SPE

SPE 17959
Laboratory and Simulation Studies of Oil Displacement
Due to Bottomwater Drive
by F.G, McCaffery,*

R.W. Wunderlich,

Behavior

and R.p. CartWright, Chevron Oil Field Research Co.

SPE Members
.
@pyrlght 1989, Society of Petroleum Engineers, Inc.
This papar waa prepared for presentation at the SPE Middle East Oil Technical Conference and Exhibition held in

Manama,
Bahrahr,
11-14

March, 1989.

This papar waa selmad for presentation by an SPE Program Committee followkw review of informationcontained in an abstract submltfed by the author(a). Contents of the papar,
as presented, have not bean reviewed by the Society of Petroleum Englneara and are aubjact to correction by the author(s). The material, ss presented, doaa not necessarily reflect
any positionof the Society of Petroleum Engineers, ita officers, or members. Papara presentad at SpE meetings are aublact to publicationreview by Editorial Committees of the Society
of PafroleumEngineers.Permlsslonto coPyis restrlcladto an abstractof notmorethan 306 words. Illustrationsmay notbe copied.The abatraclshouldcontaincunaplcuousacknowledgment
of where and by whom the paper la prasentad. Write Publlcatlona Manager, SPE, P.O. Box 83S66S, Richardson, TX 750SS-3S36. Telex, 730669 SPEDAL.

AssrRAcT
Laboratory displacement measurements and computer
simulation were performed to support field evaluatlone of residual oil saturationfor a high permeability sandstone reservoir exhibiting moderately
to weakly water-wet characterlstice. Logging and
sponge core data had tndicated low oil maturations
in zones depleted by natural bottom water drive.
The laboratory displacement teete were designed-to
help further verify theee resulte and to provide
,datamoat applicable for the prediction of future
field performance. Reservoir conditions displaceutenttest data were in reasonable agreeotentwith
the field results, but laboratory conditions tests
predicted higher residual oil saturation. Waterflood and centrifugemeasurementswere in agreement
under appropriateexperimentalconditions.
Simple simulations were conducted to evaluate
factors affecting the gravity drive process during
vertical displacementof oil by water. Particular
attention wae paid to sensitivity analysee of the
effects of the oil relative permeability and
viecosity characteristics. The resulte obtained
are useful for reservoir management queetions
relating to production rates, coning phenomena,and
tinte-lapae
monitoring of saturationchanges.
INTRODUCTION
Effective reservoir management requiree the integration of information from a variety of sources.
Geological and engineeringmodels are ideally used
ae dynamic toole, to be revised and upgraded as
needed to account for the most recent field
performance. Likewise, laborato~-derived data on
rock, fluid, and fluid flow properties are subject
tO
reViSW
~d
verification based on observed
reservoirproductioncharacteristics.
Reference end Illuatrationeat end of paper.

This paper describes a laboratory test program in

support of field evaluations of reeidual oil ~aturatton for a high permeabilityeandatone reeervoir
in the Middle Eaet that produces by natural water
drive. The laboratory work was initiated to
reeolve previously-observed differences in oil
displacement efficiency from centrifuge and
waterflood tests on the reeervoir rock. The
present work also provided a bettar definition of
core sample handling and teeting methods most
applicable for use in the prediction of field
performance. A second phase of the etudy involved
some simple eiundationeto evaluate factora affecting the efficiency of the gravity drive mechaniaat
during vertical displacementof oil by water.

FIELD DETERMINATIONSOF RESIDUAL OIL SATURATION

Sponge coring and exteneive loggfng in one well
indicated that the residual oil saturationaveraged
only about 14% in a continuous sand eection
depleted by bottom water drive. The naturally
depletedwater-ewept intarval in this well extended
30 feet above the original oil-water contact.
The well was drilled using a water-baee bland mud
formulation having an API filtrate loss of less
than 8 cc. The friable,poorly-consolidatednature
of the reservoir rock caused low core recoveryover
the swept zone (about 7 ft. out of 28 ft. cut), in
contraat to good overall recovertee achieved in
other wells ueing more conventionalplaatfc sleeva
core barrels.- It wae nevertheless possible to
process ten, ~ diameter whole core samples and
the associated sponge from the swept zone. Table 1
givee a summary of the rssults. The average oil
saturation was determined to be 14% at reeervoir
condition, in good agreement with a range of
12-17% meaeured by different logs and a eingle well
tracer test. Note that two especially low oil

.
LABORATORYAND SIMULATIONSTUDIES OF OIL
DISPLACEMENTBEHAVIOR DUE TO BOTTOM WATER DRIVE

saturations of around 2% PV occur in the sponge

core data set, Exclusion of theee values gives a
core-baead mean reeidual oil of 17% PV, with an
overall range of 10-27%.
The average remaining oil saturation from the
entire oil sand section above the awept zone was
24X with a standard deviation of 9. This was the
average of 120 analyzed samples from over 200 feet
of non-depleted reservoir section. Although the
average oil saturationwas greater than wae detarmined for the swept zone, mud filtrata invasion
cauaed substantial displacement of oil during the
cortng operation.

ON-SITE NETTABILITYTESTS
Qualitative on-site nettability tests were also
performed on fresh core from thfa well and from
another cored well that did not encounter a ewept
zone. One of the on-site nettability determinations involved oil and brine drop tests with the
rock immersed in the opposite brine or oil
(kerosene) phase. Another, perhaps more definitive, qualitative test involved obsening the
degree of dispersion of core fragments placed in
brine or in oil. A strong tendency for the rock to
disaggregate in one of the phase indicates a
wetting preference for that liquid. On the other
hand, clumping or lack of dispersion signifies
non-wettingof the phase into which the rock sample
has been immersed.
Both of the above-notednettabilitytests indicated
a strong preferentialwater-wetness. More quantitative laboratory determinations of rock wettability are reported in the next section. The
apparent repeatability of the on-site reeults
following periods of storage of the preserved core
wae used as evidence that the nettability characteriatics had -not undergone significant change
prior to its uae for displacementtests.

LABORATORYDISPLACEMENTTESTS
A detailed laboratory test program waa carried out
to assess displacementpropertiesof preserved core
at both laboratory and eimulated reservoir conditions. If the displacementbehaviorwas found to be
eimilar for both test conditions,then future measurements could all be done at the experimentally
simpler laboratory condttione. Several different
types of core displacement tests were performed,
including core flooding, centrifuge displacements,
and trapped gas saturation tests. The core flood
and centrifuge displacementmeasurementswere done
both separatelyand in sequence.
The predominant reeervoir rock type of interest is
a clay-free, high permeability (l-5 darcy) aandstone with weak quartz cementationsand a porosity
in the 25-30% range. Figure 1 shows a thin section
photographof a typical rock sample.

.WaterfloodTeats
The assembly for waterflood teets is shown in
Figure 2. Typically, 3 horizontalplugs (l% dia x
2 long) were _buttedtogether.and waterflooded to

SPE 17959

residual oil, while at a nominal overburden

pressure of 1500 psi. Tissue paper was inserted
between core sections to improve capillarycontact.
Initial water maturationwas establishedeither by
centrifugingor by oil flooding each section lndividually in both directions, The waterfloodingrate
waa about 0.5 ccfmin, equivalent to a frontal
advance rate of 7-8 ft/day, for about the first
50 PV of brine injection, followed by a similar
period of flooding at around 2.5 ccfmfn or
35-40 ftlday. The flooding rate was increased
during the latter part of the test in order to
examine the effects of large throughputand rate on
the residual oil saturation.
Table 2 liste the core preparation sequences and
test specificationsfor the waterfloodexperiments.
The amounte of oil produced during the initial,
lower rate portion of the floods are also noted.
Tests waa performed under laboratoryand reservoir
conditions, and on samplee deliberately treated to
e oil-wet so that a range of possible behaviore
could be determined. At the outact of the work, it
waa expected that results of laboratory-condition
displacement tests on cleaned, water-wet,
core
would exhibit fairly ei.milar results to those
conducted at reeervoir conditions. Thie was
becauee the on-site nettability analysia of reaervoir core had indicated a strong water-wet preference, ae previouslynoted.
The oil recovery behavior for three typical waterflood tests on assemblies of similar butted core
plugs is compared in Figure 3. 011 production in
the water-wet laboratorycondition test caased much
aooner than for the reservoir conditionand oil-wet
cases. In addition, note the croealng of the
curves aa the amount of water injectionIncreaeed.
The flooding behavior in the reservoir conditions
test ia particularly interesting in view of the
fact that the rock still exhibitad moderately
etrong water-wet properties. The Amott ratio for
water was determined to be 0.61 in a separate
nettability test on one of the plug samples
-meaning that 61% of the oil displacementcan occur
by apontaneoue water imbibition, compared to the
total recovery by waterflooding. This compares to
water Amott ratios of around 0.9 for tha rock in
the laboratory condition floods. It should be
noted that the previously-describedqualitative
wettabllity teste could not differentiatebetween
these two degrees of water-wetness. Table 3
summarizes the reaulta of the three waterflood
teata.
Not all of the delayed production exhibited in the
reservoir condition waterflood (Figure 3) can be
attributed to nettability modification induced by
aging the rock with crude oil; part is due to
. higher viscosity of the dead crude oil used for the
test, The effects of viacoaity are illustratedin
Figure 4. There we have compared water fractional
flow curves from this experiment with curves from
the laboratory conditions water-wet flood and the
oil-wet core flood, Also shown ib the fractional
flow calculateduelng the productionhistory of the
resezvoir condition experiment and the viacoelty
ratio of the laboratory conditions teat. This
adjuated curve is relatively eimilar to the laboratory conditions cume
for most water eaturationa, but ita behavior near residual oil

.
SPE 17959

F. G. McCAFFERY,
R. W. WUNDERLICHAND R. P. CARTWRIGHT

saturation is different. It is near residual oil

at reservoir
saturation that the waterflood
conditions results in slow prolonged production,
whereas the waterflood at laboratoryconditionsdo
The prolonged
not produce add5.tional oil.
production appears to be caused by the wetting
properties of the system during the reservoir
conditionsexperiment.
A few laboratory and reservoir condition displacement tests were conducted on additional samples to
verify the previously-notedtrends. Residual oil
saturations from laboratory conditions tests with
stronglywater-wet rock typicallyfell in the range
of 3025% Pv. A second reservoir conditions measurement gave a residual oil maturation of 14% PV,
and even a more prolonged period of oil production
than obtained previously. Figure 5 shows the long
history of oil production for that flood. The
recovery behavior was, in fact, fairly similar to
the oil-wet case discussed previously. The system
was neverthelesscharacterizedas weakly water-wet,
with a water Amott number of 0.24 and no free
imbibitionof oil.

Comparisonsof Waterflood and

Centrifu~eDisplacement
Early laboratory studies with preserved core from
this reservoir suggested large differences in
residual oil saturation depending on whether a
waterflood or capillary pressure test was used to
achieve the displacement. Waterflood residuals
were reported to be in the 20-30% PV range, whereas
centrifuge or porous plate displacement tests
yielded low residual saturations in the 5-10%
range. For this reason, a detailed comparison of
waterflood and
centrifuge displacement
was
undertaken.
Figure 6 illustratesthe sequence of eteps used to
compare waterflood and centrifuge displacements.
The general procedure was to conduct follow-up
centrifuge tests on the individual plug samples
following a waterflood test, then to re-saturate
the samples with oil and conduct a full displacement test under centrifugal forces. Table 3
includes a summary of the results of this work.
Some general trends can be noted from the results
given in Table 3. One is that the centrifugetests
following a waterflood did not cause significant
further reduction in the oil saturation,except for
tests with the oil-wet rock where the oil saturation was lowered from 13.1% to 9.0%. Another
observationis that centrifugedisplacementsfrom a
high oil saturation recovered a similar amount ofoil as recovered in the waterflood tests for the
resewoir conditions system. Laboratory condition
tests with other samples also showed agreement
batween the two displacementmethods. The oil-wet
test was again the exception, showing a lower
residual oil when centrifugaldirectly from a high
oil saturation than when the displacementoccurred
as a combinationof waterfloodingand centrifuging.
One concern in performing centrifuge reefdual oil
measurements is that the centrifugal force not be
so high that it leads to excess mobilization of
oil. This is analogoue to the well-known critical
capillary number for waterflood experiments which
should not be exceeded in ordar to obtain repre-

3
12
saturations.,

sentative residual oil

The
dimensionlessparameter analogous to the capillary
number is the centrifugalBond number, the ratio of
centrifugaland capillary forces:
~

APk.(U2rm
a

where AP is the density difference in g/cm3, k is

the permeabilityin cm2, u is the rotational speed
in radians per second, r is the rotational radius
to the midpotnt of the emmple in cm, and a is the
interracialtension in dynes/cm.
To address this concern, a series of measurements
were performed with Berea sandstone samples to
determine the range for which centrifugalresidual
oil was insensitive to rotational speed and to
determine the critical rotational speed beyond
which additional oil would be mobtlized. The
experiment was not performed with the Middle
Eastern core samples because of fears that the
weakly consolidatedsamples would deform under the
high centrifugal forces involvad in this experiment. The critical Bond number for thase Berea
sandstone semplea was determined to be approximately 10+ .
Restdual oil saturation dropped
rapidly from an average of 49.3%,to 19.6% ae the
Bond number was increasedfrom 10- to 10-9. Below
10-+
, residual oil saturation was approximately
constant. It should be noted that this crttical
Bond number appliee to strongly water-wet systeme.
It is likely that in less strongly water-wet or
oil-wet systems test the critical value would be
lower or that no criticalvalue below which Sor wae
constant would exist.
The critical Bond number of 10*4 corresponds to a
rotational speed of approximately 4000 rpm or a
capillary pressure of approximately60 psi for the
conditions of our experiments. Baeed on these
findings, the experiments with the reservoir core
semplee were limited to a maximum rotational speed
of approximately2000 rpm.
Trapped Gas SaturationTests
Trapped gas saturation tests provide a rapid
measure of residualnon-wettingphase saturationin
stronglywet systems. These simple tests involving
countercurrentimbibitionmeasurements ;~d use in
evaluationsof residual oil maturation.
It has
been reported that the trapped gas saturation
obtained following free imbibition of a wetting
hydrocarbon phase (e.g., kerosene or toluene) is
similar to the reeidual oil value following
displatiemant
by water in a water-wet rock.5
The
trapped gas
essentially
saturation is
controlled by pore geometry alone. The tests are
therefore useful for determining whether residual
oil saturation ranges observed from field measuremente end more complex oil-water laboratory
displacement tests are solely due to variations in
pore morphology, or whether other factors euch as
nettability and the magnitude and duration of
viscous forces must be considered.
A variety of trapped gas saturation tests were
carried out on plug and full diameter samples from
five wells to evaluate residual non-wetting phase

.
LABORATORYAND SINULATIONSTUDIES OF OIL
nTSPI.ACE~.NT
BRHAvrflRDUR
WATFR
nRTW.---..--.. .- ------------ TCIROTTOM
-- ------..... . .. ---saturations in the high permeability, sandstone
reservoir rock. Liquide ueed in these imbibition
tests were primarily keroeene and toluene. The
average trapped gas saturation in 130 total
measurements on 56 individual core sample was 29%
with a standard deviation of 7%. This agrees well
with the residual oil saturation obtained from the
stronglywater-wet, laboratoryconditionwaterflood
or centrifuge displacement teste. Only small
effects were noted due to sample packaging. the
application of overburden atreas, and the presence
of an initial liquid saturation of around 10%.
Some of the effects were offsettingand were mostly
wtthin the experimental repeatability of about 2
maturationunits.
Figure 7 provides a comparison of trapped gas
saturation measurements on samples from one well
with the corresponding eponge core residual oil
resulte. The average trapped gas saturation for
eight samples from the swept zone was 24%, which ie
atgnificantlyhigher than the average residual oil
by eponge core analyais from this zone (Cf.
Table 1). There is relatively less variation in
the trapped gas eaturationewith depth, and trapped
gas valuee are in closer agreement with the sponge
core oil saturationaabove the swept zone.

Relative PermeabilityData
Figure 8 ahowe relative permeabilities calculated
from the recovery and pressure drop data of the
three waterflood teets reported in Figure 3 and
summarized in Table 3. Analyaes of the uneteadyetate f3~3placements were
made
by
standard
methods,
using data from the initial elower-rate
portion of the floods. The recorded preesure drop
exhibited anomalous increaaea during latter etages
of the. high rate portions of the oil-wet and
reservoir condition floods, for reasona that have
not been reeolved. Extrapolation waa therefore
required for defining the relative permeability
relations in the region approaching the residual
oil saturation. This region is represented by
dotted curves in Figure 8, It is alao noted that
the reservoir conditionsflood depicted in Figure 5
could not be analyzed in terms of individual
relative permeability curves because of uncertaintiee in the measured pressure drop history.

DISCUSSION OF LABORATORYRESULTS
Aa already pointed out, the laboratorytest program
was originally aimed at resolving previouelyreported differences in residual oil maturation
(ROS) as obtained from waterflood and centrifuge
tests. A further objectiveof the present work was
to identffy the most applicable displacement test
method based on comparisonswith field performance,
to provide data for use in reservoirmodeling.
The
laboratory work
showed that generally
conetstent ROS results were achieved in the
waterflood and centrifuge teate. The main experimental feature requiring special attention was
recognition that waterflooda with the restored
nettability syetame needed exteneive total flood
volumes before a true, immobile, residual oil
maturationcould be reached. Such behavior is meet
Commorilyattributed to strongly oil-wet eyetams,

CDR
ALI

17ac@
.,ZJ3

and to mixed wettabllity aystema of the type

studied by Salathiel.8 The present resulte
indicate that similar displacement behavior can
occur for systems beat characterizedas moderately
to weakly water-wet baaed on an Amott characterization. A related observation from our work
concerns the inabiltty of qualitative nettability
tests, such aa were used for on-site evaluation,
to distinguish degrees of wetting preference of
reservoir rock. Preferred test methode and the
recovery behavior could not be predicted based on
the qualitative nettability information, whfch
consistently seemed to show that the rock was
stronglywater-wet.
Residual oil saturations obtained from extended
displacement tests with restored nettability core
reflected
ultimate
similar
displacement
efficiencies as that obtained by a bottom water
drive process in the field, such as shown by eponge
core results (Table 1). The observed laboratory
displacement behavior may also help to explain the
higher oil saturationspreeent in sponge core from
above the ewept zone, in epite of the previouelydiecuseed evidence from trapped gas measurements
that the pore morphology waa not different. A
plaueible interpretationie that oil in core above
the swept zone was flnahed by the equivalent of,
say, tens of pore volumes of drilling fluid
filtrate, leaving the oil maturationsomewhat above
the ultimate residual value seen in the awept zone.
That is, based on the flood$.ngpropertied of the
reservoir condition laboratory tests, a true
reeidual oil value would not yet have been reached.
Ftgure 9 ehowe a comparison of the sponge core
reeulte and various laboratmy-meaaured reeidual
oil information obtained under different test
conditions.
One experimental area that particularly requires
further investigation is determination of the
oil-water relative permeabilitypropertiedin caaee
where the flooding history is very prolonged.
Importantquestione concerningeffects of displacement iate,
and the relative merits of eteady and
uneteady-state tests, with weakly or intermediately-wetted syetema are now receiving some
Our current work hae
careful attention.glo
pointe@ out some problems in monitoring extremely
low oiL cuts and obtaining reliable relative
permeability information. There ie a need to
further evaluate uee of the centrifuge for
oil-water displacement teeta in the forced
imbibitionregime, to follow up the published work
on gae-oil syetema in drainage.11 An initial
application with oil and water reported the
determination of non-unique relative permeability
information.12

MOD!iLCALCULATIONSOF BOTTOM WATERDRIVE

Aseries of simple simulation runa were conducted
to evaluate factors affecting the gravity drive
procese during vertical displacement of oil by
water. These seneitiv.ttyetudiee were considered
useful for gaining an improvedunderstandingof the
efficiency with which the residual oil maturation
can be attained for an idealizedbottom water drive
process. Propertied generally representative of
the field of intereetwas ueed in the enalyeis. In
particular, the effects of
displacement rate,

.
SPE 17959

F. G. McCAFFER~,
R. W. WUNDERLICHAND R. F.
. . CARTWRTCHT
. .. .. ..-------

.I

As shown on Figuree 12 and 13, predictions for the

relatively low baae case oil viscosity of 2.45 cp
showed that the approach to the true residual oil
saturation occurred almoat in coincidencewith the
influx of bottom water. Only for the low ROS caae
(Figure 14) can the water saturation be eeen to
remain about 4% below ita ultimate value for an
extended period of
shown on
the.
Alao
Figures 12-14 are the results with higher viecoaity
oils. As expected, the gravity drive process was
elowed, particularlyin the higher water saturation
regions where oil relative permeabilitieaare low.
Tha main reaaon for examining cases of higher oil
viscosity relates to obaervationa that gravity
segregationeffects may cause the oil in some thick
resemotrs to become heavier with depth (e.g.,
EIetherington
and Horan,14 Schulte15).

absolute and relative permeability, and fluid

vi.acoaityand density on the approach to residual
oil saturation were evaluated. This study has
similarities to that of ieveridge et al.13 on t%
prediction of gaa-oil.gravity drainage behavior. A
workstation-baeed,3-D, 3-phase black oil simulator
developed by Chevron waa used for the model
predictions. Y%e preaent application involved a
1-D vertical displacementof oil by water.
Three different oil-water relative permeability
relationswere employed in the model atud~.ea. One,
representing a high residual oil saturation,
correspondedto the water-wet laboratory condition
curves shown on Figure 8. A second set of curves,
designated as medium residual oil saturation,waa
that derived from the reservoir condition flood
and alao shown in Figure 8. The third set of
relative permeabilitycharacteristicsrepresenteda
low ROS caae. For this caae, the oL1 relative
permeability curve was a hybrid of the medium ROS
curve
and the prolonged reeervoir conditions flood
having the recovery behavior aa shown on Figure 5.
Fractional oil flows during the latter atagea of
the recovery hfatory were used to calculate
water-oil
permeability
ratioa.
relative
Correspondingwater saturation at the outflow face
of the core were calculated from the Welge
equation. Oil relative peqeabilities over the 782
to 86% range of water saturation were subsequently
calculated by aaauming that the water relative
permeability curve corresponded to that for the
medium ROS case, after being normalized to the
saturation range covered by
the prolonged
displacement teat of Figure 5. Figure 10 shows a
comparison of the oil relative permeabilitiesused
for the medium and low ROS simulation caaes.
Despite inherent aasumptiona in developing the
curves
the saturation region as ROS ie
over
approached,the trende are consideredrealiaticfor
uae in the model etudies.

Figure 11 notes other variationa that wera made to

the model tnput properties-- namely an increaae in
the oil density, and decreaaes in vertical permeability and displacement rate. Table 4 summarizes
these predictions in terms of the reaulta shown in
Figurea 12-14 for the baae rune and caaes of varying viacoaity. Not unexpectedly, the form of the
saturation profiles and rate of approach to the
residual oil saturation are governad by the relative magnitude of the quantity kv(pw-po)/(PoQ),
where Q is the displacementrate.
The predictions were admittedly based on a very
simplified model of vertical displacement. We
balieve, however, that reaulta of this nature,
including extensions of the present atudiea, could
aid reservoir management decisions concerning
production ratea, coning phenomena, and time-lapae
monitoring of saturation changes. A relatively
minor modeling artifact that should be pointed out
from the results shown on Figures 12-14 relatea to
our use of variable, 1 ft to 3 ft, sized vertical
cells. Figure 15 showa a comparisonof the saturation profiles when equal-sized, l-ft vertical
cells were used for one of the base caae runs.
This matter has little influence on results
concerningthe rate of approachof the residual oil
saturation.

A schematic of the model set-up and list of the

aseigned rock and fluid properties are given in
Figure 11. The lbasecase quantitiesare the most
reasonable for thereaarvoir system under study,
while designated variations to certain parameter
were investigated to assess their predicted impact
on efficiency of the gravity drive process.
Capillary pressurewaa neglected in these analyeea,
although it IS being considered in follow-up 2-D
model studiee to examine effects of a parttallypenetrating horizontal shale
barrier.
The
aaaumption of zero capillary pressure in the
present one-dimensionaldisplacementpredictionsis
.juetifieddue to the high permeabilityof the rock
and the likelihood that PC=P -Pw is only slightly
negative as ROS ia approac~ed in the reservoir
condition flood tests.

CONCLUSIONS

Figuras 12-14 provide summariesof some of the main

results of the model studies, based on using each
~f the relative permeability relations for the
high, medium, and low ROS casas. The constant flow
rate chosen for most of the runs caused an advance
in the oil-water contact of around 10 ft/year.
~is rate of displacementwaa deliberately chosen
to be higher than that observed in the reservoir
for which tha laboratory studies were made. The
simulator predictions of displacement efficiency
would thus be on the pessimisticside.
..
317

1.

Core samples aged with the reservoir crude

water-wet.
were
moderately
to
weakly
Reservoir condition displacement tests on
these samples exhibited prolonged perioda of
oil production. Final residual oil aaturationa were in general agreement with the
relatively low values obeerved in the field
due to the action of bottom water drive over
continuousaand sections.

2.

Waterflood and centrifuge displacements gave

similar residual oil saturation for resarvoir
condition as well as laboratory condition
measurements.

3.

Qualitativenettability teats, involving rock

dispersion and drop adhesion measurements,
could not be used to diatinguiah degreea of
wetting pr~ferenceof reservoirrock.

LABOIUiTORY
AND SIMULATIONSTUDIES OF OIL
DISPLACEMENTBEHAVIOR
DUE TO BOTTOM WATER DRIVE
-...
...
4.

Residual oil saturations predicted from

oil-water displacement tests at laboratory
conditions and from trapped gas saturation
measurements were significantly higher than
those determined from reservoir condition
displacementtests.

5*

The slow flow of oil at high water saturations

is not adequately unde~stood. More research
is needed to quantify the approach to residual
oil in a reservoir.

6.

Simulationstudies indicated that, for reasonable selectionof parametersapplicableto the

reservoir under study, the bottom water rise
proceeds aa a sharp front with little or no
subordinateoil flow. Conditionsleading to a
more gradual approach to residual oil were
alao investigated.

9.

--. --.

Heaviside, J., Gamble, 1. J. A., and Brown,

~, E., #tRelative
pe~eability for Intermediate
NettabilityReservoirs,SPE Paper 16968, 62nd
Annual
Technical
Conference,
Dallas,
Sept. 28-30, 1987.

10. Mohanty, K. K, and ~ller, A. E., ~Factora

InfluencingUnsteady Relative Permeability of
a Mixed-Wet Rock, SPE Paper 18292, 63rd
Annual
Technical
Conference,
Houston,
Oct. 2-5, 1988.
11. Hagoort, J.,
Drainage,=

Oil Recovery by
(June 1980) 139.

Gravity

12. Firoozabadi, A. and Aziz, K., Relative

Permeability from Centrifuge Data, SPE Paper
15059, 56th California Regional Meeting,
Oakland, April 2-4, 1986.
13. Beveridge, S. E., Spivak, A., and Bertrand,
J.-P., Recovery Sensitivitiesof High-Relief
Reservoirs, J. Can. Pet. Tech. (July-Sept.
1969) 93.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The core measurements were conducted under a
contractual arrangement wtth Aramco. The authors
wish to acknowledgepermission to publish this work
given by Aramco and Chevron 011 Field Research
Company. We also thank J, A. Hayes and B. L.
Hunter for performingmost of the laboratorytests.

14. Hetherington,G. and lloran,A. J., Variations

with Elevationof Kuwait Reservoir Fluids,&
Tnst. Pet. (April 1960) 109.
15. Schulte, A. M.,
Compositional Variations
Within a Hydrocarbon Column Due to Gravity,
SPE Paper 9235, 55th Annual Technical
Conference,Dallas, Sept. 21-24, 1980.

REFERENCES
1.

Chatzis, I. and Morrow, N. R., Correlationof

CapillaryNumber Relationshipsfor Sandstone,f
SPEJ (October 1984) 555.

2.

King, M. J,, Falzone, A. J., Cook, W. R.,

Jennings, J. W., Jr., and 14ills; W. H.,
SimultaneousDeterminationof Residual Saturation and Capillary Pressure Curves Utilizing
the Ultracentrifuge,SPE Paper 15595, 61st
Annual Technical Conference, New Orleans,
October 5-8. 1986.

3.

Wyman$ R. E., How Should We Measure Residual

Oil Saturation, Bull. Can. Pet. Geol. (WY
1977) 234.

4.

Kidwell, C. M. and Guillory, A. J., A Recipe

for Reeidual Oil Saturation Determination,
JPT (November1980) 1999.

5.

Pickell, J. J., Swanson, B. F., and Hickman,

W. B., Applicationof Air-llercury
and Oil-ALr
Capillary Pressure Data In the Study of Pore
Structureand Fluid Distribution,SPEJ (March
1966) 55.

6.

Johnson, E. F., Rossler, D. P., and Naumann,V. o., Calculation of Relative Permeability
from Displacement Experiments, Trans. AIME
(1959) V. 216, 370.

7.

Jones, S. C. and Roszelle, W. O., Graphical

Technique for Determining Relative Permeability From Displacement Experiments, JPT
(1978) 807.

8.

Salathiel, R. A., woil Recovery by Surface

Film Drainage in Mixed-NettabilityRocks, JPT
(1973) 1216.
--S M

8i?E17959

TA5LE I
Oil Saturations
from Sponge Core AealyBis

Residual

Sample

TotalOil Saturationat
P~rOBitY(%)* at Reservoir Conditicm8 (Z)

Length (ft)

No.

0.3
0.3
0.2
0.2
0.3
0.3
0.3
0.4
0.2
0.2

121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128

129
130

in Swept Zone

32,6
31.1
21.3
30,8
31.5
22.8
30.3
29.9
29.5
29.6
Mean

27.1
13.7
22.9
11.6
14.6
2.2
9.5
19.9
13.7
1.8
Sor

Standard Deviation

*Listed

Porosity

Residual

is at Lab Conditions

Oil at Reservoir

(sor)RE5 - (s

where

)
r Us

Conditions

13.7
8.2

of 325 psi Cwerburden.

IS calculated

from:

MB -@RES)~ ~
[
(
RES -+LAB
0

BO 18 the Formation Volume Factor

(Res.

Bbls psr Stock Tank Bbl) and $ IS

Porosity.

TABLE 2

Waterflood Sample Preparations and Test Speci.ficat Laboratory Conditions, Water-Wet Flood

Oil zone plugs cut with nitrogen gas

Plugs cleaned by solvent flushing (toluene, methanol,
isopropyl alcohol, chloroform) at 1500 psi overburden
and 1000 psi back pressure
Initial water saturation established by viscous oil
displacement
Test oil was a white oil/kerosene blend
~;;;l~vded
at 0.53 cclmin for 32 PV, and 2.43 cclmin
100Z of oil produced during flood at initial rate

Reservoir Conditiona Flood

(with Anaerobic Produced Crude Oil)
Solvent-flushed cores were saturated with synthetic
reservoir brine by displacement of methanol
Initial water saturation established by centrifugal
displacement with crude oil
Core aged for 84 days at reservoir temperature (150F)
and 2000 Psi nore rrressure
Reservoir-temperat~re waterflood at 0.48 ccfurinfor
42 PV, and 2.57 cc/mittfor 139 PV
94Z of waterflood oil produced during flood at initial
rate
Oil-Wet Flood
Water-saturated core plugs flushed with lZ eolution of
Quilon L, a Dupont organic chromium complex,
followed
by drying at 95C for 2L hours
Initial water saturation established by viscous oil
displacement
Teat oil was a white oil/kerosene blend
Waterflooded at 0.46 cc/reinfor 16 PV, and 2,4 cc/rein
for 611 PV
781 of waterflood oil produced during displacement at
initial rate

.,

...,

jf.~;.

WE lp959

TABLE3
Summary of Waterflood

and Centrifuge

Displacement

Results

Laboratory Conditions
Water-Wet Displacement
Porosity (%)
Air Permeability
(red)
oil viscosity
(Cp)
Water Viscosity
(cp)

Reservoir Condtt ions

Displacement
(150F, Reservoir Oil)

25.0
817
5.13
1.47

Waterflood Tests:
Initial
Water Saturation
(Z)
Residual Oil Snturtttion (%)
Total Throuy,hput (Pore Volume&!)

29.5
2100
12.3
0.63

23,1
26.2
57

Centrifuge Tests (2000 rpm, Capillary Pressure=12 psi)

Avg. Residual Oil Saturation - Cent rif uge
after Waterflood (%)
Avg. Re-Established
Initial
Water Saturation
(%)
AVS. Residual Oil Saturation
from
Centrifuge Displacement
(%)

16.2
22.0
181

24.2

Relative

Permeability
Curve

Medium ROS
Medium ROS

for Selected

Oil Viscosity
Cp
2.45
25

Variations

1:::
3.8

Result

kv = 200 md

Similar to 25 cp Oil
Case with Base Case kv

20% of Base Case

Displacement Rate

Similar to 2.45 cp OiJ

Base Case

Low ROS

2.45

p. - 0.95g/cm3

Similarto BaseCase

Low ROS

2.45

kv = 200 md

Similar to 25 cp Oil
with Base Case kv
140derately More Efficient
than 70 Cp Oil with
Baee Case P.

Low ROS

25

00 - 0.95

Low ROS

25

20Z of Base Case

0i8placement
Rate

glcm3

Similar
Result

10,9
13.1
627

20.0

to Input Properties

(Additional)
Property Variation

23,8
120L
5.13
1.iL7

20.8
20,4

TABLE4
Summary of Model Run Results

Oil-Wet
Displacement

to Base Case

,*.

SPE 17959

l?

1.0

1,,,1

0.6

(,-

InIO@
Wats!3aturatlw133%
Rmldusl ON 2atwa00w 34.0%
?uOsnw2e.7%
AhPenneaLHlity
50S2md
i
AgellncNdOoil rotIN Days
atwaFwld30v
3psl P0m
Pmasum

0.8

~
g
$
=
0

1,,,1

Breakthrough

z
~
z
s

lb-

Cdmlfuge

OY2

Re-Ssturate

0.4

02
?\/
h-----7.5

DisPlacemeM

RIMS

-24.8

W*Y

Wdey+

.~

100
Water ln@ck-d

mtrlruga

5Q

So

011

(Pore Volumes)
6

Figure 5

Figure

Prorhmthn History for Second Reservoir Conditions Waterflood

Sequence of Steps Uaad to Compsre Waterflood and

Centrifuge Oisplaosments

.
.
..
.
.
..

0.6 -

,.,

,.

.:,

~ 0.6
a
:
~

,,...
+ +
011
Zma
...

0.7

,. .,,

20

40

%mm3tlon

. .... . :..
... .,..
.. .
. .,...,,..
...
.

. ......
swept zone

0.3 -

IJ__l
o

Wererale

40

50

02 -

So

100

on

ofTrapped
GasSsturstion
with
Resfdual
011
In
sponge
Cors

Corrrpsriaon

02

0.4

0.6

02

Wstw Saturation

Residual 6alurstbn f%)

Figure

0.3 -

F@um 8
OU-Wsfer Relstivs Permeability Curves OerIwd from
Waterffaod
Teats

1.0

;.1 t .

~?i,;

1.0

0.1 -

L
f

Om
Tnts
SPOW9

SpOn@COrc
SweptZone

WN

Entlm 1nlUV81

RmtoNCWOIMIIHY
WawlrboaC4nmruLrc

0.01 -

Sbeegly
WMCOW*I
C+ntrmlw
Wmwtrood
k

k
b

:b

owl

~1

10

+.
Moan
-.3 I

-1

I
I

O.0001 -

o
Zone ml Mtxwuremwrt
Figure

Technique

Comparlsotts of Information on Residual 011Saturation

OOs=%
1

Omoool

0.2

0.4

0.s

J i+00s=4%
I

0.s

1.0

Watar Saturation

Figure 10
Comperlson of 011 Reletlve Permeability Curvaa Uaad for Medium and
Low ROS Simulation Caaea

50

.
Production
40

+
3011-Watm Relallve Permeability Curvee, Repmaanting High (26% PV),
Medium
(22%PV), and Low (14*A PV) ROS

Base Caee

Propwties

Vertical Perm., md

2000

Horizontal Perm., md

3030
0.30

Porosity
Water Oenslty gfcm3

1.097

011 Oetwltv g/cm3

0.805

Water Viscosity, cp

0.7

011 Vle60slty, cp

2.45

DisplacementRate

Sat constant

30

Varlatlons

~
~
.g
+

200

20
0.95
25

and 70

20% of ase Caaa

I
10

~
Injection

-w

Figure 11
Schematic Diagram of Model Set-Up end Llet of Aaalgned

1y-

Proparflea

c
c

20

40

00

so

Water Satumtlon (%

lW

PV)

Figure 12
Model Predictlona for High ROS Relative Penneablllty
to VO = 70 cp

BaaeCaseCompared

Propertlea
-

17959

s
a

_______

(W) II1610H

110mmww
---

_ ---

. --

__________________________

i]

_l

--
Jewm

Iwul

uo wwmw

-____ .
JWM 181UUI

(W) W610H

324