Water injection and gas lift optimization to improve oil rim production in Hassi R'mel field

Abstract

Hassi R’mel field is a source of significant quantities of natural gas and oil due to its distinctive geological structure. In the east and the south of the field there is an oil-producing rim whose wells are known to face technical problems. The most irritating of these problems are salt deposits that severely affect the productivity. Injection of fresh water is the most effective solution to this problem yet it weighs down the hydrostatic column. In order to alleviate the hydrostatic column and increase the oil flow rate, gas lift is injected. For this case, new completion designs that allow the double injection of water and gas lift simultaneously are proposed. PIPESIM software allows to choose the adequate completion. In addition, it optimizes the configuration of each completion such as the optimal gas lift injection rate, the optimal depth and the optimal production tubing diameter. Apart from PIPESIM, and using the collected data, the optimal desalination water flow is determined manually.