05.

Water Injection

DESIGN CONCEPTS IN
WATERFLOOD PROCESSES

M. Arham Nur
 Types of Flood Patterns

Normal Pattern Inverted Pattern

• More injectors than producers • More producers than injectors

• Suitable for low injectivity and • Suitable for high injectivity and
high lifting capacity low lifting capacity
 Types of Flood Patterns

Peripheral Uniform Pattern Irregular Pattern

 Types of Flood Patterns
Regular four-spot
Geometric shape = equilateral triangle
Producer-to-Injector Ratio:
Normal = 2
Inverted = 1/2

Skewed four-spot
Geometric shape = triangle
Producer-to-Injector Ratio:
Normal = 2
Inverted = 1/2
 Types of Flood Patterns
Five-spot
Geometric shape = Square
Producer-to-Injector Ratio:
Normal = 1
Inverted = 1

Seven-spot
Geometric shape = Hexagon
Producer-to-Injector Ratio:
Normal = 1/2
Inverted = 2

Nine-spot
Geometric shape = Square
Producer-to-Injector Ratio:
Normal = 1/3
Inverted = 3
 Types of Flood Patterns

Direct line drive

Geometric shape = Rectangle
a
Producer-to-Injector Ratio = 1
but depends on number of lines d
Characterized by distances a and d

Staggered line drive

Geometric shape = Rectangle
Producer-to-Injector Ratio = 1 a
but depends on number of lines d

Characterized by distances a and d

Guidelines for Pattern Selection
Peripheral floods
 Suitable for dipping, relatively homogeneous reservoirs
 Require adequate lateral continuity and high transmissibility
 Require careful control of withdrawal from up-structure wells and
shutting-in of high water cut wells

Uniform flood patterns

• If well drilling cost is low, utilize smaller uniform patterns with equal
distances between injectors and producers such as four, five and seven spot
• Choice between normal and inverted patterns should be based on observed
well productivity and injectivity
• Selected pattern should provide optimum injection and production capacity
• Selected pattern type, pattern size and injection rate should be consistent with
available fluid lifting, rock fracturing pressure and well injectivity
Guidelines for Pattern Selection
Example
An oil reservoir is considered for waterflooding with a desirable flood life of
10 years and total water injection of 2.5 pore volumes.

Given data: Porosity 28%

Net reservoir thickness 64 ft
Reservoir depth 2200 ft
Water injectivity 1.65 Bbl/day/psi
Maximum lifting capacilty 700 BFPD
Average reservoir pressure 900 psia
Expected operating days per year 350
Fracturing pressure gradient 0.85 psi/ft
Water formation volume factor 1.02 RB/STB

Using a maximum bottomhole injection pressure of 90% of fracturing

pressure, and assuming zero voidage rate, determine the appropriate flood
pattern for the proposed waterflood.
Guidelines for Pattern Selection
Example, continued
Assume that pattern size = A acre
Pore volume per pattern = 7758xAx64x0.28 = 139A MBbl
Total volume of water injection = 2.5x139A = 348A MBbl
Desired Injection rate = 348Ax1000 / (10x350) = 99.4A BWPD/pattern
Fracturing pressure = 0.85x2200 = 1870 psia
Maximum injection rate = 1.65x(1870x0.9 – 900) = 1292 BWPD

Hence; Pattern size A = 1292 / 99.4 = 13 acre

Required lifting per pattern = 1292x1.02 = 1318 BFPD

Number of producing wells required per pattern = 1318 / 700 = 1.9

Therefore;
An inverted seven spot (with size of 13 acre) is recommended since this
type of pattern provides a producer-to-injector ratio of 2.
Guidelines for Pattern Selection
Example, continued
Assume that pattern size = A acre
Pore volume per pattern = 7758xAx64x0.28 = 139A MBbl
Total volume of water injection = 2.5x139A = 348A MBbl
Desired Injection rate = 348Ax1000 / (10x350) = 99.4A BWPD/pattern
Fracturing pressure = 0.85x2200 = 1870 psia
Maximum injection rate = 1.65x(1870x0.9 – 900) = 1292 BWPD

Hence; Pattern size A = 1292 / 99.4 = 13 acre

Required lifting per pattern = 1292x1.02 = 1318 BFPD

Number of producing wells required per pattern = 1318 / 700 = 1.9

Therefore;
An inverted seven spot (with size of 13 acre) is recommended since this
type of pattern provides a producer-to-injector ratio of 2.
Guidelines for Pattern Selection
• Reservoir simulation models can help in selecting the flood pattern type
and size to achieve maximum oil recovery with minimum injected water.
• Selected flood pattern should utilize as many as possible of the existing
producing wells.
• Some existing producing wells can be converted to injectors. It should be
remembered that poor producers also make poor injectors. Hence; before
deciding on converting a poor producing well to an injector, some analysis
is required to determine the reasons for poor productivity.
• If anisotropy or natural fractures exist, pattern alignment and utilization
of elongated patterns should be considered in order to avoid premature
water breakthrough. Reservoir simulation models can help in selecting
optimum pattern variations.
• In flood patterns within dipping reservoirs, injectors should be located off
center closer to the up-dip side to delay the breakthrough time in down-
dip producing wells.
Guidelines for Pattern Selection
The shape and size of flood patterns located near fault planes or flow barriers
should be properly adjusted to in order avoid lack of communication between
injectors and producers in the same pattern

Sealed Fault
 Reservoir Fill-up
• A fill-up period is required if free gas exists in the reservoir
before waterflood
• Oil production response in usually starts after fill-up period
• During fill-up period, a significant amount of free gas goes back
into solution
• Waterflood design should allow for the fill-up period and
its effect on production performance and injectivity
• Reservoir simulation models automatically account for
fill-up effects
• Reservoir engineering calculations can also be made
using conceptual models to provide approximate values
for fill-up effects
 Reservoir Fill-up
• Fill-up volume
Production
Npf and Wpf
Injection
Wif Pore vol Vp
Free gas sat Sgi

If production occurs during fill-up:

Wif = (Vp Sgi / Bw) + (Npf Bo / Bw) + Wpf
If no production occurs during fill-up:
Wif = Vp Sgi / Bw
 Reservoir Fill-up
• Fill-up time
Production rate qo
Water-oil ratio WOR
Injection rate
qinj Pore vol Vp
Free gas sat Sgi

tif = Wif / qinj

= [(Vp Sgi / Bw) + qo tif {(Bo / Bw) + WOR}] / qinj
Solving for tif requires an iterative procedure if qo and WOR are
functions of time
 Reservoir Fill-up
• Volumetric sweep efficiency at fill-up:

Swept region

Injected water
Pore vol Vp
Wif
Water sat Swbt
Init wat sat Swi

At the end of fill-up period:

Evf = Wif Bw / Vp (Swbt - Swi)
 Reservoir Fill-up
Example
Calculate the volume of injected water required for fill-up, length of the fill-up
period and volumetric sweep efficiency for a waterflood pattern with the
following characteristics:
Pattern size 20 acre
Gross reservoir thickness 72 ft
Net-to-gross ratio 0.86
Porosity 26%
Initial free gas saturation 15%
Initial water saturation 31%
Water saturation at breakthrough 63%
Oil production rate 158 BOPD
Water-oil ratio 0.7
Water injection rate 2500 BWPD
Oil formation volume factor 1.22 RB/STB
Water formation volume factor 1.03 RB/surface Bbl
 Reservoir Fill-up
Example, continued
Pore volume Vp = 7758x20x72x0.86x0.26 = 2498 MBbl
First iteration: Wif = 2498x0.15 / 1.03 = 364 MBbl
tif = 364000 / 2500 = 145.6 days
Second iteration:
Wif = (2498x0.15 / 1.03) + (158x145.6 / 1000)[(1.22 / 1.03) + 0.7] = 407.1 MBbl
tif = 407100 / 2500 = 162.8 days
Third iteration:
Wif = (2498x0.15 / 1.03) + (158x162.8 / 1000)[(1.22 / 1.03) + 0.7] = 412.3 MBbl
tif = 412300 / 2500 = 164.9 days
Fourth iteration:
Wif = (2498x0.15 / 1.03) + (158x164.9 / 1000)[(1.22 / 1.03) + 0.7] = 412.9 MBbl
tif = 412900 / 2500 = 165.2 days
Hence; Fill-up volume = 413 MBbl and Fill-up period = 165 days
Volumetric sweep efficiency at fill-up = 413x1.03 / [2498(0.63 – 0.31)] = 53.2%
 Water Injectivity
• Water injection rates play an important role in project design
and economics
• Injection rates directly impact surface facilities and flood life
• Water injection rate into a given well depends on:
-- Fluid viscosity and density
-- Fluid saturation distribution
-- Water quality
-- Reservoir depth
-- Injection tubing size and roughness
-- Bottomhole pressure in injection wells Pinj
-- Bottomhole flowing pressure in producing wells Pw
-- Reservoir permeability
-- Flood pattern shape and size
-- Relative permeability characteristics
 Water Injectivity
• Water injectivity Jw is defined as:

Jw = qinj / P

where P = Pinj – Pw

• Jw can be estimated from Darcy’s Law and can be measured

from well tests
• Procedure to estimate Jw depends on the flood stage:
-- From start till interference
-- From end of interference till fill-up
-- From end of fill-up till breakthrough
-- From breakthrough till abandonment
 Water Injectivity
Injectivity calculations:
• First stage;
Based on radial flow around injection wells
• Third and fourth stages;
Based on pattern shape, mobility ratio and areal sweep efficiency
• Second stage;
Use average between end of first and beginning of third stages
• Note:
First and second stages apply only for reservoirs with initial
free gas saturation Sgi
 Water Injectivity
First Stage: From Start till Well Interference
Based on analogy between fluid flow and
electrical flow for series arrangement:

0.00708 k h Oil bank

Jw 
 r  r  
Bw [ w ln( wb )  o ln( ob )  0.5( w  o ) S ] rob
krw rw kro rwb krw kro rw

rwb
where: k = absolute permeability, md
krw = water relative permeability at Swbt
kro = oil relative permeability at Swi
h = net reservoir thickness, ft Water bank
w = water viscosity, cp
o = oil viscosity, cp
Bw = water formation volume factor
S = skin factor
 Water Injectivity
First Stage: From Start till Well Interference
• First stage applies as long as: rob < D /2
• When oil banks from adjacent injectors meet: robmax = D / 2
and the second stage starts

1.787Winj rob rob

rob 
h  S gi rw rw

rwb rwb

S gi
rwb  rob
S wbt  S wi
D = 2 rob
 Water Injectivity
First Stage: Example
Flood pattern 20-acre five-spot
Net reservoir thickness 54 ft
Porosity 24%
Permeability 174 md
Initial water saturation Swi 28%
Oil relative permeability at Swi 0.86
Average water saturation at breakthrough Swbt 62%
Water relative permeability at Swbt 0.15
Initial gas saturation 12%
Oil viscosity 1.3 cp
Water viscosity 0.5 cp
Water formation volume factor 1.02 RB/surf Bbl
Wellbore radius 0.4 ft
Bottomhole pressure in producer 600 psia
Bottomhole pressure in injector 1300 psia
Skin factor +0.9
Estimate: Time required to inject 30 MBbl of water per pattern at flood start
Injected volume and injection rate at start of well interference
 Water Injectivity
First Stage: Example, continued
Oil bank outer radius rob = [1.787x30000 / (54x0.24x0.12)]0.5 = 186 ft
Water bank outer radius rwb = 186x[0.12 / (0.62 – 0.28)]0.5 = 111 ft
P = 1300 – 600 = 700 psi
0.00708 x174 x54 x700
Injection rate = 0.5 111 1.3 186 0.5 1.3 = 2103 BWPD
1.02[ ln( ) ln( )  0.5(  ) x0.9]
0.15 0.4 0.86 111 0.15 0.86

Distance between adjacent injection wells D = (20x43560)0.5 = 933 ft

Maximum value of rob: robmax = 933 / 2 = 466.5 ft
Corresponding value of rwb = 466.5x[0.12 / (0.62 – 0.28) ]0.5 = 277 ft

Hence; at start of well interference:

Volume of injected water = 54x0.24x0.12x(466.5)2 / 1.787 = 189400 Bbl
0.00708 x174 x54 x700
Injection rate = 0.5 277 1.3 466.5 0.5 1.3 = 1843 BWPD
1.02[ ln( ) ln( )  0.5(  ) x0.9]
0.15 0.4 0.86 277 0.15 0.86
 Water Injectivity
Third and Fourth Stages: After Fill-up
M = 1 and Sgi = 0
0.003541krw k h
Jw 
Five spot pattern: Bw  w [ln( d / rw )  0.619  S ]
d = distance between injector and producer

0.003541krw k h
Line drive with (d/a)  1: Jw 
d = distance between rows Bw  w [ln( a / rw ) 1.571(d / a ) 1.838  S ]
a = distance between producers

0.00472 krw k h
Seven spot pattern: Jw 
d = distance between wells Bw  w [ln( d / rw )  0.569  S ]
 Water Injectivity
Third and Fourth Stages: After Fill-up
M = 1 and Sgi = 0
Nine spot pattern: d = half the length of pattern side
R = ratio of producing rate of corner to side wells
P is based on bottomhole flowing pressure of corner well

0.003541k rw k h
Jw 
1 R
Bw  w [ {ln( d / rw )  0.272 }  S ]
2 R
and if P is based on bottomhole flowing pressure of side well

0.00708 k rw k h
Jw 
3 R 0.693
Bw  w [ {ln( d / rw )  0.272 }   S]
2 R 2 R
 Water Injectivity
Third and Fourth Stages: After Fill-up

For unit mobility ratio M = 1; hence; kro / o = krw / w

Injectivity for this condition is designated as base (initial) injectivity Jw0

For example, for Five spot pattern:

0.003541 k ro k h
J 
0

Bw  o [ln( d / rw )  0.619  S ]
w

For M = 1: As Ea increases, Jw remains equal to Jw0

For M < 1: As Ea increases, Jw declines
For M > 1: As Ea increases, Jw increases
 Water Injectivity
Third and Fourth Stages: After Fill-up
10 Ea

Conductance ratio:
 = Jw / Jw0 = qinjP0 / qinj0P

Conductance Ratio
 is a function of mobility ratio M 1

and areal sweep efficiency Ea

 can be used to estimate changes

in injectivity with time

0.1
0.1 1 10
Mobility Ratio
 Water Injectivity
Third and Fourth Stages: Example
Estimate the water injection rate initially and after cumulative injection reaches 350
MBbls for a waterflood that has the following characteristics:
Flood pattern 20-acre five-spot
Net reservoir thickness 54 ft
Porosity 24%
Permeability 174 md
Initial water saturation Swi 28%
Oil relative permeability at Swi 0.86
Average water saturation at breakthrough Swbt 62%
Water relative permeability at Swbt 0.15
Vertical sweep efficiency at breakthrough 80%
Initial gas saturation 0
Oil viscosity 1.3 cp
Water viscosity 0.5 cp
Water formation volume factor 1.02 RB/surf Bbl
Wellbore radius 0.4 ft
Bottomhole pressure in producer 600 psia
Bottomhole pressure in injector 1300 psia
Skin factor +0.9
 Water Injectivity
Third and Fourth Stages: Example, continued
Distance between injector and producer:
d = (20x43560 / 2)0.5 = 660 ft
Base injectivity:
Jw0 = 0.003541x0.86x174x54 / [1.02x1.3x(ln(660 / 0.4) – 0.619 + 0.9)]
= 2.81 Bbl/day/psi
Initial injection rate = 2.81x(1300 – 600) = 1967 BWPD
Mobility ratio M = (0.15x1.3) / (0.86x0.5) = 0.45
Pore volume per pattern = 7758x20x54x0.24 = 2011 MBbl
After injection of 350 MBbl:
Volumetric sweep efficiency Ev = 350 / [2011(0.62 – 0.28)] = 0.512
Areal sweep efficiency Ea = 0.512 / 0.8 = 0.64
From the correlation, Conductance ratio  = 0.65
Hence; Water injection rate = 0.65x1967 = 1278 BWPD
 Injection Allocation
• Allocation of injected water is required in order to assure a uniform oil
displacement and optimum oil recovery
• This is a key step in waterflood optimization and requires cooperative effort
from geologists and reservoir engineers
• Injection allocation consists of two parts:
Balancing the injection rate and cumulative injection between various flood
patterns according to their pore volume
Achieving a uniform injection profile covering all reservoir flow units within the
waterflood interval
• Continued monitoring is required to assure that allocated injection rates and
injection profiles are implemented
• Balanced injection also:
Prevents fluid migration across pattern boundaries
Results in uniform fluid lifting requirements in producing wells
Minimizes premature water breakthrough
 Injection Allocation
Injection rates for various patterns are calculated as follows:

Injection rate for pattern n qinjn = qinjt Vpn / Vpt

Where: qinjn = injection rate for pattern n

qinjt = total injection rate for the waterflood
Vpn = net pore volume for pattern n
Vpt = total net pore volume for waterflood area

Example
Total injection rate = 30000 BWPD
Total pore volume = 54750 MBbl

Pattern 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Pore volume 5246 4246 6689 6027 7635 7988 3899 5866 7155
Injection rate 2875 2327 3665 3302 4183 4377 2137 3214 3920
 Injection Allocation
Actual injected volumes can deviate from design values due to:

• Unknown reservoir heterogeneity

• Presence of natural fractures and thief zones
• Formation damage in injection wells
• Non-uniform initial fluid saturation distribution in the reservoir
• Non-uniform reservoir pressure distribution
• Irregular pattern shapes

Monitoring and suitable remedial work should be conducted

Pattern voidage maps, Hall’s plots, production bubble maps
and performance plots are useful in this regard
Original injection allocation is usually revised based on actual
performance and updated reservoir studies
 Injection Allocation
• Maintaining uniform injection profile in all injection wells is a difficult task

• Layer heterogeneity, shale breaks and thief zones affect injection profiles

• Dual tubing strings with packers, twin injection wells and limited entry
techniques can help obtaining uniform injection profiles

• Frequent spinner surveys, tracer surveys and use of observation wells are
helpful in determining actual injection profiles and water front movement

• Cased-hole logging and 4-D seismic surveys also are done in some waterflood
projects to provide insight about fluid distribution and oil displacement

• Note that these techniques are expensive, time consuming and require
experience and high technical capability
 Reservoir Voidage Analysis
Relationship to Reservoir Pressure
• After reservoir fill-up, the next step is to raise average reservoir pressure to a
reasonable value
• Selection of the pressure value is usually guided by fluid lifting conditions,
available water pumps, fracturing pressure and bubble point of reservoir oil
• In general, a pressure value within 10 - 20% tolerance below the initial bubble
point is reasonable
• Raising average reservoir pressure is generally combined with fil-up period
• Water injection and fluid withdrawal rates should be controlled in order to
achieve a negative reservoir voidage rate for a calculated period of time
• After the desired reservoir pressure is reaches, waterflood is operated at zero
voidage rate to maintain the pressure
 Reservoir Voidage Analysis
Voidage definition
Cumulative voidage =
NpBo+(Gp–NpRs)Bg+WpBw–Winj-We Production Injection
Cum: Np , Gp , Wp Cum: Winj
Rate: qo , Rp , WOR Rate: qinj
Voidage rate =
qo[Bo+(Rp–Rs)Bg+WORBw]–qinjBw-we
Influx
Cum: We
Rate: we
If voidage rate = 0
Reservoir pressure remains constant
Aquifer

If voidage rate > 0

Reservoir pressure will decline

If voidage rate < 0

Reservoir pressure will increase
 Reservoir Voidage Analysis
Injection-Withdrawal Ratio

Defined as Injection rate / fluid withdrawal rate

IWR = qinj Bw / [qo {Bo + (Rp – Rs) Bg + WOR Bw}]

IWR > 1 during reservoir fill-up period

IWR = 1 during pressure maintenance period

Note that IWR does not take the water influx rate (we) into account due to the
difficulty in its estimation

If the water influx rate is known, the modified IWR is:

(IWR)m = (qinj Bw + we) / [qo {Bo + (Rp – Rs) Bg + WOR Bw}]

 Reservoir Voidage Analysis
Changes in reservoir pressure
P = (V / Vp ct)
ct = cp + Sw cw + So co + Sg cg
Where: P = change in reservoir pressure, psi
V = cumulative reservoir voidage in RBbl
Vp = reservoir pore volume, Bbl
ct = total system compressibility, 1/psi
Sw, So and Sg are water, oil and gas saturations
cw, co and cg are water, oil and gas compressibilities, 1/psi
cp is pore volume compressibility, 1/psi
After reservoir fill-up:
ct = cp + Sw cw + So co
ct after fill-up <<< ct before fill-up
Hence; pressure response to injected water is much higher after fill-up
 Reservoir Voidage Analysis
Changes in reservoir pressure, Example
A waterflood has the characteristics given below. Reservoir fill-up is already achieved but
average reservoir pressure is still 635 psia. It is desired to raise the average reservoir
pressure and maintain it at 970 psia in a period of 6 month. Estimate the required water
injection rate and the value of (IWR)m during the 6 month period and its value during the
pressure maintenance period.
Reservoir pore volume 187 MMBbl
Initial water saturation 38%
Initial oil saturation 62%
Water compressibility 3.2x10-6 psi-1
Oil compressibility 14x10-6 psi-1
Pore volume compressibility 6.8x10-6 psi-1
Water formation volume factor 1.03 RB/surface Bbl
Oil formation volume factor 1.25 RB/STB
Gas formation volume factor 2.2 RB/MCF
Solution gas-oil ratio 315 SCF/STB
Current oil rate 14860 BOPD
Current producing WOR 0.87
Current producing GOR 674 SCF/STB
Current water influx rate 13500 RB/day
 Reservoir Voidage Analysis

Changes in reservoir pressure

Example, continued
Assume the following data during pressure maintenance period:

Average oil rate 18500 BOPD

Average producing WOR 1.8
Average producing GOR 405 SCF/STB
Oil formation volume factor 1.28 RB/STB
Gas formation volume factor 1.5 RB/MCF
Solution gas-oil ratio 368 SCF/STB
Expected water influx rate 8600 RB/day
 Reservoir Voidage Analysis
Changes in reservoir pressure Example, continued
Total compressibility ct = [6.8 + 0.38x3.2 + 0.62x14]x10-6 = 16.7x10-6 psi-1
Required change in reservoir pressure = 970 – 635 = +335 psi
Required cumulative negative voidage = 187x106x335x16.7x10-6 = 1046 MRBbl
Required voidage rate = 1046000 / (6x30) = 5812 RB/day
Current withdrawal rate = 14860[1.25+(674-315)x0.0022+0.87x1.03] = 43627 RB/day
Hence; Required water injection rate = 43627 – 13500 + 5812 = 35939 BWPD
(IWR)m = (35939 + 13500) / 43627 = 1.13
Fluid withdrawal rate during pressure maintenance =
18500[1.28 + (405 - 368)x0.0015 + 1.8x1.03] = 59006 RB/day
Hence; Required water injection rate = 59006 – 8600 = 50406 BWPD
(IWR)m = (50406 + 8600) / 59006 = 1
Notes: -- Calculated injection rate during pressure maintenance period is quite sensitive
to the GOR and WOR values
-- It is recommended that reservoir engineers keep updating the material balance
to provide reliable water influx estimates
 Reservoir Voidage Analysis
Voidage Maps

• Voidage analysis based on entire waterflood area is sometimes misleading

• Some waterfloods could have adequate voidage control as a whole but the
distribution for various parts may not be acceptable, i.e. some patterns may
have positive voidage while other patterns have negative voidage

• Reservoir engineers should calculate voidage for individual patterns and

prepare appropriate voidage maps

• Voidage maps (based on cumulative or current rate) provide visual

illustration of injection and withdrawal distribution

• Voidage maps provide guidelines for making suitable changes to achieve

optimum oil displacement and recovery
 Reservoir Voidage Analysis
Allocation factors
Calculating cumulative voidage or current
voidage rate for a pattern requires the
application of well allocation factors:

Applied to injectors in normal Applied to

Normal Pattern
producers in inverted patterns

Simple method:
Allocation factor = Angle of contribution / 360

Examples:
Corner well in nine-spot pattern = 90/360 = 0.25
Side well in nine-spot pattern = 180/360 = 0.5
All wells in four-spot pattern = 60/360 = 0.167 Inverted Pattern
All wells in five-spot = 90/360 = 0.25
All wells in seven-spot = 120/360 = 0.333
 Reservoir Voidage Analysis
Allocation factors
More accurate allocation factors are based
on angle of contribution i and weighting
factors wi related to reservoir
characteristics
Appropriate weighting factors are usually w1 w2 w3
estimated by engineers and geologists A B C
familiar with the reservoir D E
w4 w5 w6
Approximate weighting factors: F G H

wi = (kh)i for voidage rate w9

w7 w8
wi = (h)i for cumulative voidage
Fi = wi i /  wi I
Allocation factors for peripheral wells are
estimated based on their location and
primary production
 Reservoir Voidage Analysis
Allocation factors, Example
Allocation factors from the eight producing
wells in this nine-spot pattern are:

FA = 90 w5 / (90 w1 + 90 w2 + 90 w4 + 90 w5) w1 w2 w3

A B C
FB = 180 w5 / (180 w2 + 180 w5)
D E
FC = 90 w5 / (90 w2 + 90 w3 + 90 w5 + 90 w6) w4 w5 w6
F G H
FD = 180 w5 / (180 w4 + 180 w5)
w7 w8 w9
FE = 180 w5 / (180 w5 + 180 w6)
FF = 90 w5 / (90 w4 + 90 w5 + 90 w7 + 90 w8)
FG = 180 w5 / (180 w5 + 180 w8)
FH = 90 w5 / (90 w5 + 90 w6 + 90 w8 + 90 w9)
Reservoir Voidage Analysis

Uses of voidage maps

Provide guidelines in making operational
decisions to:

• Increase or decrease water injection rates

• Modify lifting capacities in certain wells
• Drill additional infill wells
 Reservoir Voidage Analysis
Example of voidage maps
This voidage map indicates that:
1. Several patterns in the center of flood area need additional injection
2. Need to decrease injection rate, modify fluid lifting or add infill producing wells in the
eastern part of flood area

Positive voidage

Negative voidage

Zero voidage
Hall’s Plot Example