Financial methods for waterflooding injectate design
First Claim
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1. A method, comprising:
- measuring physico-chemical data that is at least in part representative of electrostatic interactions between a liquid hydrocarbon in a reservoir; and
determining a transition point between primary and secondary extraction based on a theoretical model of the electrostatic interactions using the physico-chemical data and financial data;
wherein the physico-chemical data and the financial data collectively comprise static, dynamic data, or both; and
wherein determining the transition point comprises;
measuring the static data;
iteratively gathering the dynamic data;
selecting a composition of the injectate based on the static data, the dynamic data, or both;
calculating a net present value of the injectate based on the composition of the injectate; and
determining the transition point based on the net present value of primary and secondary extractions taken from the reservoir.
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Abstract
A method of selecting an injectate for recovering liquid hydrocarbons from a reservoir includes designing a plurality of injectates, calculating a net present value of each injectate, and selecting a candidate injectate based on the net present value. For example, the candidate injectate may be selected to maximize the net present value of a waterflooding operation.
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Citations
30 Claims
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1. A method, comprising:
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measuring physico-chemical data that is at least in part representative of electrostatic interactions between a liquid hydrocarbon in a reservoir; and determining a transition point between primary and secondary extraction based on a theoretical model of the electrostatic interactions using the physico-chemical data and financial data; wherein the physico-chemical data and the financial data collectively comprise static, dynamic data, or both; and wherein determining the transition point comprises; measuring the static data; iteratively gathering the dynamic data; selecting a composition of the injectate based on the static data, the dynamic data, or both; calculating a net present value of the injectate based on the composition of the injectate; and determining the transition point based on the net present value of primary and secondary extractions taken from the reservoir. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A method of selecting an injectate for recovering a liquid hydrocarbon from a reservoir, comprising:
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designing a plurality of injectates, each injectate having a distinct composition; calculating a net present value of each injectate of the plurality of injectates; and selecting a candidate injectate from the plurality of injectates based at least in part on the net present value of hydrocarbon recovery using each injectate; wherein calculating the net present value comprises determining a transition point between primary extraction and secondary extraction based on physico-chemical data and estimating hydrocarbon recovery through the secondary extraction at or after the transition point; wherein the physico-chemical data comprises static data, dynamic data, or both; and wherein determining the transition point comprises; measuring the static data; iteratively gathering the dynamic data; selecting an injectate composition based on the static data, the dynamic data, or both; calculating a net present value of the primary extraction using an electrostatic model that links connate water chemistry, wettability, and primary recovery; calculating a net present value of the secondary extraction using the injectate composition; and determining the transition point based at least in part on the net present value of the primary and secondary extractions. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12)
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13. A method of determining the composition of an injectate for recovering hydrocarbons from a subterranean reservoir with an economic outcome, comprising:
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a. selecting (1) physico-chemical dynamic data for a plurality of injectate compositions, and (2) financial data for determining profitability of using the injectate compositions; b. calculating economic outcomes of the plurality of injectate compositions using the physico-chemical dynamic data and the financial data; and c. comparing the economic outcomes for the plurality of injectate compositions for determining an injectate composition with a desired economic outcome; wherein the selecting physico-chemical dynamic data comprises; measuring physico-chemical data representative of electrostatic interactions between the liquid hydrocarbon and materials in the reservoir; and designing the composition for the injectate based a theoretical model of the electrostatic interactions using the physico-chemical data; determining a transition point between primary and secondary extractions of the subterranean reservoir based on a theoretical model of the electrostatic interactions using the physico-chemical dynamic data, and selected financial data; wherein the physico-chemical dynamic data and the financial data comprise static data, dynamic data, or both; wherein determining the transition point comprises; measuring the static data; iteratively gathering the dynamic data; selecting an injectate composition based on the static data, the dynamic data, or both; calculating a net present value of the primary extraction using an electrostatic model that links connate water chemistry, wettability, and primary recovery; calculating a net present value of the secondary extraction using the injectate composition; and determining the transition point based at least in part on the net present value of the primary and secondary extractions. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. A method of recovering hydrocarbons from a reservoir using an injectate, comprising:
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recovering a liquid hydrocarbon from the reservoir through primary extraction;
measuring physico-chemical data that are at least in part representative of electrostatic interactions between the liquid hydrocarbon and other reservoir materials;determining a transition point between primary and secondary extraction based on a theoretical model of the electrostatic interactions using the physico-chemical data, and selected financial data; and recovering the hydrocarbons from the reservoir through secondary extraction using an injectate at or after the transition point; wherein the physico-chemical data and the financial data comprise static data, dynamic data, or both; wherein determining the transition point comprises; measuring the static data; iteratively gathering the dynamic data; selecting an injectate composition based on the static data, the dynamic data, or both; calculating a net present value of the primary extraction using an electrostatic model that links connate water chemistry, wettability, and primary recovery; calculating a net present value of the secondary extraction using the injectate composition; and determining the transition point based at least in part on the net present value of the primary and secondary extractions. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21, 22, 23)
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24. A method for estimating a net present value of hydrocarbons in a subterranean reservoir, comprising the steps of:
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a. calculating an oil wettability state for the reservoir by using (1) an oil-reservoir electrostatic adhesion model, and (2) reservoir data; b. determining potential hydrocarbon production from the reservoir through at least one of a primary or secondary extraction process by using (1) the oil wettability state from step “
a”
, and (2) reservoir data; andc. estimating a net present value of hydrocarbons in the reservoir from a combination of (1) the potential hydrocarbon production from at least one of a primary or secondary extraction process from step “
b”
, (2) selected financial and/or market data for the hydrocarbons and available injectates;wherein the step of determining potential hydrocarbon production further comprises the steps of calculating decline curves for primary and secondary extraction; wherein the step of estimating potential hydrocarbon production further comprises the steps of calculating a plurality of decline curves for primary and/or secondary extraction based on different injectate chemistries; and further comprising the steps of optimizing the net present value estimate by (1) calculating hypothetical cash flows for continued primary production and for each primary and/or secondary extraction for which decline curves are calculated using the different injectate chemistries, (2) combining the discounted cash flow curves for each primary and secondary extraction calculation, and (3) selecting a transition point and injectate chemistry that achieve maximum net present value. - View Dependent Claims (25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30)
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Specification