include the following:

- Nitrogen injection to maintain oil reservoir pressure.

- Optimization of continuous gas lift system.
- Drilling of 16 development wells, as follows: 6 wells (Ku – B), 5 wells (Ku – C), 4 wells (Ku – F) and 2 wells
(Ku – S); see Fig. 16.
- According to the prediction of advance of GOC obtained from numerical reservoir simulation it was concluded
that 55 producer interval changes classified as large scale recompletions were needed to be carried outs in
period 2011 to 2020 to deepen producing intervals and extend the productive life of wells.
- Carrying out 106 interventions classified as minor interventions in period 2011 to 2020. See Fig. 17.
- Construction of additional infrastructure for the management of produced fluids.
- Drilling a OWC monitoring well.

Conclusions
The main purpose of the preset paper has been to discuss the strategy for the future exploitation of the naturally
fractured reservoir offshore Ku oil field, base on its past behavior of pressure-inyection-production profiles and the advance
of GOC and OWC.
From the results of this study, the following main conclusion can be listed.

The Ku oil field has two stages of feasible future exploitation, which must meet the following tasks:
1. Drilling of wells in order to go through the uncertainty zone and the OWC depth. It will allow testing to confirm
or dismiss an area of oil production.
2. Ensure the maintenance of reservoir pressure by means of injection of 250 MMscf/D of nitrogen.
3. Ensure the arrivals on time of drilling equipment with the purpose of doing well interventions opportunely.
4. Continue the exploitation of Ku oil field by means of flowing under critical oil production rates during life of
reservoir.
5. Permanent surveillance of OWC and GOC.
6 SPE 152689

First stage of exploitation.

- Maintain the quality of crude oil, with less than 5% water cut.
- Conduct a strict program to carry out the scheduled large scale interventions.
- Drill the first stage of highly deviated wells to produce the oil band between 2,800 and 2,980 vmss.

Second stage of exploitation

- Produce the oil column between the depth of 3,000 and 3,140 vmss with higher water cut than 5%.
- Separate produced fluids and send crude oil with water stream to dehydration and desalination plants.
- Drill the second stage of highly deviated wells, which allows the perforated intervals of 20 measured meters
produce from thin vertical intervals (6.5 vmss) and maintain low pressure drops.

Nomenclature

Symbols
Bo = Formation (Oil) volume factor, RB/STB.
Fbc = Poor (bad) cementation factor, adimensionless.
hwc = Maximum height of the water coning, ft.
kf = Fractured permeability, md.
qo = Oil flow rate, STB/D.
re = External radius, ft.
rw = Wellbore radius, ft.
GOC = Gas-Oil contact, meter.
OWC = Oil-Water contact, meter
= Oil density, grm/cm3.
= Water density, grm/cm3.
∆ = Water-Oil density difference ( , grm/cm3.

References

1. Al-Afaleg, N.I. and Ershaghi I., 1993, (Coning Phenomena in Naturally Fractured Reservoirs), SPE 26083.
2. Hφyland L. A. and Papatzacos P., 1989, (Critical Rate for Water Coning: Correlation and Analytical Solution), SPE
Reservoir Engineering.
3. Ku-Maloob-Zaap Technical Assets, Cd. Del Carmen, Campeche, México.
4. Pérez-Martinez E., Rodriguez-de la Garza F. and Samaniego-V. F., 2010, number 10, pages 45-59, (Study of Water
Coning in Naturally Fractured Reservoirs), México, DF.
SPE 152689 7

Figures.

Figure 1. Ku location field.

Nitrogen Injection q = 391 thousand of STB/D

omax

• 3 Injectors wells (K45, K47, K67A) w/55 wells

• Current N2 injection 200 MMscfd
• Volume of required nitrogen 250 MMscf/D

9 wells closed by high GOR,

waiting for workover. K-49, K-87,
K-401, K-288, K-63, K-89, K-69,
K-21, K-61.

Pressure
qiny
qo

Figure 2. Pressure-Production-Injection in Ku field.

8 SPE 152689

180 480
Nitrogen Injection

qo, MSTB/D
170 • It is observed that the pressure has changed
its trend with a current rate of 1.36 420
kg/cm2/year.
160
360
150
Pressure, kg/cm2

300
140
4.45 kg/cm²/year 240
130
1.36 kg/cm²/year

qinyN2, MMscf/D
180
120
120
110

100 60

90 0
05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13
P=120.74 Kg/cm2 (23 November 2011)
Ku-1275
Datum = 3000 vmss

Figure 3. Pressure-Production-Injection in Ku field.

340
Pi: 323 Kg/cm2 Datum: 3000 vmss
310 Rock-Fluid Expansion
ΔNp
= 1.64 million of STB/ ( kg cm 2 )
Δp
280 Rock-Fluid Expansion
Water Drive
250
ΔNp
= 5.34 million of STB/ ( kg cm 2 )
Rock-Fluid Expansion
Pressure, kg/cm2

Δp Water Drive
220 Gravity Drainage
Secondary Gas Cap Expansion

190
ΔNp
= 19.29 million of STB/ ( kg cm 2 )
Δp
160

130

Nitrogen Injection
100
1000

1200
1300
1400
1500
1600
1700
1800
1900
2000
2100
2200
2300
2400
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
700
800
900

1100

Np million of STB

Figure 4. Ku field´s drive mechanism.

SPE 152689 9

Figure 5. Ku field dynamic characterization.

Formation BTP-KS

kf: 4514 a 9028 md

Formation KI

Pressure tests conducted

(1983 – 2011)
BTPKS KM KI kf: 600 a 1400 md
29 15 13
Total: 57

Figure 6. Maps of Isopermeabilities.

10 SPE 152689

Sealing fault.
Conductive fault.
Unknown fault properties (Need more information)

Figure 7. Faults characterization.

2,400

2550
(10 96)

2632 2645
2,600 (06 02) (05 05) 2682
(02 07) 2720
(07 08)
Water Tested 2747
(07 09)
2776
Resistivity Logs GOC Progress: (08 10)

27 vm/year
2,800
OGC y OWC, vmss

2799
Dec-11

OWC Progress (Simulated):

3,000 10.9 mv/year 3080 vm

Ku-1001
3140
3156
(08 -10) Ku-85
3,200 (05 -03)

OWC Progress (Ku-85):

2.8 vm/year 3080 vm

3,400
Ku-1292
Jan/1984

Jan/1988

Jan/1992

Jan/1996

Jan/2000

Jan/2004

Jan/2008

Jan/2012

Figure 8. Advance of the OWC and GOC in Ku field.

SPE 152689 11

Figure 9. Position of the OWC, GOC and oil production window in Ku field.

Figure 10. Oil production window, coning, uncertainty and aquifer region in Ku field.
12 SPE 152689

Figure 11. Representation of the maximum height of the water coning, hwc.

350

300

250
ΔNp = 105.86
million of STB

200
qo, MSTB/D

150 ΔNp = 207.83

million of STB

Aditional Wells
100
Workovers
Do nothing

50
Np (do nothing) = 2705.66 million of STB

0
Jul-12

Jul-13

Jul-14

Jul-15

Jul-16

Jul-17

Jul-18

Jul-19
Jan-12

Jan-13

Jan-14

Jan-15

Jan-16

Jan-17

Jan-18

Jan-19

Jan-20

Time

Figure 12. Ku field’s production forecast.

SPE 152689 13

2800
Secondary gas cap
2820
2840
.
2860
2880 Gas coning (Muskat)
2900
Water coning
Water coning (Peréz
(Pérez M. E., Rodriguez
, Rodríguez and
2920 de la G.Samaniego
F., and Samaniego
V. F.) V. F.)
vmss
Depth, vmss

2940 Dry Oil Production

2960 Window LC
2980
3000 MC
3020
3040
UC
3060
3080
3100
3120 Area of uncertainty
3140
3160
3180 Aquifer
3200
0 1.000 2.000 3.000 4.000 5.000 6.000 7.000 8.000 9.000 10.000
Current operation conditions
qo,=STB/D
STB/D

Figure 13. Ku field critical oil rate at current conditions.

2800
2820 Secondary gas cap, 2012
2840 2013
2860 Progress of
the GOC and 2014
2880 gas coning 2015
2900
2920 .
Dry Oil Production Window
vmss

2940
vmss

2960
LC
Depth,

2980
Depth,

3000 MC
3020
UC
3040 Waterconing
coning(Peréz
(Pérez ,M. E., Rodriguez
Water Rodríguez and
3060 de la G.Samaniego
F., and Samaniego
V. F.) V. F.)
3080
3100
3120 Area of uncertainty
3140
3160
3180 Aquifer
3200
0 1.000 2.000 3.000 4.000 5.000 6.000 7.000 8.000 9.000 10.000
qqo,o=,STB/D
STB/D

Figure 14 Critical oil rates for the Ku field.

14 SPE 152689

Figure 15. Completion type with slanted wells.

5
Number of wells

3 68 Drilled

2 17 Scheduled

0
2012 2013 2014 2015 ‰ Ku field high-angle wells drilled for small
OCT-KU-B 0 3 2 1 windows oil production.
OCT-KU-C 0 1 1 2
‰ Increased life span for Wells.
ADO-OCT-KU-F 0 1 3 0
OCT-KU-S 1 1 0 0 ‰ For 2013 the dehydration of crude oil is
considered .

Field Platform Drilled Scheduled Free slots

K-A 12 0 0
K-B 0 6 6
K-C 11 4 0
K-F 15 4 2
KU
K-S 10 2 2
K-I 9 0 0
K-TG 8 0 0
Total Field Ku 65 16 10

Figure 16. Ku field development plan.

SPE 152689 15

Workover Program (Major-Minor)

200
Repair Total 2012-2020

160
Major 55
Minor 354

120
Workovers

80

40

0
2012 2013 2014 2015 2015-2020
Major repair 19 13 10 9 4
Minor repair 46 45 43 35 185

Figure 17. Ku field workover program.