Redevelopment Progress for Colombia's La-Cira Infantas Field
Authors: Prieto Maria Elizabeth , Owens Brian Keith , Lobo Adriano , Fernandez Fabian 
Published: May 2009

Redeveloping old oil fields can yield great results. This paper summarizes the progress made in redeveloping Colombia's oldest field, La Cira-Infantas. It is located in Middle Magdalena River Valley near the city Barrancabermeja. The field was discovered in 1918, and it has produced nearly 750 million barrels of oil from an estimated OOIP of 3.9 billion barrels of oil within the shallow Miocene and Oligocene age sands that comprise the producing zones. Oil gravities range from 16 to 28 degrees API.

This field had neared an economic limit, but partners Ecopetrol and Oxy decided to implement a waterflood redevelopment project in 2005. The waterflood redevelopment is proceeding well. Redevelopment involves over 1,500 wells being drilled or worked over in order to increase recovery factor by about 8% from the C sands. The redevelopment has involved reconfiguration of old waterflood areas and waterflood expansion into new areas. In addition to the proper reservoir conditions, redevelopment success is due to an understanding of historical performance, the integration of two companies, management of community issues, a build up of rig resources, and the installation of additional facilities.

From September 2005 to January 2009, the production has increased from about 5,000 to 22,000 BOPD. The recent redevelopment has performed similar to expectations built upon evaluations of past development. After upcoming development, the field's production is anticipated to reach around 40,000 BOPD. The Operator's knowledge with a partner's expertise in redevelopment has been a powerful combination. The type of approach being used for the redevelopment may be insightful for other old fields. Potential analogies are not limited to Colombia.

Introduction

The La Cira-Infantas field is located in the Middle Magdalena Valley near Barrancabermeja, Colombia, South America (Figure 1). Dickey (1992) documented the interesting history of this field. A Spanish explorer, Gonzalo Jimenez de Quesdada, came across an oil seep in 1536. This oil seep was named the Spanish word for princesses (Infantas). The name Infantas was in reference to the two daughters of the King of Spain.

The Tropical Oil Company discovered the field after spudding the Infantas 2 well in December 1917. Production was initiated in 1918, and the field is credited as the first oil field to be discovered in Colombia. The Tropical Oil Company became an affiliate of the Standard Oil Company (New Jersey) in 1919, and the concession reverted to the Colombian government in 1951. Field production had reached about 65,000 BOPD in 1940 by relying on natural drive mechanisms (Figure 2). Some of the gas was re-injected from 1929 to 1972, but these unmeasured volumes appear to have had only a minor impact on oil rate and reserves. Additionally, very little aquifer support was observed. Water injection was initiated in the northern half of the field, La Cira, in 1957. The waterflood showed favorable response, and water injection was successfully expanded to other areas of the field.