Enhanced recovery

Use of Partitioning Tracers To Estimate Oil-Saturation Distribution

Partitioning interwell tracer tests (PITTs) have been used to estimate remaining oil saturations (ROSs) during waterflooding.

Abstract image
Getty Images

Partitioning interwell tracer tests (PITTs) have been used to estimate remaining oil saturations (ROSs) during waterflooding. Compared with core tests, well logs, and single-well tracer tests, PITTs sample a much larger representative elemental volume (REV) and provide interwell estimates of remaining oil saturation. In this paper, the authors present the information gained from conducting a polymer PITT and the saturation estimated during the PITT. The polymer PITT allows characterization of polymer-flood efficiency and is a useful tool in polymer-flood evaluations in heterogeneous reservoirs.

Introduction

The difference in arrival time between conservative tracers has long been used to estimate the volume of oil remaining in a reservoir after tracer tests. The method-of-moments solution to calculate ROS from mean arrival times of conservative and partitioning tracers is based upon single-phase flow.

×
SPE_logo_CMYK_trans_sm.png
Restricted Content
We're sorry, but this content is reserved for SPE Members. If you are a member, please sign in at the top of the page for access. If you are not a member and you find JPT content valuable, we encourage you to become a part of the SPE member community.