Abstract
Through many phases of expansion, the Kuparuk hydrocarbon miscible water-alternating-gas (MWAG) project has grown from 10 patterns on 2 drillsites (Small Scale EOR, or SSEOR) to today&s 283 patterns on 32 drillsites. It now covers an area with almost 4 billion barrels of STOOIP and has generated an estimated 120 MMSTB of incremental oil sales.
The original goals of the MWAG project were twofold: First, there being no available market for produced gas, to efficiently store associated gas in the reservoir (avoiding the rapid recycling of gas observed with other processes); and second, to generate incremental tertiary oil production. The project is approaching its target maturity, especially in the C sand. But the lower throughput A sand has some immature patterns showing lower-than-expected tertiary oil response. Despite the relative maturity of the MWAG flood, expansion opportunities still exist. Based on fine grid compositional simulation, an expansion of MWAG to drillsite "A" is under evaluation.
This paper provides a brief review of the Kuparuk MWAG project&s history, an overview of current status and flood management practices, and describes the latest investigation into further expansions.
