Evaluation of the applicability of cyclic steam stimulation method at cretaceous deposits of Kenbai field

Due to reducing volumes of light oil reserves, oil companies are increasingly focusing on hard-to-recover reserves, in particular, deposits with high-viscosity oil. Shallow-lying oil deposits are mainly concentrated in the Cretaceous horizons, in the western region of the country, along the Caspian coast. One of them is a highly viscous oil reservoir, consisting of 3 Cretaceous horizons of the Moldabek Vostochny section of Kenbai field, where 54.5 million tons of oil are concentrated, of which 19.5 million tons are recoverable. The current produced reserves makes up 5% of the initial recoverable reserves, and the approved design oil recovery factor implies the full-scale application of thermal oil recovery enhancement methods. The aim of this work is to select the most suitable method of thermal impact and assess the prospects for implementation with the calculation of economic feasibility. Taking into account the geological features of the reservoir, the cyclic treatment of the wells was chosen as the optimal method for increasing oil recovery. According to the results of calculations on the hydrodynamic model, the starting production rates using the technology of steam-cyclic treatment of producing wells are 2–3 times higher than the production rates for “cold production”: the difference in accumulated production over 5 years will be 20–30%.

high-viscosity oil, oil field development, enhanced oil recovery, thermal methods of EOR, steam injection, cyclic steam stimulation