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Journal of Scientific and Engineering Research
169
Journal of Scientific and Engineering Research
, 2016, 3(4):169-174
Research Article
ISSN: 2394-2630
CODEN(USA): JSERBR
Optimization of Oil Rim Development by Improved Well Design
Aladeitan Yetunde M
1,2
, Akinyede Opeyemi M
2
1
Department of Petroleum Engineering, African University of Science and Technology (AUST),
Abuja, Nigeria
2
Department of Chemical Engineering University of Abuja, Nigeria
Abstract
The goal of an oil field development project is to accelerate the hydrocarbon production and maximize
recovery at the lowest cost. Optimizing the production of oil from thin oil rims reservoirs poses a major
challenge in the oil and gas industry as a result of the coning tendencies which in turn limits the ultimate
recovery from the reservoir. Successful oil rim development requires careful management of a wide range of
subsurface uncertainties and generally lengthy study efforts are needed to assess technical and economic
feasibility. Optimal well design is very important so as to get as much oil from the thin oil rim reservoir as
possible. Reduced oil or gas production and increased operating expenses all lead to reduced revenues. In this
study a comparison will be made between vertical and horizontal well to ascertain the design that produces
results in higher oil recovery and lower water and gas coning. The results show that advantages of reduced water
coning into the well bore for the horizontal well in comparison to the vertical well is time dependent and the
cumulative oil produced in the use of the horizontal well is far higher than oil produced using the vertical well.
Keywords
Oil rim, Horizontal Well, Vertical Well, Oil recovery, Optimizing, Well Design
Introduction
An Oil rim reservoir is a reservoir with small oil columns enveloped between a large gas cap and a water zone at
the base. Most oil rim reservoirs are overlain by massive gas cap and pose serious operational and economic
challenges using existing conventional methods of optimizing reservoir development. The presence of a wide
range of uncertainty, the peculiar complexity in the distribution of the resident fluids and geological strata
geometry, have made efficient development and production of thin oil column a difficult task. The rims are thin
with huge gas column on top and are generally considered marginally economic for development by many
operators. Oil rim production can suffer from low oil recovery due to water coning and gas coning. Gas cap oil
re-saturation is also a major cause of low oil recovery in oil rim reservoirs, this occurs when an oil column is
displaced upwards during production from gas cap under an active water drive, in this case a zone of residual oil
is left behind the advancing water leading to loss of mobile oil and trapping of gas.
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