Stimulation mechanism and model establishment of enhanced imbibition oil recovery for A nano fracturing fluid

Abstract

Chang 7 shale reservoir of Ordos Basin has characteristics of low porosity, ultra-low permeability, and low formation pressure coefficient. After hydraulic fracturing, the production of shale oil declines rapidly, and it has no solutions to replenish the formation energy. Currently, a nano variable-viscosity slickwater (named: NSI) is being used in the field for fracturing production. Compared with conventional fracturing fluid systems, the NSI system can increase production of oil wells by more than 4 times, and its economic benefits are very remarkable. The lab experiment shows that NSI system after the gel breaking has ability of enhanced imbibition oil recovery (EIOR), which may be an important stimulation mechanism of the NSI system. However, the contribution of EIOR to oil production is still unclear, and the corresponding mechanism and model are still lacking. Therefore, the fracturing parameters of Changqing Chang 7 reservoir were firstly optimized without considering the imbibition, and two wells were used to carry out field experiments with NSI and conventional slickwater. Then, commercial software is used to predict oil production. It was found that the actual production was higher than the predicted production. To explain this phenomenon, the effect of imbibition on enhanced oil recovery was investigated experimentally under reservoir temperature and pressure. The NMR T₂ spectrum was quantitatively analyzed to clarify the variation of oil and water distribution in different pores of core. The results showed that capillary force was dominant in the small pores of core, and small pores were the main positions of EIOR. Water film was formed in large pores, which increases the migration resistance of the liquid, and allowed gravity to play an obvious role. Finally, based on the modified Aronofsky index model, an EIOR model suitable for the Changqing Chang 7 reservoir was proposed, which achieved a better match between actual production and simulated production of horizontal wells.