A New Material Balance Equation Model for Analyzing Dynamic Performance of CO2 Flooding

Implementing a CO2 flooding scheme successfully requires the capacity to get accurate information of reservoir dynamic performance and fluids injected. Despite some numerical simulation studies, the complicated drive mechanisms and actual reservoir performance have not been fully understood. There is a strong need to develop models from different perspectives to complement current simulators and provide valuable insights into the reservoir performance during CO2 flooding.The aim of this study is to develop a model by using an improved material balance equation (MBE) to analyze quickly the performance of CO2 flooding. After matching the historical field data the proposed model can be used to evaluate,monitor and predict the overall reservoir dynamic performance during CO2 flooding. In order to account accurately for the complex displacement process involving compositional effect and multiphase flow, the PVT properties and flowability of reservoir fluids are incorporated in the model. This study investigates the effects of a number of factors,such as reservoir pressure, the amount of CO2 injected, the CO2 partition ratios in reservoir fluids, the possibility of the existence of a free CO2 gas cap, the proporfon of reservoir fluids contacted with CO2, the starting time of CO2 flooding,oil swelling, and oil flowability improvement by mixing with CO2. The model was used to analyze the CO2 flooding project in Weyburn oil field, Saskatchewan, Canada. This study shows that the proposed model is an effective complementary tool to analyze and monitor the overall reservoir performance during CO2 flooding.