Reaping The Benefits of the Mega Water Flood Project in North Kuwait - Production Enhancement Opportunities Tracking & Implementing

Abstract

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.