WAG WELLS

WAG WELLS
Water alternating gas injection (WAG) also referred to as combined water and gas
injection (CGW) is an enhanced oil recovery (EOR) method where water and gas
injection are carried out alternately in a reservoir for a period of time in order to
provide both microscopic and macroscopic sweep efficiencies and reduce gas
override effect. The alternate injection of gas and water slugs increases mobility
control and stabilizes the displacement front. Displacement of oil by gas has better
microscopic efficiency than by water and displacing oil by water has better
macroscopic sweep efficiency than by gas. So WAG injection improves oil recovery
by taking advantage of the increased microscopic displacement of gas injection
with the improved macroscopic sweep efficiency of water flooding. Compositional
exchanges between the oil and gas during WAG process can also lead to additional
recovery.

WAG can further improve oil recovery through compositional exchanges between
the injected fluid and the reservoir oil. The compositional exchange leads to oil
swelling and oil viscosity reduction, thus making the oil more mobile. The
reduction in residual oil saturation due to three phase and hyteresis effects and
the reduction in interfacial tension (IFT) are also mechanisms through which
additional oil recovery is obtain during immiscible WAG injection.
WAG injections are mainly divided into miscible and immiscible processes and the
gases used are divided into two types; namely hydrocarbon and non-hydrocarbon
gases. The hydrocarbon gases are the paraffins of lower molecular weight (e.g.
methane, ethane, propane, and butane) and the non-hydrocarbon gases are carbon
dioxide and nitrogen. If the gas injection happens above minimum miscibility pressure
(MMP), the process will be miscible WAG and injection of the gas below MMP is called
immiscible WAG. Both miscible and immiscible WAG injections have been successfully
applied with different gases worldwide