Water inflow to petroleum wells hampers production of oil or gas leading to early shut downs of the wells without sufficient recovery of hydrocarbons in place. Downhole water sink (DWS) is a completion/production technique for producing water-free hydrocarbons with minimum amount of water from reservoirs with bottom water drive and strong tendency to water coning. DWS eliminates water invasion to hydrocarbon production by employing hydrodynamic mechanism of coning control in situ at the oil-water or gas-water contact. The mechanism is based upon a localized water drainage generated by another well completion (downhole water sink) installed in the aquifer beneath the oil/water or gas/water contact. The paper summarizes the development and state-of-the-art of DWS technology. Presented are results from theoretical studies, physical and numerical experiments, and field projects to date. It is demonstrated that DWS could increase recovery and control water production in vertical and horizontal oil wells—with natural flow, downhole pumps or gas lift, and in the gas wells producing from low-pressure tight gas reservoirs. To date, DWS has been used in reservoirs with bottom water. Moreover, in principle, the technology might also be used in the dipping reservoir structures with encroaching side-water.
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December 2004
Technology Review
Assessment of Down-Hole Water Sink Technology for Controlling Water Inflow at Petroleum Wells
Miguel Armenta
Miguel Armenta
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Andrew K. Wojtanowicz
Miguel Armenta
Contributed by the Petroleum Division for publication in the JOURNAL OF ENERGY RESOURCES TECHNOLOGY. Manuscript received by the Petroleum Division July 30, 2004; revised manuscript received October 18, 2004; Associate Editor: F. Civan
J. Energy Resour. Technol. Dec 2004, 126(4): 334-341 (8 pages)
Published Online: December 21, 2004
Article history
Received:
July 30, 2004
Revised:
October 18, 2004
Online:
December 21, 2004
Citation
Wojtanowicz , A. K., and Armenta , M. (December 21, 2004). "Assessment of Down-Hole Water Sink Technology for Controlling Water Inflow at Petroleum Wells ." ASME. J. Energy Resour. Technol. December 2004; 126(4): 334–341. https://doi.org/10.1115/1.1831282
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