Dr.

MOHAMMED ABDUL AMEER ALHUMAIRI

MISAN UNIVERSITY
COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING – PETROLEUM DEPARTMENT

CONING
dr.alhumairi@uomisan.edu.iq
 Coning
Coning : can define as a production problem in which gas cap or bottom water
infiltrate the perforation zone in the near well bore and reduce oil
production
 Coning
To achieve the maximum flow rate without water or gas require:

1-Define maximum flow rate.

2- Define the optimum length and position of perforation interval.

There is different methods to estimate coning problem ( maximum flow

rate without coning Qc), and the coning may related to permeability
difference between vertical and horizontal directions.
 Coning
Coning : can define also upward movement of water or down
movement of gas into the perforation of producing well and that
seriously effect the well as :
1-Costly add to handle water and gas production.
2-Reduce the reservoir pressure.
3- Corrosion of production facilities.

The concept of coning can be classified :

1- Stable coning.
2- Unstable coning.
3- Critical flowrate.
 Coning
ANALYTICAL MODEL OF CONING:
Mayer and Gardner method 1963:

Assume the well is penetrating reservoir of radius (re) and the well of
radius (rw), is centered of the reservoir, the capillary pressure is
neglected and the flow is radial direction.
 Coning
Perforated interval hp, in a gas-oil system, is defined as the difference between
the height of oil column and the depth from the original gas-oil contact to the top
of the perforations:
That is, hp = h – Dt
h = oil column thickness, ft
Dt = distance from the gas-oil
contact to the top of the perforations, ft

The following expression was presented by Meyer and Gardner for computing the
oil critical flow rate in a gas-oil system:
Where Qoc = critical oil rate, STB/day
o, w, g = density of oil, water and
gas respectively. Gm/cc hp is the difference between the height
Ko= permeability md. of oil column ( h) and the depth from
re, rw= ft the original gas-oil contact to the top of
Qo max = maximum flow rate stb/day the perforations:
h, hp, Dt= ft
µo= oil viscosity cp.
Bo =formation volume factor Rb/bbl
A vertical well is drilled in an oil reservoir overlaid by a gas cap. The related well and reservoir data
are given below:
horizontal and vertical permeability, i.e., kh, kv = 110 md
oil relative permeability, kro = 0.85
oil density, o = 47.5 lb/ft3
gas density, g = 5.1 lb/ft3
oil viscosity, µo = 0.73 cp
40 ft
oil formation volume factor, Bo = 1.1 bbl/STB 25 ft

oil column thickness, h = 40 ft

perforated interval, hp = 15 ft 15 ft
depth from GOC to top of perforations, Dt = 25 ft
wellbore radius, rw = 0.25 ft
drainage radius, re = 660 ft
Using the Meyer and Garder relationships, calculate the critical oil flow rate.
Solution
The critical oil flow rate for this gas coning problem can be determined by applying Meyer-Garder
equation. The following two steps summarize Meyer-Garder methodology:
Step 1. Calculate effective oil permeability ko: ko = kro * k = (0.85) (110) = 93.5 md
Step 2. Solve for Qoc by applying Meyer-Garder Equation:
Water coning
Meyer and Garder propose a similar expression for determining the critical oil rate in the water
coning system shown schematically in Figure below. The proposed relationship has the following
form:
Example 9-2
Resolve previous Example assuming that the oil zone is underlaid by bottom water. The water density is given as
63.76 lb/ft3. The well completion interval is 15 feet as measured from the top of the formation (no gas cap) to the
bottom of the perforations.
Solution
The critical oil flow rate for this water coning problem can be estimated by applying Meyer and Garder Equation. The
equation is designed to determine the critical rate at which the water cone “touches” the bottom of the well to give
Critical Rate Curves by Chaney et al.
Chaney et al. (1956) developed a set of working curves for determining oil critical flow rate. The graphs, as shown
in Figures 1 to 5, were generated using the following fluid and sand characteristics:
Drainage radius re = 1000 ft
Wellbore radius rw = 3″
Oil column thickness h = 12.5 (fig # 1), 25 (fig # 2), 50 (fig # 3), 75 (fig # 4), and 100 ft (fig # 5).
Permeability k = 1000 md
Oil viscosity μo = 1 cp
ρo − ρw = 18.72 lb/ft3
ρo − ρg = 37.44 lb/ft3
The graphs are designed to determine the critical flow rate in oil-water, gas-oil, and gas-
water systems with fluid and rock properties as listed above. The hypothetical rates as
determined from the Chaney et al. curves (designated as Qcurve), are corrected to account
for the actual reservoir rock and fluid properties by applying the following expressions:

where o = oil density, lb/ft3 where o = oil density, lb/ft3

w = water density, lb/ft3 g = gas density, lb/ft3
Qoc = critical oil flow rate, STB/day Qoc = critical oil flow rate, STB/day
ko = effective oil permeability, md ko = effective oil permeability, md
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3
Figure 4
Figure 5
Example 9-8
In an oil-water system, the following fluid and sand data are available:
h = 50 ft hp = 15ft
o = 47.5 lb/ft3 w = 63.76 lb/ft3
µo = 0.73 cp Bo = 1.1 bbl/STB
rw = 3 inch re= 1000 ft ko = 93.5 md
Calculate the oil critical rate.
Solution
Step 1. Distance from the top
of the perforations to top of the sand = 0 ft

Step 2. Using Figure 3, for h = 50, enter

the graph with 0′ and move vertically to curve C to give:
Q curve = 270 bbl/day
Step 3. Calculate critical oil rate from Equation