Journal of Canadian Petroleum Technology
Volume 51, Number 6, November 2012, pp. 449-456

Summary

The unusually high primary recovery factors (RFs) observed in numerous heavy-oil reservoirs are often attributed to foamy oil flow (i.e., the non-Darcy flow involving formation and flow of gas-in-oil dispersion). It occurs when the wells are produced aggressively at high drawdown pressures that led to conditions in which the viscous forces become sufficiently strong to overcome the capillary forces in pushing dispersed bubbles through pore throats. The role of gravitational forces in generating such dispersed flow has not been studied adequately. This work was intended to evaluate the contribution of gravitational forces in primary depletion of heavy-oil formations under foamy flow conditions.

Primary-depletion tests were conducted in a 200-cm-long sandpack that was held in either horizontal or vertical orientation. The results of horizontal depletion tests were compared with the depletion tests conducted with the sandpack in the vertical direction. Vertical depletions showed better recoveries at slower depletion rates compared with horizontal depletions.

The RFs of both horizontal and vertical depletions were correlated against the average drawdown pressure available to move the oil. It was found that the RF shows a strong dependence on the average drawdown pressure. It was also found that the curve of RF vs. average drawdown pressure moves slightly toward higher recoveries in the presence of an added foaming agent (i.e., with increased oil foaminess).

© 2012. Society of Petroleum Engineers

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History

• Original manuscript received: 22 July 2011
• Revised manuscript received: 1 August 2012
• Manuscript approved: 7 August 2012
• Published online: 1 November 2012
• Version of record: 20 November 2012