SPE 110605

A Methodology to Design Exploitation Plans through the Application of

Thermal Process, Orocual Field, Venezuela
I. Anaya, M.M. Hernandez, A. Luces, PDVSA; A.J. Serna, Computer Modelling Group
Copyright 2008, Society of Petroleum Engineers
This paper was prepared for presentation at the 2008 SPE/DOE Improved Oil Recovery Symposium held in Tulsa, Oklahoma, U.S.A., 1923 April 2008.
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
reviewed by the Society of Petroleum Engineers and are subject to correction by the author(s). The material does not necessarily reflect any position of the Society of Petroleum Engineers, its
officers, or members. Electronic reproduction, distribution, or storage of any part of this paper without the written consent of the Society of Petroleum Engineers is prohibited. Permission to
reproduce in print is restricted to an abstract of not more than 300 words; illustrations may not be copied. The abstract must contain conspicuous acknowledgment of SPE copyright.

Abstract
Orocual is the most complex Field in Monagas, eastern Venezuela. Due to its complexity it has been divided vertically into
two zones: shallow (heavy oil) and deep (light oil and condensate). The OOIP in shallow reservoirs is reported as 3500
MMSTB. The reservoir pressure is close to original conditions due to low historical production. Therefore, the current oil
recovery factor is less than 1%. To date, cyclic steam injection pilot was applied to 5 wells and the initial oil rate showed to
be as high as five times the cold production in vertical wells and six times the cold production for horizontal wells. According
to the results of the pilot test, the future development of shallow Orocual will be mainly based on the application of thermal
processes. This paper shows a methodology to design an exploitation plan through the application of thermal process. The
first step involves analyzing the reservoir by sectors in order to determine which thermal process is appropriate to the
reservoir; the second step is building sector models to simulate each process and optimize operational parameters. For the
first time cyclic steam injection, steamflooding and steam assisted gravity drainage were simultaneously simulated in the
same model. According to this study it is possible to maximize the production of these reservoirs, accelerate the exploitation
of its reserves and optimize operational parameters in thermal recovery, as well as determine critical factors for each process.
This study shows that numerical simulation of complex process can be efficiently carried out in FullField scale.
Introduction
Heavy oil has become an important theme in our industry with an increasing number of operators getting involved or
expanding their plans in this market around the world. Venezuela has many heavy oil reservoirs, including the Orinco belt the world's largest accumulation of heavy and ultra heavy oil. For these reasons many efforts should be focused in the
definition of the production strategy of the heavy oil. The strategy affects the reservoir behavior, which influences future
decisions and consequently, attractiveness of projects. An adequate plan of recovery for heavy oil reservoirs has a great
economic importance in the oil industry and the interest for optimum management has increased, promting several studies to
develop efficient methodology for optimization problems.
Thermal processes has proved to be a good alternative to improve the recovery of heavy oil but the application of these
processes should be studied in the contex of the reservoir. The number of the processes and its placement are basically related
to static and dynamic characteristics of the reservoir. Modeling adequately several thermal processes under the context of the
reservoir allows to design an exploitation plan to increase the recovery factor.
This paper describe a methodology to select thermal processes and its placement, study each process and simulating them
simultaneously in the same model. It is important to indicate where the proposed methodology is most appropriate. A
reservoir characterization must have been completed in a preliminary phase and a numerical simulation model exists
calibrated through a history matching process so that model saturation and pressure distributions are representative of field
conditions. Alternatively, a model could also be directly initialized to field conditions if there is enough reservoir data and
sufficient confidence to build it.

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Thermal Processes
There are a number of processes which can be used in this methodology. In the case study thermal processes which improve
the recovery factor were considered.
Cyclic Steam Stimulation (CSS)
To use this EOR method, a predetermined amount of steam is injected into wells that have been drilled or converted for
injection purposes. These wells are then shut in to allow the steam to heat or "soak" the producing formation around the well.
After a sufficient time has elapsed to allow adequate heating, the injecting wells are put back to production until the heat is
dissipated with the produced fluids. This cycle of soak-and-produce, or "huff-and-puff," may be repeated until the response
becomes marginal because of declining natural reservoir pressure and increased water production.
Steam Flooding
This is a thermal oil recovery process which presents improved recovery technique for shallow heavy-oil reservoirs by
pumping high-temperature steam into injectors wells to heat up the formation and reduce the viscosity of the oil.
Steam Asisted Gravity Dranaige (SAGD)
The most common implementation of SAGD consists of two parallel horizontal wells, the first drilled near the bottom of
the reservoir and the second located a short distance above it. The top well provides continuous steam supply into the
reservoir and the lower one allows for continuous production of oil, gas and condensate water, developing a steam chamber.
In-Situ Combustion
The oil in the reservoir is ignited and oxygen is inyected in the wells: part of the oil is burned in the formation to generate
heat. The combustion zone created moves through the formation toward production wells, providing a steam drive and an
intense gas drive for the oil recovery.
Numerical Simulation
The reservoir simulation was conducted with Computer Modeling Groups (CMG) thermal reservoir simulator STARS. The
geological model imported into the simulator is the result of an upscaling geoestatistical model integrating structural,
petrophysical and sedimentological models.
The oil-water and gas-liquid relative permeability curves were obtained from a detailed history match of an Orocual Cyclic
Steam injection pilot project. Some of the values used in the simulation are: a top of the model 2383 ft, a rock heat capacity
of 20 Btu/cu.ft-F, a thermal oil conductivity 1.8 Btu/ft.day.F, 8.6 Btu/ft.day.F for thermal water conductivity, 0.64 for
thermal gas conductivity, initial temperature 117 F, initial oil saturation 77% and initial water saturation 23%. The reservoir
simulation fluid model components consisted of oil, solution gas and water (liquid and steam). The bubble point pressure is
1200 psi saturated at initial condition. The characterization of the viscosity vs. temperature table was obtained by using six
existing laboratory analysis.
Full-Field Grid
The usual sequential stochastic modeling approach (1) was applied for the characterization of this heavy oil reservoir. The
total number of the cells is 580000 (i, j, k) with 240000 active cells. The grid size is 85mx85m in i and j directions, and 6m in
the k direction.
Sector-Grid Models
Most of the data and parameters were taken directly from the full field model. However, information from new wells was
included and considered relevant for the sectors. The grid size is 20m x 20m in i and j directions and 1 m in the k direction.
Methodology
The design of an exploitation plan includes several stages from visualization to evaluation. The six stages of this
methodology are described as follow:

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Preselection of Areas and Processes

In order to study and select the most appropriate area for each process under the context of the reservoir, several sectors
encircle among existing wells were analyzed to determine if the rock and fluid properties are within the ranges for applying a
specific thermal processes. Properties like API gravity, reservoir depth, pressure, Vsh, net pay, porosity, permeability, water
cut, etc. were analyzed to determine the most optimal processes for the reservoir according to the above metioned parameters.
The processes considered for the preselection were cyclic steam stimulation, steam flooding, SAGD and in-situ combustion.
In the case study the analysis was applied to 15 sectors of the lower sands of Las Piedras Formation.
This analysis indicates that cyclic steam stimulation could be applied in all the sectors studied, SAGD processes are
proposed for four areas and ten sectors were selected for steam flooding. No sector was selected for in-situ combustion
because of the reservoir conditiond is close of its original state. Figure 1 shows the areas selected for SAGD processes with
the reservoir properties for one of the areas.

Figure 1.Selected areas for SAGD and stratigraphic column.

Sectorial Evaluation of Processes

The success of the start up stage in a thermal process depends on the operational parameters. It is very important to find
out the proper injection rate, distance between producers and injectors, the length of horizontal section of the well length,
preheating period, well configuration, etc.
Evaluation of Cyclic Steam Stimulation
Cyclic steam stimulation pilot project has been applied successfully to 5 wells with three cycles each one, whose initial
oil rate proved to be five times the cold production in vertical wells and six times the cold production for horizontal wells.
The results of the pilot proyect proved that the future development of the shalow Orocual will be mainly based on a
widespread application of cyclic steam injection. Because of the limited operational experience with horizontal wells a sector
model was built from the full field (Figure 2) to study the operational parameters of this process.

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Bar
Channel
Shale
Crevasse

Figure 2. Full field model and sector of the CSS study.

The volume of cumulative steam injected was evaluated with 5000, 7500, 10000, 12500, 15000, and 17500 Tons of steam
injected. The results shows in the Figure 3 indicate that increasing injected volume, improve the recovery of the oil up to a
maximum of 750 MSTB is reached when 14000 tons of steam is injected.

Figure 3.Optimization of cumulative injected volume and injection rate for CSS.

Sensitive analysis for steam injection rate was made from 125 to 1000 Tons/Day, indicating that the maximum
cumulative oil recovered is reached with 250 Tons/Day of injected steam. The soak time was studied in an interval between
15 and 60 days showing that there are no differences in cumulative oil production at several soak times.
Evaluation of SAGD
The optimization of operational parameters for SAGD processes was made with the most common configuration which
consists of two parallel horizontal wells, the first drilled near the bottom of the reservoir and the second located a short
distance above it. The selected areas for SAGD processes and the sector-model for numerical simulation are shown in the
Figure 4.

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2
1

Bar
Channel
Shale
Crevasse

Figure 4. Sectors selected for SAGD processes.

Different sensitivies of vertical spacing between injector and producer (I/P spacing) of 5m, 10m and 15m were tried.
Simulation results showed that increasing the spacing between injector and producer improves the performance of SAGD
process and increases the final cumulative oil production (Figure 5). However the distance between injector and producer is
limited by the net pay of the reservoir and could be more than 15m. In the current case the optimal I/P spacing is estimated to
be 15m out of reservoir net pay of 100 ft.

Figure 5. Optimization of I/P spacing and injection rate for SAGD.

Figure 5 also shows the results of oil production for several injection rates ranging from 80 to 190 Ton/day.
For higher values (160 and 190 Ton/D), the ultimate recovery decreases indicating that SAGD process is not efficient at high
steam injection rate. While injecting 110 Ton/D the production is more estable and the ultimate recovery is higher indicating
that it is the optimum value for steam injection.
A sensitivity analysis on horizontal length was carried out using lengths of 700, 1000 and 1500 ft of horizontal section.
The results show that there is no difference between the oil rate behavior of horizontal wells with 700 and 1000 ft of length,
in both cases the oil production is stable for about five years. The optimal horizontal length was estimated to be 1500 ft due
the oil production lasting for seven years.
The preheating period was evaluated circulating steam, in both wells during a month and the production was compared to
the model without steam circulation. The results show that for the Orocual Field crude of 10000 to 15000 Cp of viscosity, the
preheating period is not necessary. The thermo-hydraulic communication between the producer and the injector is created
without initial circulation phase.

SPE 110605

Several well configurations were evaluated using the optimal operational parameters above mentioned. The Figure 6
shows the five wells configuration considered for the evaluation with steam injection in horizontal or vertical wells (Blue)
and oil production in horizontal wells (Green). A sensitivity analysis was made for the distances between producers from 100
to 200 m and the result shows that the optimum value is 140 m.

Figure 6. Evaluation of SAGD for several well configurations.

One of the most useful parameter to determine efficiency of a SAGD process is the steam oil ratio (SOR). Figure 6 also
shows the SOR for the evaluated well configuration, indicating that during a period of ten years, pattern number three is the
most efficient because of its low SOR. The less efficient configuration seems to be the number four.

Figure 7.Cumulative oil production for several SAGD configurations.

The ultimate oil recovery for several SAGD configuration is shown in the Figure 7 indicating the pattern number three as
the best configuration with the highest value of cumulative oil. Based on the SOR and cumulative oil production, the
configuration with injection in two horizontal wells and productions through three horizontal wells, gives the best SAGD
performance.
Evaluation of Steam Flooding
To optimize the operational parameters of steam flooding a fine scale sector model with geostatistic in more details was
built in one of the areas selected. The sector-model built to simulate and the others four areas selected are shown in the Figure
8.

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2

Bar
Channel
Shale
Crevasse

Figure 8. Areas selected for Steam Flooding.

In order to determine the most appropriate position of the producer and injector wells, distance between producers and
injectors, injection rates and preheating periods, several configurations were studied combining vertical and horizontal wells.
The well configurations for the analysis can be observed in the Figure 9 showing in blue the injector wells and in green the
producers.

Figure 9.Evaluation of Steam Flooding for several well configurations.

Figure 9 also shows the temperature profile for each evaluated well configuration. According to the results largest area is
affected by steam when the well configuration number four (4) consisting in four horizontal and two vertical wells, is used.
Its cumulative oil production higher than the others patterns as is shown in the Figure 10.

SPE 110605

Figure 10. Cumulative oil production and injection rate for steam flooding.

These results are obtained for the following operational parameters: 250 Tons/day of injected steam (Figure 10), a
distance between 140 and 200 m from the producer to the injector. The preheating period is not necessary for the Orocual
Field crude between 200 and 500 Cp of live oil viscosity.
Evaluation Scenarios
To design the exploitation plan of the field, the results of the processes sector evaluation were used as input data, taking
into account areas and processes selected with their optimal operational parameters. Different scenarios were studied from the
most simple to multiple processes numerical simulation, adding complexity to the model. The base case to estimate the
efficency of recovery processes consist in one simulation with no new well perforation (drilling) in the field, but workover of
the existing wells in order to simulate a case in the current condition of the reservoir, this is called the Base Case. It is very
important to metion that the Base Case is a reference scenario to compare the efficiency of the recovery processes, it is not
presented as a choice. All scenarios were evaluated at twenty years of production and the workflow followed to design the
exploitation plan of the field is shown in the Figure 11 and explained in the next section.

Figure 11.Simulation workflow for the evaluation of scenarios.

SPE 110605

Scenario A
It consists in applying cyclic steam stimulation in a number of new wells located through geological, geophysical and
petrophysical analysis. Sixty five horizontals wells were located and its trajectories were designed respecting 3/100ft of
dogleg variation and a maximum of 45 of tangent, as trajectory construction parameters. The first simulation run considered
only one cycle of steam stimulation (CSS) per well in order to analyse the behaviour of oil production for each of them and
according to the results, location, trajectories and operational parameters were checked for the wells with low production and
a second cycle was scheduled. The model was run with two CSS in the wells and some of them show low oil production
indicating that a second cycle is not efficient. In the case where the wells show high oil production, a third cycle was planed.
The oil production of the wells with the third cycle is analyzed and a last cicle is applied or discarded according to the
behaviour of production. It is important to mention that in some wells no more than two CSS were planed due to their low
production. The procedure described above is show in the first loop of Figure 11.
Scenario B
This scenario includes all wells of the before case with cyclic steam stimulation, adding SAGD processes and steam
flooding in the selected areas during the screening stage. The operational parameters to simulate SAGD and steam flooding
come from sector evaluation of processes. In the case of SAGD the patterns used in the model were selected according to the
evaluated well configuration and geometry of the channel. For the steam flood the injectors wells were placed where the
steam affect the largest number of wells in the neighborhood. It is important to mention that the schedule should be designed
to evaluate thermal processes through pilot test in the field, and according to its results, the operational parameters for others
sectors of the reservoir should be ajusted. In the case studied the execution of pilot project for SAGD and Steam Flooding
was planed at second year of the exploitation plan and its application in other areas of the reservoir began during the fourth
year after two years evaluation of the pilot test.
SAGD and steam flooding requires drilling 24 new wells, so that a total number of 98 wells are in the simulation model.
The first simulation run allowed to evaluate the behaviour of thermal processes in the full-field model and according to these
results location of the well configuration, well trajectories, location of injectors and operational parameters were changed to
improve oil production. This procedure is shown in the second loop of the workflow (Figure 11) and is repeated until the
behaviour of thermal processes is improved in the simulation model.
Scenario C
According to the results of the scenario B the model is run to evaluate the oil production of infill wells, located in high oil
saturation zones to drain the crude not contacted by steam. A number of 46 well trajectories were designed respecting the
construction parameters and added to the model to be stimulated with cyclic steam injection and the operational parameters
used in the scenario A. This scenario encompasses CSS, SAGD, Steam Flooding and infill wells, with a total number of 135
wells.
As in the scenario B the model is run to evaluated the oil production of infill wells. In the wells with low production, the
location, operational parameters or well trajectories should be changed many times as necessary while oil production of the
infill wells is improved. This procedure is illustrated in the third loop of the workflow shown in Figure 11.
The forecast of simulated scenarios and its corresponding number of wells by year is presented in Figure 12. It is very
important to notice the difference in oil production between the Base Case (yellow line) and the rest of the scenarios.

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Figure 12. Oil production and perforation activity for the scenarios evaluated.

The green line shows that it is possible to increase the oil production with cyclic steam stimulation up to a maximum of
21000 STB/day accumulating 120 MMSTB which represents an increasing of 3.5% in the recovery factor. Applying SAGD
in three sectors and steam flooding in four areas of the reservoir, the oil production showed in the blue line reach a maximum
of 30000 STB/day with an ultimate recovery of 174 MMSTB which represent 4.6 % of recovery. The red line shows that it is
possible to produce 10000 STB/day aditional to reach a maximum of 40000 STB/day, with infill drilling and accumulating
216 MMSTB, which represent 6% of the original oil in place.
Figure 12 also shows the well planning necessary to generate the oil production for each scenario. It can be seen that the
largest drilling activity is concentrated in the first three years and the number of well by year including producers and
injectors. This well planning could be acelerated or delayed according to the number of rigs available.
Conclusion
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.

The application of this methodology allows optimizing the time of technical analisys during the design of an
exploitation plan, generating high impact in the visualization and strategy of the business.
This methodology can be used as a powerful tool to calibrate the operational parameters of thermal processes,
finding critical factors.
Studying adequately several thermal processes under the conditions and characteristics of the reservoir is possible to
design an exploitation plan to drain the reserves and increase the recovery factor.
The sectors models are useful to study and understand different thermal processes but it shouldnt be used to
conclude about the efficiency or success of the processes until it would be evaluated in full field scale.
Through this methodology it is possible to efficiently model complex thermal processes simultaneously in a fullfield scale.
The methodology shows that several thermal processes could be applied for different sectors of the reservoir and an
exploitation plan can be designed with more than one thermal process.
This methodology can be used to study thermal processes as the first step in the design of pilot project in oil fields.
The exploitation plan designed through this methodology for Orocual Field involves the application of cyclic steam
stimulation, steam assisted gravity drainage, steam flooding and perforation of infill wells.

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Acknowledgement
The authors wish to thank PDVSA for supporting this work and for permission to publish this paper.
Nomenclature
CSS
= cyclic steam stimulation
HW
= horizontals wells
I/P
= injector-producer
OOIP = original oil in place
SAGD = steam-assisted gravity drainage
SOR
= steam-oil ratio
VW
= verticals wells
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J.W. Venegas Prada, L.B.Cunha, and F.J.S. Alhanati Impact of Operational Parameters and Reservoir Variables
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