Water Flooding Development Technology and Enhanced Oil Recovery in Oil Field

Geographical Research Bulletin ONLINE ISSN 2758-1446
Volume 2 (March 13, 2023) pp. 49-51 DOI: 10.50908/grb.2.0_49
[Commentary]
Water flooding development technology and enhanced oil recovery in oil field
Chunyu Cao1)
Abstract
Water flooding is the most widely used and mature oil field development technology in China. Water
flooding development includes water injection flooding and water injection huff and puff. At present, more
and more oil fields in China have entered the middle and high water cut stage, and the proportion of
reservoirs with low permeability and low abundance is getting higher and higher, which makes oil field
development more difficult. How improve the effectiveness of water flooding and improve efficiency of
water flooding is the key problem to be solved in oil field water flooding development. This paper briefly
introduces the development mode and recovery effect of water flooding in oil fields. The purpose of this
paper is to deepen the understanding of the oil fields’ water drive development system and enrich the
understanding of the oil fields’ water drive development mechanism, to promote the effective development
of the oil fields.
Keywords
water flooding, oil field, oil reservoir, development technology, oil recovery
Oil field water flooding develops through the injection of water into the reservoir, using water to drive
out the crude oil in the reservoirs. Water flooding development is one of the important means to supplement
energy to the formation and improve oil recovery in the process of oil field development. Cao et al. (2022)
and Yin (2023) combed the present situation of water flooding development technology in Chinese oil fields
and put forward some suggestions for the future development trend[1,2]. Based on previous research, this
paper briefly introduces the way of water flooding development and the effect of oil recovery.
There are two types of water flooding development: water injection flooding and water injection huff
and puff. For decades, the research on the factors affecting the development mechanism of oil field water
flooding has been a research hotspot. The main reasons for the wide application of water flooding
development include (1) injected water can drive crude oil well, (2) water can be injected into strata relatively
easily to increase reservoir energy, and (3) water resources have lower investment and operation costs.
Water flooding development is based on the specific geological characteristics of the oil field. The timing
of water injection can be divided into advanced water injection, early water injection, middle water injection,
late water injection, and so on. According to the mode, it can be divided into unstable water injection,
stratified water injection, and so on. According to the position of water injection wells in the reservoir and
1)
Ninth Oil Production Plant, Daqing Oilfield Company Limited
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Chunyu Cao. Geographical Research Bulletin, 2023, 2, 49-51
DOI: 10.50908/grb.2.0_49
the arrangement relationship between water injection wells and production wells, it can be divided into edge
water injection, cutting water injection, area water injection, and so on.
The effect of water flooding development depends on the oil displacement efficiency and swept volume
of injected water. Under the condition that the pore structure, fluid and rock surface properties of the
reservoir are certain, if the way of water flooding development is not changed, the oil displacement efficiency
and sweep volume will not change greatly. Therefore, the key to improving water flooding recovery is to
expand the swept volume of injected water. Pulse water injection, unstable pulse water injection, and
stratified water injection can improve oil displacement efficiency and sweep volume, which is one of the
effective methods to improve oil recovery in medium and high water cut development periods.
To improve oil recovery, unstable water injection can be combined with other methods. For example,
constantly changing the amount of water injected, changing the wells pattern, or changing the type of
injection-production wells, resulting in an unstable pressure gradient field in the formation. The fluctuation
pressure difference is formed between the high and low permeability layers of different layers and between
the high and low permeability parts of the same layer, which makes the injected water enter the low
permeability layer directly and promote imbibition. It can also change the direction of the liquid flow to
promote the injected water wave and the areas that cannot be affected by conventional water injection so
that the poor and unused remaining reserves in the reservoir can be put into development.
Chemical flooding, also known as the modified water flooding chemical method, is a method of oil
recovery by adding chemicals to the injected water. Chemical flooding can improve oil recovery by changing
the physical and chemical properties of displacement fluid and the interface properties between displacement
fluid and crude oil and rocks and minerals.
The oil production method of water injection huff and puff is to inject water into the same oil production
well first and then oil production. The main oil-increasing mechanism of water injection huff and puff is to
increase the formation pressure, oil and water gravity differentiation, and seepage and oil drainage. Water
injection huff and puff are generally applicable to low permeability reservoirs with small fault blocks,
scattered sand bodies, and difficulty to form an economic injection-production well pattern. In recent years,
waterflood huff and puff is not only applied to conventional reservoirs, but also to unconventional oil well
development.
Low salinity water flooding is the injection of relatively low salinity water into the reservoir. The physical
and chemical properties of the reservoir are changed by injecting low-salinity water to promote the
desorption of crude oil from the rock surface to improve oil recovery.
Carbonization water drive is a method of dissolving CO2 in water and then injecting it into the reservoir
to drive oil. Carbonization water drive combines the advantages of CO2 drive and water drive, has good oil
displacement efficiency and sweep efficiency, and is a promising method to improve oil recovery.
Carbonization water drive is mainly aimed at medium-high permeability and low permeability reservoirs
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Chunyu Cao. Geographical Research Bulletin, 2023, 2, 49-51
DOI: 10.50908/grb.2.0_49
and has also been applied in unconventional reservoir development in recent years.
In China, more and more oil fields have entered the medium and high water cut stage, and reservoir
development is becoming more and more complex. Single-development technology is difficult to achieve a
good oil recovery effect. The technical combination of water flooding development is the direction of
developing technology in the future. Technology combinations (including water drive method compound
type, and water drive material compound type) are the compound application of many traditional methods,
which have achieved better development results in oil field development in recent years.
References
[1] Cao, C., Lin, M. Present situation and development trend of water drive development technology in the
oil field: Take China as an example. Advances in Resources Research, 2022, 2(4), 17-31. 99-119.
[2] Yin, K. Present situation and development trend of oil production technology in unstable waterflooding.
Advances in Resources Research, 2023, 3(1), 17-31.
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Geographical Research Bulletin ONLINE ISSN 2758-1446

Volume 2 (March 13, 2023) pp. 49-51 DOI: 10.50908/grb.2.0_49

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