Waterflood Conformance Improvement – Practical Considerations & Lessons Learned

Abstract

Conformance improvement is commonly referred to as the action of improving the drive-fluid sweep efficiency during an oil- recovery flooding operation. This technical note highlights the authors lessons learned during the field application of one of the most widely used and quite successful conformance technologies, which is Cr(III)-carboxylate/acrylamide-polymer (CC/AP). To date, the authors have been involved in the analysis, candidate selection, design, field application and post-treatment evaluation of ±700 injection well treatments over the last 25 years. A look back to the earliest treatment designs and field applications as compared to the more recent applications, clearly shows that we have made advancements to achieve better and more consistent results. These changes have occurred gradually over time as new lessons learned are continuously applied to improve treatment strategies and results.