bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Heavy Oil and Tar Mat Characterization Within a Single Oil Column Utilizing Novel Asphaltene Science
Authors: Seifert Douglas J. , Qureshi Ahmed , Zeybek Murat , Pomerantz Andrew E. , Zuo Julian Y. , Mullins Oliver C. 
Published: December 2012

ABSTRACTA Jurassic oil field in Saudi Arabia is characterized by black oil in the crest, with heavy oil underneath and all underlain by a tar mat at the oil-water contact (OWC). The viscosities in the black oil section of the column are similar throughout the field and are quite manageable from a production standpoint. In contrast, the mobile heavy oil section of the column contains a large, continuous increase in asphaltene content with increasing depth extending to the tar mat. Both the excessive viscosity of the heavy oil and the existence of the tar mat represent major, distinct challenges in oil production. A simple new formalism, the Flory-Huggins-Zuo (FHZ) Equation of State (EoS) incorporating the Yen-Mullins model of asphaltene nanoscience, is shown to account for the asphaltene content variation in the mobile heavy oil section. Detailed analysis of the tar mat shows significant nonmonotonic content of asphaltenes with depth, differing from that of the heavy oil. While the general concept of asphaltene gravitational accumulation to form the tar mat does apply, other complexities preclude simple monotonic behavior. Indeed, within small vertical distances (5 ft) the asphaltene content can decrease by 20% absolute with depth. These complexities likely involve a phase transition when the asphaltene concentration exceeds 35%. Traditional thermodynamic models of heavy oils and asphaltene gradients are known to fail dramatically. Many have ascribed this failure to some sort of chemical variation of asphaltenes with depth; the idea being that if the models fail it must be due to the asphaltenes. Our new simple formalism shows that thermodynamic modeling of heavy oil and asphaltene gradients can be successful. Our simple model demands that the asphaltenes are the same, top to bottom. The analysis of the sulfur chemistry of these asphaltenes by X-ray spectroscopy at the synchrotron at the Argonne National Laboratory shows that there is almost no variation of the sulfur through the hydrocarbon column. Sulfur is one of the most sensitive elements in asphaltenes to demark variation. Likewise, saturates, araomatics, resins and asphaltenes (SARA); measurements also support the application of this new asphaltene formalism. Consequently, the asphaltenes are very similar, and our new FHZ EoS with the Yen-Mullins formalism properly accounts for heavy oil and asphaltene gradients.
Impact of Facies Modeling on Reservoir Performance Forecasting: a Comparison between Discrete Modeling and Mixed Lithology Approaches
Authors: Alqassab Hisham , Vaughan Lee 
Published: December 2012

Abstract
Facies modeling forms an integral part of geological numerical modeling. Over the last two decades, different facies modeling methods have been developed using geostatistical algorithms. Most of these methods rely on the assumption of discrete or binary modeling during which each model cell is assigned a single facies. In this study, the size of the cells is on average 100 meters by 100 meters laterally by one meter thick. Based on comparisons to outcrops and subsurface data, such cells should, in fact, include a mixture of facies.
The discrete-facies approach assumes a single facies per cell. The distribution of the facies between wells is described using classical categorical geostatistical algorithms. Reservoir properties are then populated by facies within mapped environments of deposition. This process is well-established and straightforward, especially with regard to tying well data, handling property trends, and applying net rock cut-offs.
A mixed-facies approach can be performed using effective property modeling in which multiple small, fine-scale models are built for each environment of deposition. These models are re-sampled to the full-field cell volume using static and flow-based upscaling methods. The resulting statistics are then used with geostatistics, conditioned to the proportion of each facies present, to populate the full-field model. Such models allow the incorporation of core-scale heterogeneity potentially important in improved oil recovery projects, and may reduce modeling cycle times, especially when multiple iterations are required, such as during history-matching or uncertainty analysis.
This paper compares the impact on simulated fluid flow of modeling facies using discrete modeling versus a mix of facies per cell. Shoreface and subordinate fluvial environments of deposition facies, and five reservoir lithofacies, were modeled.
Fluid-flow simulation of the mixed-facies model, under both primary depletion and pressure maintenance conditions, was smooth and uniform, with a highly conformable flood front. The discrete model was more stratified, with faster and less conformable water movement.
The assignment of discrete facies to large model cells (few hundred meters laterally & few meters vertically) takes less time than a mixed-facies approach and does a better job of preserving organized extremes of permeability important at the production timescale. In the early stages of field development, when there is much uncertainty and a rapid, scenario-based modeling approach is desirable, the discrete approach can be used to flag heterogeneity-related risks more quickly and confidently than the mixed-facies technique. Inaccuracies in performance parameters resulting from the assignment of unscaled discrete values can be corrected using fine-scale sector models tailored to the highest risk cases.
Rock Typing and Characterization of Carbonate Reservoirs: A Case Study from South East Kuwait
Authors: Turkey S.. , Al-Kanderi J.. , Kumar P.. , Al-Alawi G.. , Al-Hashmi S.. , Al-Harthy A.. , Al-Raisi M.. 
Published: December 2012

Abstract
This paper presents the main steps of rock-typing workflow and the technique applied to estimate permeability.
Reservoir rock typing (RRT) is a process of up-scaling detailed geological and petrophysical information to provide more accurate input for 3D geological and flow simulation models. The reservoir rocks that correspond to a particular rock type should have similar rock fabric, pore types and pore throat size distribution. The study integrated multi-scale data types to develop a robust and predictable rock type scheme. This consists of detailed sedimentological description of depositional environment and associated sedimentary features, detailed numerical petrographic analysis of rock texture, grain types, porosity types and rock mineralogy and petrophysical data grouping using openhole log and core plugs porosity-permeability relationship and pore throat size distribution (MICP).
The main objective was to develop a reliable reservoir rock type scheme that captures the heterogeneity in Jurassic carbonate reservoir for the Middle Marrat Formation in South East Kuwait area and implementation of the RRT to the permeability prediction within the field. Integration of the thin sections, porosity-permeability, pore throat size and distribution has resulted in the identification of reservoir rock types. A total of 14 different rock types were identified within the reservoir interval in the cored wells, which is subsequently grouped into eight due to modelling limitation. The RRT up-scaling was done in a way to minimize the impact of grouping on permeability and saturation computations. The prediction success between the cored RRT and the predicted RRT using openhole data is more than 85%. As a result, the permeability computation success between core plugs and computed permeability using the RRT is more than 80%.
Lower Your Crude Oil Dehydration OPEX using Enhanced Electrostatic Fields
Authors: Sellman Erik L. , Sams Gary , Mandewalkar S. Pavan Kumar 
Published: December 2012

Abstract
Heavy crude oils and diluted Bitumen ( DilBit ) continue to be a challenge to dehydrate and desalt for the Oil & Gas Industry. These challenges include reduced crude oil / formation water density difference, higher crude oil viscosity and often smaller water droplets due the production techniques used for heavy crude oil production.
The traditional remedy to the above challenges often leads to high operating temperatures, large dosages of demulsifier chemicals, equipment fouling, production upsets and use of very large treaters. This leads to both higher operating expenditure ( OPEX ) as well as higher capital expenditure ( CAPEX ).
Other challenges include higher crude oil conductivity and increased crude oil emulsion viscosity formed by higher water cuts. Typically crude oil dehydration vessels use heat, retention time and AC type electrostatic dehydration technology. The AC technology produces limited voltage gradients and is not efficient for treating conductive crude oils, leading to the use of very large vessels and power units. For AC technology, the use of lower voltage gradient may be preferred.
The use of combined AC / DC electrostatic technologies provides high bulk water removal efficicency in the weaker AC field combined with higher removal efficiency of small water droplets in the stronger DC field. Further improvements include amplitude modulated electrostatic fields, high frequency AC fields, improved electrode configurations as well as improved fluid distribution inside the electrostatic treaters.
More efficient dehydration and desalting processes provide potential for operating the treaters and desalters at lower operating temperatures and reduced dosage of demulsifier chemicals, in addition to the potential for using smaller treaters.
This paper describes potential lowered OPEX for crude oil dehydration and desalting processes, using advanced electrostatic dehydration technologies, efficient test methods for optimized use of production chemicals and selection of electrostatic technologies, including case studies.
A Unique Emulsified Acid System with Three Intensifiers for Stimulation of Very High Temperature Carbonate Reservoirs
Authors: Pandya Nisha , Wadekar Sushant , Cassidy Juanita 
Published: December 2012

Abstract
The demand for hydrocarbons is expected to grow worldwide. As a result, deeper reservoirs are being explored. Emulsified acid systems are preferred for the stimulation of high-temperature carbonate reservoirs with bottomhole temperatures (BHTs) of 275°F and above. The retarded nature of an emulsified acid system decreases both the acid reaction rate and the rate of corrosion. However, the lack of emulsion stability of these systems is a major problem associated with high-temperature applications (at 300°F and above).
Corrosion inhibitors and intensifiers can interfere with the stability of an emulsified acid system, which consequently leads to higher corrosion losses. At the same time, there is a need for better inhibition systems to counteract the effects of corrosion at higher temperatures. In this paper, a combination of three intensifiers was used, based on the differences in their mechanisms for inhibitor intensification action. The study includes the effect of varying the concentration of each component, hydrochloric (HCl) acid strength (20 to 28%), and temperature (275 to 325°F) on the stability and corrosion rate using P-110/N-80 coupons. The unique combination of the corrosion inhibitor and three intensifiers with proper optimization created a system capable of passing a corrosion test at 300°F using 28% HCl acid. The temperature limit of the system can be extended up to 325°F using an additional intensifier with 25% acid strength.
The present system can be used for acid stimulation of carbonate reservoirs with BHTs up to 325°F. This study revealed a better understanding of the effect of the intensifiers in an emulsified acid system and the synergism amongst them. This enabled the use of an emulsified acid stimulation on carbonate reservoirs having BHTs up to 325°F while reducing the corrosion rate to a level that meets the current market demand for acidizing operations. This work shows that emulsified acid systems can be used with HCl acid strengths ranging from 20 to 28% at high temperatures. The resultant better wormholing at high temperatures should also lead to enhanced oil production.
Integrated Evaluation of Formation Damage/Remediation Potential of Low Permeability Reservoirs
Authors: Elkewidy Tarek Ibrahim 
Published: December 2012

AbstractOil or gas effective and relative permeabilities can be reduced to a great extent due to the invading liquid phase of the drill-in or completion fluid, contrary to the misconception that formation damage is less of a concern in lower permeability reservoirs (e.g., less than 5 md). Many laboratory, well logging, and formation tester data proved that mud filtrate (both from water- and oil-based muds) can deeply invade the formation enhanced by capillary forces. This will result in reduction of the oil or gas effective permeability, especially if the formation exhibits fluid emulsion blocks and phase trapping. Unfavorable interaction of the filtrate with the reservoir fluids and rock minerals can generate emulsions and precipitates. The same scenario may occur in hydraulically fractured formations.An integrated multidisciplinary approach is pursued in this study to evaluate formation damage/remediation potential of low permeability reservoirs. The techniques involve different formation evaluation methods including core analysis, well logging, and well testing along with various cleanup scenarios. Furthermore, results from petrographic analysis and laboratory experiments (Micro and Macroscopic scales) are related and correlated with the larger Mesoscopic and Megascopic scales of well logs and well testing, respectively.Results of these efforts lead to the following technical contributions; a) Delineation of the low permeability heterogeneous reservoirs, e.g. the Leduce carbonates, into their hydraulic units. b) Determination of the undamaged formation absolute and relative permeabilities along with the diameter of filtrate invasion. c) A rule of thumb is to minimize or prevent damage from taking place by selecting a drilling fluid that quickly forms an easily removable mudcake. d) Cleaning up damage due to water filtrate may be accomplished by just flowing the well and can be accelerated using solvents or surfactants. However, once the formation reaches its irreducible water saturation, remediating water saturation below the irreducible value may not significantly improve its permeability.
Improving Heavy Oil Recovery by Unconventional Thermal Methods
Authors: Alomair O.. , Alarouj M.. , Althenayyan A.. , Alsaleh A.. , Mohammad H.. , Altahoo Y.. , Alhaidar Y.. , Alansari S.. , Alshammari Y.. 
Published: December 2012

Abstract
Thermal recovery methods have the objective of accelerating hydrocarbon recovery by raising the temperature of the formation and reducing hydrocarbon viscosities. Thermal recovery involves several well-known processes such as steam injection, in situ combustion, steam assisted gravity drainage (SAGD), and a more recent technique that consists of heating the reservoir with electrical energy. The most common thermal method is steam injection. However, some difficulties occurs with steam injection includes; water availability, the cost of water vaporization process, and how to keep steam temperature above the condensation temperature at reservoir conditions. Also it is limited to relatively shallow, thick, permeable, and homogenous sand reservoirs that are located onshore.
In this project three unconventional thermal approaches were developed in laboratory scale to improve the recovery of heavy oil. Those methods are; electrical resistant electrodes, electromagnetic inductors, and microwaves. Designing and experimenting were prepared using low cost material to achieve the success of the new approaches. In the electrical resistance approach, a potential difference was applied between two electrodes; one act as anode and the other one as a cathode. A sufficient heat has been introduced between the electrodes, which improved the oil recovery by adding a maximum of 21% additional recovery to the primary recovery. For the electromagnetic induction, a coil has been wrapped around a core through which the introduced heat was transmitted to the fluid inside and hence increasing the oil recovery by a maximum of 34%. As for the microwave method, microwaves were applied on the core to vibrate water molecules. These microwaves were created and applied by using normal microwave oven, where the waves were transmitted from the source, and reflected inside an isolating body to prevent any wave leakage. The molecules movement resulted in heat generation and thus a reduction in the oil viscosity. The conducted test revealed an increase of 30% in the oil recovery which varies according to the operating power. Finally, economical comparison between the proposed methods was conducted. The three methods were compared by combining recovery and power consumption. Average power consumption per unit production for electromagnetic induction, Electrical Resistance, and microwave were 39, 2570, and 3.775 watt.hr/cc, respectively. The comparison revealed that the Microwave Heating is the most economical choice followed by electromagnetic induction and finally the electrical resistance heating.
Salinity Effect on the Rheological Properties of Water Based Mud under High Pressures and High Temperatures of Deep Wells
Authors: Hassiba Khaled J. , Amani Mahmoud 
Published: December 2012

Abstract
The significance of exploring deep and ultra-deep wells is increasing rapidly to meet the increased global demands on oil and gas. Drilling at such depth introduces a wide range of difficult challenges and issues. One of the challenges is the negative impact on the drilling fluids rheological properties when exposed to high pressure high temperature (HPHT) conditions and/or becoming contaminated with salts, which are common in deep drilling or in offshore operations.
The drilling engineer must have a good estimate for the values of rheological characteristics of a drilling fluid, such as viscosity, yield point and gel strength, and that is extremely important for a successful drilling operation. In this research work, experiments were conducted on water-based muds with different salinity contents, from ambient conditions up to very elevated pressures and temperatures.
In these experiments, water based drilling fluids containing different types of salt (NaCl and KCl) and at different concentrations were tested by a state-of-the-art high pressure high temperature viscometer. In this paper, the effect of different electrolysis (NaCl and KCl) at elevated pressures (up to 35,000 psi) and elevated temperatures (up to 450 °F) on the viscosity of water based mud has been presented.
Continuous Solvent Flush Approach for Asphaltene Precipitations in a Kuwaiti Reservoir: Phase I - An Experimental Solvent Screening
Authors: Rashed Abeer M. , Ghloum Ebtisam F. , Al-Matrook Mohammad F. , Oskui Gh. Reza , Mali P.. , Telang M.. , Al-Jasmi Ahmad 
Published: December 2012

Abstract
Asphaltene deposition problems in Kuwait have become a serious issue in a number of reservoirs during primary production in different fields, resulting in a severe detrimental effect on the economics of oil recovery. Hence, one of the mitigation approaches in the field is using remedial solvent treatments, such as Xylene or Toluene, which is very costly and harmful to the environment.
Kuwait Oil Company (KOC) is planning to produce from asphaltinic Marrat wells that have been shut down due to low bottom-hole pressure (BHP), by artificial lifting technique using an Electric Submersible Pump (ESP) supported with continuous chemical injection, as a pilot. The main objective of this study was to investigate in the lab the effectiveness of various concentrations of toluene/diesel (T/D) mixtures on Marrat reservoir fluid in order to mitigate asphaltene deposition problem during the actual pilot implementation.
Preliminary screening tests were conducted on the surface oil sample using Solid Detection System (SDS) "laser technique" to determine the optimum dose of the T/D mixture ratio. The results showed that pure diesel accelerated the asphaltene precipitation; however, mixing T/D inhibited the precipitation process. Series of pressure depletion tests was then conducted on live oil, single phase samples, to determine the Asphaltene Onset Pressure (AOP) with and without adding various ration of T/D solvents at different temperatures from reservoir to surface conditions.
The results revealed that using 15% (by volume of oil) from the (50T:50D) mixture reduced the AOP close to the bubble point pressure. Furthermore, the amount of the precipitated asphaltene was physically quantified using a bulk filtration technique. It was observed that, based on blank sample, the wt% of the precipitated asphaltene was minimized at the AOP and maximized at the bubble point. However, using the recommended mixture of 50T/50D, the amount of asphaltene that precipitated was almost negligible. Therefore, from a health, safety, and economic point of view, this study recommends using a low dose of 7.5% (by volume of oil) from toluene mixture with diesel (50%:50%) rather than using pure toluene to prevent the precipitation.
A Study of Transversely vs Longitudinally Fractured Horizontal Wells in a Moderate-Permeability Gas Reservoir
Authors: Liu Tianyiu , Marongiu-Porcu Matteo , Ehlig-Economides Christine , Economides Michael J. 
Published: December 2012

Abstract
Transverse fractures created from horizontal wells are a common choice in tight and shale gas reservoirs. Previous work has shown that proppant pack permeability reduction due to non-Darcy flow in a transverse fracture from a horizontal well causes significant reduction in the fracture performance when the gas formation permeability exceeds 0.5 md. There are other configurations and architectures such as aligning the well trajectory with the fracture, either by drilling horizontal wells in the direction that results in longitudinal fractures or by just sticking with drilling vertical wells. However, when drilling and fracturing costs are considered, productivity is not the only optimization consideration.
The field example illustrates a case when the apparent choice to use transverse fractures from horizontal wells proved to be suboptimal from the productivity perspective, but fundamental considering economics. Parametric studies for permeability ranging from 0.01 to 5 md illustrate the importance of economics in addition to physical performance. For similar reservoir characteristics, the optimum fractured well architecture varies considerably, and therefore an extensive reservoir engineering approach may be necessary beyond the well completions and/or current prejudices and inadequate understanding.