Experimental investigation of use of horizontal wells in waterflooding

Abstract

The present experimental study is conducted to investigate the effect of horizontal production well in waterflooding when conventional vertical production well stops oil production. Laboratory experiments have been performed on three-dimensional sand pack models. In the waterflooding experiments, the horizontal production well is turned on after the complete extraction of oil from the vertical production well. The experimental results show that horizontal well increases the ultimate recovery by waterflooding significantly when oil production stops from the conventional vertical production well. Moreover, the position of the horizontal well either at top or bottom of the sand pack has negligible effect on ultimate oil recovery for the sand packs used.