Steam injection in oil reservoirs with bottom water zone

3-D scaled model was used to study the performance of steam injection in reservoirs having a bottom water zone with the application of different well configurations. 3-D laboratory model was designed to represent 1/4th of a 5-spot pattern in the B. Kozluca field in Turkey. Four experiments were conducted with the rectangular model with or without bottom water zone. The well configurations were changed during the course of experiments to determine their effects on oil recovery. Bottom water thicknesses were changed to see the effetcs on oil recovery. The physical properties of crushed limestone and crude oil mixture were kept constant during the experiments. Steam was injected through a vertical injection well in the model. Strings of thermocouples were used to observe 3-D temperature distribution. The maximum oil recovery was obtained by placing the horizontal producer along the diagonal of the rectangular model. Vertical injection-horizontal production well configuration provided better oil recovery than other well configuration even in the presence of a bottom water zone. Oil recoveries decreased with an increase in the thickness of the bottom water zone. Steam-oil ratio (SOR) increased in the presence of bottom water zone. Copyright © Taylor & Francis Inc.