Integrated, Multidisciplinary Reservoir Characterization, Modeling and Engineering Leading to Enhanced Oil Recovery from the Midway-Sunset Field, California

Steven Schamel, Craig Forster, Milind Deo, Robert Swain, Michael Simmons, Douglas Sprinkel, and Roy Adams

The Pru Fee property is developed in a heavy oil, Class III (slope and basin clastic sand), reservoir of the Midway-Sunset field, San Joaquin Basin, California. Wells on the property were shut-in with an estimated 85% of the original oil remaining in place because the reservoir failed to respond to conventional cyclic steaming. Producibility problems are attributed to the close proximity of the property to the margin of the field. Specific problems include complex reservoir geometry, thinning pay, bottom water, and dipping beds. These problems are likely common at the margins of the Midway-Sunset and other Class III reservoirs. This project forms the first step in returning the property to production and explores strategies that might be applied elsewhere. Reservoir chara terization, modeling, and engineering methods are integrated to design, simulate, and implement a pilot steam flood. A new drillhole provides good quality, core through the pay zone and a full suite of geophysical logs. Correlations between geological and petrophysical data are used to extrapolate reservoir conditions from older logs and yield a 3-dimensional petrophysical model. Numerical results illustrate how each producibility problem might influence production and provide a framework for designing the pilot steam flood. This first phase illustrates how a multidisciplinary team can use established technologies in developing the detailed petrophysical, geological, and numerical models needed to enhance oil recovery from marginal areas of Class III reservoirs.

AAPG Search and Discover Article #91019©1996 AAPG Convention and Exhibition 19-22 May 1996, San Diego, California