Autonomously Controlling the Conformance of Fluids Injection in Carbonate Reservoirs

Summary As reservoir production declines over time, the injection of fluids is required to enhance oil recovery and/or to maintain the reservoir pressure. The common challenges associated with injection wells include loss of injectivity, premature injector failure, and fluid injection conformance. Many techniques have been applied to improve fluid conformance of injection wells to enhance the efficiency of water/polymer flooding and ultimately increase field oil recovery. The newly developed autonomous, rate-limiting, outflow control device (AOCD) can mitigate the conformance issues for both fluid injection and/or acid stimulation operations in carbonate reservoirs. This paper shares the outcome of a field application of this technology in a water injection well in a carbonate reservoir in the Middle East. Also, it shows how the completion can be used for improving the performance of other fluid injection operations including polymer injection and acid stimulation.