Oil Field Water Management in North Kuwait

Abstract

Abstract

Water Management is an essential and integral part of oil field development and management.

Injection of water into an oil-bearing reservoir without any aquifer is a standard oilfield practice for pressure maintenance. It is used to enhance oil recovery factor by displacing larger volume of in-place oil than without water injection. The cost of effluent water disposal can be high in situations where large volumes must be disposed of into a sub-surface reservoir because there is no opportunity to utilize the effluent water for pressure maintenance.

An asset like North Kuwait which is required to manage a portfolio of reservoirs that are at different stages of development has some flexibility in terms of water management. Produced effluent water from one reservoir can be utilized for injection into those reservoirs where water must be injected for pressure maintenance. In such cases it is a good practice to integrate the full cycle of water management plans with the life-of-field development plans of the reservoirs that are a part of the portfolio.

The concept of full cycle of water management is built around the simple practice of converting the wasteful yet essential disposal of produced effluent water into useful and valuable waterflood resource for pressure maintenance. This concept is popular in the industry due to its inherently natural advantages from the point of view of logistics and economics. Being from the same geographical and geological setting, produced water is not only available on a sustained basis it is usually compatible with the reservoirs that are a candidate for waterflood. This simplifies the implementation of plans because produced effluent water can be collected from gathering centers in the neighborhood and injected into needy reservoirs after minimum treatment.

Water management in North Kuwait is more complex as it has, besides production and disposal, also to deal with sea water that is ongoing for last 15 years for pressure maintenance. Therefore, the range and scope of water management activities extend from sub-surface to surface and environment protection. All these activities are focused on value-addition by fine-tuning development plans for individual reservoirs keeping in mind the Company's Social Responsibility towards Kuwait's environment.

AAPG Datapages/Search and Discovery Article #90260 © 2016 AAPG/SEG International Conference & Exhibition, Cancun, Mexico, September 6-9, 2016