Souring Prediction on Mature Waterflooded Reservoirs in North Kuwait

Abstract

Presence of H2S detected in producing wells of North Kuwait sweet waterflooded reservoirs over the last 18 years, gave indications of biogenic souring. In response to this, the Kuwait Oil Company engaged in detailed souring potential assessments of selected reservoirs such as the Raudhatain Mauddud (RAMA), to predict the further generation of H2S and define the required souring mitigation strategy to ensure safe production over the remaining field life. The souring simulation modelling was conducted on the RAMA subsurface model with support from Shell, using a state of the art souring prediction program. The initial phase of the study consisted in the history match simulation to define the most likely souring mechanism in the field. The forecast considered various scenarios with a range of sensitivities on carbon nutrient and sulphate levels, both in formation and injected water in the field. The history match simulation results showed a good correlation with most of the producers with available H2S data. The Forecast simulation over the next 15-year period predicts a moderate souring severity for this reservoir, based on the maximum H2S mass flow rate of 90 kg/d and H2S in gas maximum concentration of 85 ppmv at the field level. This work provides the petroleum Industry further insights into the souring behavior when effluent water is injected in addition to seawater, particularly the effects of additional carbon nutrients fed into the reservoir.