A Reliability-Based Systemic Method for Water Production Analysis, Diagnosis and Solution Design

Abstract

This practical method integrates petroleum engineering knowledge, reliability and six sigma tools in a reservoir production system model representing all potential cause effect relations and failure modes to identify the origin of water production and its classification as wanted or non-wanted. A general process is proposed to design a custom made solution for either controlling or handling water production. The solution is modeled with systems dynamics and stochastic simulation to calibrate cost, benefits, cycle time and required resources and data acquisition to close the loop during the life cycle of the field. The method has seven macro processes: 1) Data gathering and reliability analysis, 2) Determination of non wanted water production, 3) Analysis of causes related to mechanical problems in the well, 4) Analysis of causes related to well drainage area, 5) Analysis of causes related to the reservoir, 6) Definition of corrective and preventive actions and 7) Cost, cycle time and resources modeling to design a solution with the required actions during the life cycle of the field. Two examples from two fields in Venezuela are used to describe the application of the method. In these examples cycle time including solution design and implementation is 80 days with a total cost ranging between 300 to 600 thousand dollars. We provide a road map for water production analysis, diagnosis and solution design in oil and gas reservoirs that can be adapted custom- made to any field to address water origin identification, classification as wanted or non wanted water and solution design. This method is non-commercial so it can be used by operators as an alternative to others that could be biased to particular technologies. If used appropriately this method could increase hydrocarbon recovery and reduce risks and costs of environmental impact of water. Finally, this method is a framework for standardization of existing work processes and for integrating the work of all disciplines required for managing water production in an integral way.

Diagnosing and Controlling Excessive Water Production: State-of-the-Art Review

“…Reyes et al [48] established a relationship between the production of water, reservoir properties, and configuration of a well by utilizing instruments for operational reliability and six-sigma optimizations. The corresponding effects of the water production mechanism can be determined using these relationships.…”

Excess Water Production Diagnosis in Oil Fields Using Ensemble Classifiers

“…For example, Reyes et al (2010) use operational reliability and optimization six sigma tools to establish cause-and-effect relationship between production of water, reservoir characteristics and configuration of wells. These relationships are used to determine the corresponding effects of WPMs.…”

“…Then, they use casual loop diagrams for modelling cause and effect relationships. Table 2.5 Failure mode and effect analysis for water production problems (After Reyes et al 2010) Each effect is then assigned a number of rating values namely occurrence rating, severity rating and detection rating from very low to very high impact. For example based on their ratings, the coning problem has a "high" occurrence rating, with a severity rating of "very lower risk" and "moderately high" detection rating.…”

“…They used a slightly similar approach to the work by Reyes et al (2010) in utilizing the environment-problem-symptoms relationships. Knowledge of petroleum engineering experts together with the information from available bibliographical sources were used to generate fuzzy rules that relate each problem type to its symptoms.…”

Identification of Cementing Quality and Hydraulic Seal at Hydrocarbon Zone in F Field

“…The purpose of this research is to find out whether the water produced is due to poor cementing or because of other problems that can affect production. According to the literature [7], several stages must be proposed in knowing and handling water production in wells. In addition to collecting data from wells and reservoirs in full, an analysis of problems related to mechanics such as cementing analysis needs to be done to determine the possibility of leakage, microannulus, or channeling.…”