SPE 154255

ECO-GSAI “Gravity Stable Air Injection” Pilot Test, an Enhanced Oil

Recovery Opportunity to be Implemented in Chichimene Field – Colombia
Aníbal Ordoñez (Ecopetrol S.A), Marta Trujillo (Ecopetrol S.A), Edwin Rodriguez (Ecopetrol S.A), John Belgrave
(Belgrave oíl & gas), Adriano Lobo (Ecopetrol S.A), Fabián Fernández (Ecopetrol S.A), Juan Comas (Ecopetrol
S.A), Hernando Bottia (Ecopetrol S.A)

Copyright 2012, Society of Petroleum Engineers

This paper was prepared for presentation at the Eighteenth SPE Improved Oil Recovery Symposium held in Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA, 14–18 April 2012.

This paper was selected for presentation by an SPE program committee following review of information contained in an abstract submitted by the author(s). Contents of the paper have not been
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Abstract

In order to improve the oil production and recovery in Chichimene heavy oil field, an air injection process is
planned to be implemented: GSAI (Gravity Stable Air Injection). The first step is to conduct a pilot test in the field
with a startup planned for 2013. Laboratory work and analysis with analytical and numerical models indicated that
the process can achieve of around 30% of additional recovery factor over primary production.

Chichimene is one of the Ecopetrol S.A heavy oil fields, located 50 km south of Villavicencio city, Meta. The field
has been in production since 2002 from the T2 formation using vertical wells with conventional casing
(approximately 20 wells), drilled on 40 acre spacing and without water production so far, API gravity of 10 °API and
viscosity of 150 cp at reservoir conditions (185° F and 3600 psia). At such a reservoir conditions the crude has
good mobility making it a good candidate for ECO-GSAI technology. A similar opportunity, but less favorable in
Suplacu of Barcau (Romania), has shown improvement in the recovery factor of 9% to over 50%.

This paper presents the screening, reservoir characterization, laboratory work, numerical simulation, and other
design considerations for planning and justification of the pilot.

Introduction

The air injection in heavy oil reservoirs is an enhanced recovery process that has been around for several
decades. While on paper or in the laboratory, this oil recovery process shows tremendous potential, its success in
field applications in the past has been limited. For example in USA, the success in its application does not
overcome the 45%. Some projects were technically successful, but oil prices made them fail financially. Analyses
in successful projects have indicated that the process is applicable to a wide range of fields and the risks of failure
can be minimized by an appropriate selection of the reservoir, performing a careful laboratory work and the
adoption of prudent engineering practices1.

The air injection was patented in 1920 in the United States. The first air injection pilot of short term (actually, the
first test of ignition) was in Russia in 1933-1934, while a true test occurred in the USA between the years 1950-
1951. A total of 228 combustion projects (dry, wet, and enriched air) have been implemented in the USA since
19501 and according to the Oil & Gas Journal statistics in 2010 there were in the USA 12 in-situ combustion active
projects.

The air injection is an enhanced recovery process in which air or enriched air is injected into the reservoir where it
reacts with the oil to create a high-temperature combustion front which is propagated through the production zone.
The combustion may be initiated spontaneously if the oil is sufficiently reactive at reservoir pressure and
temperature. It can also be artificially initiated by means of electric or gas burners. The chemical reactions involved
2 SPE 154255

in combustion are complex and numerous, and occur over a wide temperature range. These are classified as
follows2:

The Low Temperature Oxidation Reactions are heterogeneous (gas/liquid) and generally results in production of
little or no carbon oxides and partially oxygenated compounds1 which are more viscous than the original fluid and
can damage the formation. Despite the above, in a stable combustion process, this type of reactions are mainly
responsible for the formation of coke which is the fuel of the combustion reactions at high temperature; Medium
temperature fuel formation reactions involve cracking/pyrolisis of hydrocarbons which leads to the formation of
coke (a heavy carbon rich, low volatility hydrocarbon fraction)1. This type of reactions are responsible for the
improvement of the in-situ oil; The high temperature fuel combustion reactions are heterogeneous, in which the
oxygen reacts with unoxidized oil, fuel and the oxygenated compounds to give carbon oxides and water1. This
reaction is desirable in the heavy oil air injection processes. Figure 1 shows the LTO and HTO regions typical for
heavy oil and the difference with the process HPAI (High Pressure Air Injection) characterized for light oil.

Figure 1. General diagram of temperature profile for dry combustion, presenting the general effect of temperature
on the oxygen consumption rate for a heavy oil3

Metallic additives and clays have catalytic effects on the reactions. Clays and fine sands enhance deposition of
more fuel because of the absorption characteristics on a higher surface area4.

After the combustion front has been developed, the hot gases, resulting from the combustion, distill the light
components of the oil that are ahead of the front. Petroleum distillates together with water vapor condense and
form a small bank of condensates. The oil saturation remaining after the condensation zone is subject to LTO
reactions and thermal cracking when the combustion front approaches, leaving a residual deposit rich in carbons
and mainly composed for coke in the sand grains. This residue is the fuel for combustion reactions.

The air injection is possible if the combination of oil / rock produces enough fuel to sustain the combustion front. In
light oils with low asphaltenes content, the coke production is low which difficult the sustainability of the combustion
front5. By contrast, in heavy oils with a high content of asphaltenes, coke production is high, causing a high air
requirement to maintain combustion in the HTO region, which strongly affects the project economics. In general, no
more than 5 or 6% of the oil is consumed6. Hydrocarbon products and other compounds related with the cracking
process (SO2, CO, CH4 and H2) and the combustion gases are absorbed by the oil ahead of the combustion or
are produced with the gas.

Considering the complexity of the air injection process, a field project of this nature should be designed after
extensive research in the laboratory and numerical simulation7. Moreover, the phenomenon involved is that
complex that it does not exist a unique test that provides the information needed to design a field project8.
Therefore, it is important to identify the equipment and methodologies to experimentally evaluate the air injection
process. On the other hand, it is necessary to develop numerical methods that allow the interpretation, scaling and
simulation of the laboratory results3.
SPE 154255 3

ECO- GSAI Implementation

One of the main problems of the air injection and which is exacerbated by high sand thickness, few vertical
permeability barriers and principally for the difference in density between air and the reservoir fluids is the tendency
of the air to override the oil column and consequently bypass much of the oil in the reservoir1.

Unlike other heavy oil fields, the Chichimene field has high pressure and high temperature due to the depth at
which the reservoir is located. This allows the fluid reservoir to have a low viscosity. This, together with the high
permeability of the sand, gives to the fluid a high mobility in the reservoir and better gravity segregation. This may
allow a homogeneous and stable displacement of the original oil due to the gases and combustion thermal effects,
avoiding the override effect and allowing having a lower requirement of air in the combustion process. Therefore,
the pilot in Chichimene seeks to implement this process of Gravity Stabilized Air Injection, whose trademark ECO-
GSAI is registered.

This in-situ combustion process can be dry or wet. For the dry in-situ combustion process only air is injected. For
the wet in-situ combustion process, air and water are injected continuously or alternately, in order to exploit the
water ability to store heat (approximately 100 times that of air), which is transported from the burned area to the
regions located ahead of combustion front and thus further promote the oil mobility.

Figure 2. ECO-GSAI Technology

Chichimene Field Description

The Chichimene field is subdivided into three main formations (T2, K1, K2). T2 formation is thick and contains
extra heavy oil. K1 and K2 formations contain some reserves of light oil. The formation of interest for this study is
T2 which has clean sand with very high permeability (up to 4 Darcies), good porosity and high oil saturation. There
is no evidence of active aquifer. In some sectors where most of wells have been drilled, there is a strong pressure
drop and high gas production. Currently is being implemented a massive drilling plan with a spacing of 40 acres on
a total area of 12000 acres approximately. Additionally, infill drilling is being planned to reduce spacing to 20 acres
as an ultimate recovery plan.

Experimental Analysis

The main parameters required in the design of an air injection project are, among others, the amount of fuel
consumed, the air requirement to support the combustion and the combustion front generation and its advance.
These data provide the basis for evaluating the project economics and may be obtained from combustion tube
tests, which are unscaled physical simulators that represent a portion of the reservoir. For Chichimene field there
were performed combustion tube (dry-wet), ARC and RTO tests in the University of Calgary. The results for the
combustion tube tests can be seen in the figure below.
4 SPE 154255

Figure 3. Results from combustion tube Tests

It was determined by ARC tests (Accelerated Rated Calorimeter) that at reservoir conditions spontaneous ignition
is achieved. Similarly, by the temperature profiles obtained from the combustion tube tests a stable advance of the
combustion front was determined, and a significant reduction of the air requirements was evidenced when water is
injected simultaneously with the air in a process ever reported in the world: supercritical wet combustion. With the
ARC (Accelerated Rate calorimeter) and RTO (Ramped Temperature Oxidation) tests the kinetic model necessary
to perform the process numerical simulation was adjusted.

Numerical Simulation

As a first step, the best alternative for developing the T2 formation in the Chichimene field was evaluated through
conceptual numerical simulation. The initial selection of technologies to be evaluated in the simulator was done
through binary screening and analogies, concluding that the methods potentially applicable to the field were: Cold
production with horizontal and multilateral wells, water injection at high mobility ratios, CO2 injection and air
injection. Due to the unavailability of CO2, this method was not evaluated. Finally, it was decided to assess the gas
injection as an alternative to use the gas field production. All technologies were evaluated on the same simulation
model and numerous sensitivities to the variables of greatest impact were conducted with the purpose of always
seeking the best scenario for each process. The results showed that in situ combustion is the process with the
highest recovery, reaching 40%.
SPE 154255 5

AIR INJECTION

WATER INJECTION

GAS INJECTION
FISHBONE WELLS
HORIZONTAL WELLS
MULTILATERAL WELLS
INFILL

Figure 4. Results of technologies assessment through numerical simulation for the Chichimene field.

The numerical simulation model for the ECO-GSAI process was developed in thermal software in order to quantify
the effect of temperature, and to model the process on the oil composition and final recovery factor. For the
simulation work it was necessary to match the kinetic model using laboratory tests: RTO and ARC. The activation
energies calculated with the ARC test were the starting point for determining the kinetic model through the match
of the temperature profiles and flue gases composition obtained in the RTO test.

After the conceptual modeling was carried out, a new numerical simulation of the air injection pilot in a sector
model was extracted from the Chichimene full field model. The sector model area was 250 acres and the pilot area
is 10 acres. The pilot will be developed with three production wells, two observation wells and one injection well.
The sector model also includes 6 production wells that are located close to the pilot area (Figure 5). In order to
obtain the best result in terms of the air injection performance, a big number of sensitivities were done to certain
operating variables such as: injection rates, intervals open to injection and production, injection cycles (air-water),
air / water injection ratio, fluids evacuation, among others. The best result showed a final recovery factor close to
47% for ECO-GSAI technology and determined production profiles and fluid composition, which are required to do
the engineering process in the field. A general scheme for defining the design basis for the field pilot is shown in
Figure 6.

Figure 5. Chichimene field sector model and pilot area location.

6 SPE 154255

STATIC
MODEL

DYNAMIC SIMULATION Production profiles BASIC

MODEL MODEL Injection profiles ENGINEERING
ARC

RTO TEST KINETIC

RTO MATCH MODEL
(SIMULATOR)

Figure 6. General scheme for defining the design basis for the field pilot

Pilot Execution Program

Our corporative goal for 2015 is to produce one million barrels of equivalent oil per day. As part of our strategy to
achieve this goal, the IFR (Recovery factor incremental) program was created at the Colombian Petroleum
Institute. Within the targets of this program there is the project in heavy and extra-Heavy oil fields (API <15), which
main objective is to implement a pilot project of ECO- GSAI technology in Chichimene field in 2013.

CONCLUSIONS

1. This work allowed establishing that the ECO-GSAI technology offers the greatest potential to increase the
recovery factor for T2 formation of Chichimene field.

2. It was possible to determine the necessary parameters to technically evaluate the process through the
proper experimental design. A spontaneous ignition was achieved, as well as low air requirements, and a
stable front advance for a wet combustion process.

3. A numerical simulation model was developed by matching the laboratory tests, which allowed us to
evaluate the process and to determine the design basis of the pilot process for the field.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

1. Sarathi, Partha S. ‘’In situ combustion handbook-principles and practices.’’Noviembre 1998.

DOE/PC/91008-0374.
2. M.G. URSENBACH, R.G. Moore, S.A. Mehta University of Calgary, ‘Air Injection in Heavy Oil Reservoirs—
A Process Whose Time Has Come (Again)’, 2007
3. Gutierrez, Dubert. et al. ‘’The challenge of predicting field performance of air injection projects based on
laboratory and numerical modelling’’. JCPT, V48 No. 4. 2009.
4. Mahipey, Nader et al, Tailor and Francis Group, ¨In situ combustion in Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR)- A –
Review¨. University of Regina, Regina, Canada, 2007.
5. R. G. Moore, M.G. Ursenbach, S.A. Mehta. SPE 75207. A Guide to High Pressure Air Injection (HPAI)
Based Oil Recovery.
6. R. G. Moore, M.G. Ursenbach, C.J. Laureshen, S.A. Mehta. JCPT Volumen 38, No. 8. Economic
Considerations For The Desing of In Situ Combustion Projects.
7. Zhong Liguo, SPE/PS/CHOA 117638, ¨ Feasibility study of the In situ combustion in shallow, thin and
multilayered heavy oil reservoir¨, 2008.
8. Gadelle, Claude P, SPE 8905,¨Heavi Oil Recovery by In situ Combustion – Two cases in Rumania¨, 1981.