Abstract: Application of Advanced Reservoir Characterization to Increase the Efficiency of a Thermal Steam Drive in the Wilmington Oil Field, California

Christopher Phillips, Michael J. Henry, Donald D. Clarke, Richard S. Strehle, Calvin Lee

A reservoir characterization project is in progress to increase heavy oil reserves in the Tar Zone, Fault Block II, Wilmington Oil Field, California. The goal is to economically and efficiently expand the existing steamflood to the southern portion of Fault Block II. The problems to be addressed include: inadequate characterization of the heterogeneous turbidite geology, high permeability thief zones, low gravity oil and non-uniform distributions of the remaining oil. These problems have contributed to poor sweep efficiency, high steam oil ratios and early steam breakthrough.

Traditional, detailed reservoir characterization work has been performed on over 600 wells within the Tar Zone, Fault Block II. Vertical and lateral extent has been defined for 16 horizons. The scattered data from these wells has been compiled and incorporated into a three-dimensional deterministic geological model. The results are displayed through a three dimensional visualization software package. The layered model will be used as a "framework" for the generation of a number of stochastic geological models. New data will be acquired to further define the southern area. These models and their analyses will be integrated into thermal reservoir simulations. Project expansion wilt be dependent on this work.

The project partners are the City of Long Beach, Tidelands Oil Production Company, the University of Southern California and David K. Davies and Associates. The Department of Energy has agreed to co-fund the work.

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #90958©1995 AAPG Pacific Section Meeting, San Francisco, California