Name: University: Paper refers to: Studying: When to graduate: Field of interest:

University of Salford, Manchester Master Thesis Petroleum and Gas Engineering, M. Sc Reservoir Engineering

Production Optimisation of Thin Oil Rim Reservoirs

Abstract: Thin oil rim reservoirs are reservoirs whose payzone is in the range of 15 50 ft depth. These types of reservoirs, as they are so called are characterised by their thin payzones which present producing companies with certain challenges which often make them unattractive candidates for exploitation at first glance. The fact remains however, that they often times contain considerable amount of oil that can be recovered profitably. They are quite common in many oil regions throughout the world and can exist in different configurations where they may be found with either an overlying gas cap and/or an underlying bottom water support. Production from these fields present some challenges as early water coning and gas breakthrough lead to uneconomic depletion. In some other instances, for reservoirs possessing sizable gas caps overlying the oil rim, production may lead to oil migration into gas zone with the attendant loss to production due to saturation in the gas zone. Apart from these, handling produced water is a major cost item for oil companies today and the relevance of any work done towards its reduction cannot be over-emphasised. The aim of this research will be to identify and highlight some of these technical challenges and thereafter proffer reservoir-based solutions to some of the technical problems associated with thin oil rim reservoirs in order to optimise production from these fields and thus make them profitable. Approach to solving the question of water and gas coning in reservoirs in this research is largely by numerical simulations, using the Schlumberger Eclipse 100 black oil simulator. Attempts are also made in instances to correlate solutions with results from earlier derived correlations by authors in this area.