Summary
The Cantarell field, a mature reservoir offshore Mexico, presents
significant water-management problems because the hydrocarbon production comes
from a naturally fractured carbonate reservoir. Controlling water production in
the Cantarell field becomes more critical because of its limited water-handling
facilities. This paper presents the field application of two systems widely
used in the petroleum industry for water control: (1) an organically
crosslinked polymer (OCP) system and (2) a rigid-setting-material (RSM)
system.
The OCP system is based on a copolymer of acrylamide and t-butyl acrylate
(PAtBA) crosslinked with polyethyleneimine (PEI). To date, more than 100 jobs
have been performed in Mexico with this system to address conformance problems
such as water coning/cresting, high-permeability streaks, gravel-pack
isolation, fracture shutoff, and casing-leak repair. This system can penetrate
deep into the matrix of the rock or fractures to provide a more efficient water
shutoff. The RSM system is a rigid "cement-like" setting material that
has a right-angle set. Unlike cement, the RSM system is capable of rapidly
developing highly compressive strength to avoid losing the treatment to the
formation before setting and will not invade the formation. The RSM system is
for near-wellbore applications.
Several case histories are presented in this paper to show the application
of these two water-shutoff systems together. The OCP system was used for deep
matrix/fracture penetration, while the RSM system was used as a tail-in because
of its fast-setting properties (to avoid overdisplacement of the OCP system)
and its capability to stop gas migration. These advanced water-control
technologies have extended the well life and profitability of the treated
wells. In the past, many of these wells were abandoned because of the limited
water-handling facilities.
© 2009. Society of Petroleum Engineers
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History
- Original manuscript received:
13 February 2008
- Meeting paper published:
13 February 2008
- Revised manuscript received:
13 February 2008
- Manuscript approved:
23 January 2009
- Published online:
13 August 2009
- Version of record:
25 November 2009
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