Dissolution behaviour in carbonate reservoirs during WAG injection: A preliminary experimental study

¹ Department of Petroleum Engineering, Curtin University, Kensington, WA, 6151, Australia
² CSIRO Energy, Kensington, WA, 6151, Australia

^* Corresponding author: Ausama.giwelli@csiro.au

Abstract

In this study, a core flooding experiment using a water-alternating-gas (WAG) injection was conducted to evaluate its impact on the petrophysical properties of an initially oil-saturated heterogeneous carbonate core sample. Carbon dioxide (CO₂) and synthetic formation brine were injected (0.5 pore volume CO₂ alternating with 0.5 pore volume brine) alternately following establishment of waterflooding residual oil saturation under reservoir conditions. Gas porosity, gas permeability, NMR (nuclear magnetic resonance) T₂ measurements, and X-ray CT scanning were conducted preand post-core flooding. The results show that CO₂-WAG injection resulted in substantial additional oil recovery (~30 %) under the applied experimental conditions. The results also show an increase in the permeability of the tested sample from 1.5 to 16 mD, which could be attributed to mineral dissolution. X-ray CT imaging shows signs of excessive mineral dissolution and formation of wormhole structures. It is believed that dissolution within the tested core plug caused the WAG fluids to follow the newly wormhole (causing them to enlarge further), and consequently bypassing many parts of the sample. Therefore, despite a significant increase in oil recovery, a large amount of oil is still left behind.