Ranger 8B Fault Block Reservoir Study and Development Drilling Results, Long Beach Unit, Wilmington Field

WAKATAKE, MARC, THUMS Long Beach Company, Long Beach, CA; CRIS VALDES-CAMIN, THUMS Long Beach Company, Long Beach, CA

The Ranger Zone East, Fault Block 8B is one of four major fault blocks comprising the eastern half of the Ranger Zone in the Long Beach Unit. Northeast-trending faults and an aquifer to the north isolate this otherwise narrow fault block. Although the block has been under peripheral waterflood since 1966, waterflood development and hence oil recovery have significantly trailed over other areas of the Unit. Construction of a reservoir simulator representing the fault block allowed optimization of well placement through history matching with existing wells and prediction scenarios. Based on the model study results, two horizontal producers were drilled along the bounding faults. Using the results of these wells combined with additional historical data generated since the original model construction, the simulator properties were refined, the model was re-history matched, and new prediction runs were made. Two additional wells, a conventional producer and an injector, were drilled since the latest model update. Of the four wells drilled to date, three of them have performed as expected. The second well drilled encountered unanticipated rock properties, which was one of the key drivers toward the model update made prior to the drilling of the last two wells. The model will continue to be used and updated as a reservoir development optimization tool for the Ranger 8B fault block.

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #90911©2000 AAPG Pacific Section and Western Region Society of Petroleum Engineers, Long Beach, California