Sabiriyah Mauddud and Upper Burgan are two of the giant reservoirs in North Kuwait(NK) under active water flood since 2000. About 400 MBWPD of water is currently being injected to maintain the reservoir pressure & improve the production/recovery. A comprehensive workflow process was developed and implemented to understand the waterflood performance, pressure-production response trends and map the opportunities to encash the benefits in terms of quick oil gains. The paper discusses the best practices adopted to increase production from two of the water flooded reservoirs in NK. Sound workflow process was created by integrating the technical inputs under collaborative environment from subsurface & surface teams. Series of segment reviews are conducted to understand the connectivity between producers & injectors, duly integrating all surveillance data. Analytical diagnostic tools have been used to distinguish between the good water and bad water and improve the VRR & sweep. Live ESP data is monitored and tracked at intelligent field collaboration centre to decide about the actions for the wells requiring ESP upsizing, downsizing and VSD/choke optimization. Wells with running ESPs were identified for VSD & choke optimization, using rationalized technical criteria. Wells with failed ESPs are reviewed for smart replacements with water shut off/water flood conformance & ESP re-design. Simultaneous actions for the well model creation; running sensitivity and scheduling in the workover rig are taken up. ESP upsize, along with VSD installation/choke optimization, was implemented in number of wells with significant oil gain (about 11% enhancement within a short time frame). As a part of the process established, this activity has become a regular practice in NK. Such wells are under constant monitoring so that water injection actions in nearby injectors, if needed, could be taken up such as allowable management, arresting the declining trend etc. The benefit of mega water flood activities have been reaped in terms of production enhancement adhering to the best reservoir management practices. Quick understanding of the Water flood response and relignment of actions on the associated wells via rigless and rig workovers is the key to the success for significant ramp of the NK production within a short time window of 6-7 months. Several work flow processes established during the campaign are now deeply imbeded within NK asset.

Successful EOR project management in mature fields depends on proactive planning that includes reservoir characterization and determination of the engineering design parameters. Base-Line logging performed in the pilot EOR pattern before implementation of an EOR project will make possible an early detection of any potential problems and weaknesses to avoid costly subsequent repairs or alterations. The objective of this paper is to demonstrate the results and value of Reservoir-Oriented Base-Line Logging carried out in Sabriyah Field, Kuwait, before ASP injection. The Base-Line logging is focused on the flows behind pipe and any anomalies that might have impact on the project. Seven new vertical wells were drilled in a selected area within an existing waterflood pattern, to monitor the viability of pilot polymer injection in the field. An integrated suite consisting of reservoir evaluation tools, High Precision Temperature (HPT) and Spectral Noise Logging (SNL) tools, and metal losses evaluation tool (EmPulse), were run on slickline under shut-in conditions. Temperature is sensitive to any lateral flows and possible behind-casing cross-flows between permeable zones. Spectral noise logging can distinguish between noises caused by fluid flows through well completion elements and the reservoir. The idea was to record the wellbore and reservoir initial conditions before any mechanical or reservoir effects begin to influence the EOR performance. Analysis of subsequent Time-Lapse logging would be easier with this base-line information on hand. The five wells were drilled in a 5-spot pattern in the selected area, with two additional logging well and a sampling well for continuous monitoring. The objective was to check for possible communication of the target reservoir with underlying and overlying formations to prevent off-target chemicals injection, and get a baseline for metal thickness of each barrier. At the same time, it was vitally important to trace the cold injection water propagation in the target reservoir before the EOR started.

Sabiriyah Mauddud and Upper Burgan are two of the giant reservoirs in North Kuwait(NK) under active water flood since 2000. About 400 MBWPD of water is currently being injected to maintain the reservoir pressure & improve the production/recovery. A comprehensive workflow process was developed and implemented to understand the waterflood performance, pressure-production response trends and map the opportunities to encash the benefits in terms of quick oil gains. The paper discusses the best practices adopted to increase production from two of the water flooded reservoirs in NK. Sound workflow process was created by integrating the technical inputs under collaborative environment from subsurface & surface teams. Series of segment reviews are conducted to understand the connectivity between producers & injectors, duly integrating all surveillance data. Analytical diagnostic tools have been used to distinguish between the good water and bad water and improve the VRR & sweep. Live ESP data is monitored and tracked at intelligent field collaboration centre to decide about the actions for the wells requiring ESP upsizing, downsizing and VSD/choke optimization. Wells with running ESPs were identified for VSD & choke optimization, using rationalized technical criteria. Wells with failed ESPs are reviewed for smart replacements with water shut off/ water flood conformance & ESP re-design. Simultaneous actions for the well model creation; running sensitivity and scheduling in the workover rig are taken up. ESP upsize, along with VSD installation/ choke optimization, was implemented in number of wells with significant oil gain (about 11% enhancement within a short time frame). As a part of the process established, this activity has become a regular practice in NK. Such wells are under constant monitoring so that water injection actions in nearby injectors, if needed, could be taken up such as allowable management, arresting the declining trend etc. The benefit of mega water flood activities have been reaped in terms of production enhancement adhering to the best reservoir management practices. Quick understanding of the Water flood response and relignment of actions on the associated wells via rigless and rig workovers is the key to the success for significant ramp of the NK production within a short time window of 6-7 months. Several work flow processes established during the campaign are now deeply imbeded within NK asset.

Sabiriyah Mauddud is a giant carbonate reservoir in North Kuwait under active development with water flooding by treated seawater. Reservoir souring occurring at multiple producers has added one more dimension of complexity to be tracked; evaluated & managed. The paper proposal aims to elaborate the challenges and associated mitigations conceived & implemented. Comprehensive evaluation of all data available pertaining to reservoir souring has been done, based on which a field-wise sampling program has been embarked. The sampling program has been executed in phases in a rationalized manner to provide necessary data & inputs to the overall evaluation using analytical as well as simulation approach. Workflow process has been developed so that the tracking, evaluation & management of reservoir souring continues as a live project during the water flood development for Sabiriyah Mauddud. A clear linkage has been observed between the injected volumes of seawater and the level of souring. A review of chemicals being used for inhibition of souring indicated that the bacteria becomes insensitive to the dosage used in the past and requires re formulation of the package of chemical dosage. The impact on flowlines and production facilities has been found to be nominal so far but likely to aggravate with time. The possibility of using sour competent metallurgy in future has been flagged for future budgeting, to be first implemented in the facilities with most of Mauddud producers flowing. Any new facility has been recommended with NACE specifications. A continuous tracking & monitoring of the Reservoir souring lead to opportunistic solutions & mitigations for short-term production & long-term reservoir management requirements with HSE adherence.

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