WHOC16 - 322

Changes in Annulus Pressure, Increase Oil

Production.
Carlos Brunings; PDVSA. Gabriel Becerra, PDVSA. Richard Marquez, INPELUZ. Linerbeth
Garcia, INPELUZ. Leonardo Mena, ATS. Armando Riviere, ATS. Jose Marcano, PDVSA..

This paper has been selected for presentation and/or publication in the proceedings for the 2015 World Heavy Oil
Congress. The authors of this material have been cleared by all interested companies/employers/clients to authorize
dmg::events (Canada) inc., the congress producer, to make this material available to the attendees of WHOC2015
and other relevant industry personnel.

ABSTRACT months were performed obtaining an increment of

The objective of this paper is to show lab test
performed and field experiences for improving
production in a well , with an equipment which has
an expert system and control valve that automatically
control the annular fluid level, obtaining an optimal
point.
Gas pressure variations that occur in annulus are
reflected down hole and it’s a mean to evaluate
optimization conditions in each well, detecting the
optimum pressure point where crude mobility is
favored over water or gas, from near wellbore up
surface, increasing pumping efficiency too.
In order to explain what happens through the porous
medium near wellbore, an analysis of laboratory
conducted at the Zulia University Petroleum
Research Institute determined that the permeability’s
behavior in rock-oil-water systems changes due to
pressure changes: results obtained from rock samples
shown that the effective permeability to water
changes from 56 mD to 24 and 0.5 mD, when the
pressure drop through the rock changes from 36 Psi
to 30 Psi and 24 Psi, respectively.
Software incorporated in the valve system at the well
allows closing the annulus and detects the pressures
increments, choosing the optimal point by means of
mathematical calculations to achieve maximum crude
production with minimum water yield. Likewise, a
new multiphase water cut monitor gives information
to a computer controller, in order to modulate
automatic openings and closings of annulus gas
production.
On February 6, 2015 a test began in a 15 API oil 420
bopd well of Petrolera Indovenezolana, daily
monitoring by owner and officially 5 well tests in 6
13% in crude yield and 10% decrease in water cut.
Over 70 automatic casing control valves of different
types have been installed in Venezuela, with a
successful rate of 50% and incremental production
over 10 %, since 1998.
1. INTRODUCTION
Annulus pressure control in well casings was
developed in Venezuela since seventeen years ago.
Over 70 of these devices have been installed
approximately 50% successful rate on improving
production has been obtained, (1,2). Some of the
improvements (1/3 of the wells) are due to increasing
pump efficiency owing to the reduction of gas
entrained into the pump when the pressure of casing
is being controlled by an automated pressure control
valve set at an optimum value; it causes a variation of
the dynamic fluids reducing the amount of free gas in
the annular space and pump The other 2/3 of the
wells occurred because of water cut reduction; See
table 1. In order to demonstrate this process a
mathematical model and lab test was developed at
Inpeluz.

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2. THEORETICAL MODEL AND LABORATORY 1
TESTS fo 
 Psw 
 k      Pw  1  Pew 
Fluid flow of two immiscible fluids trough porous 1   w   o   eo  
media can be described by Darcy’s law, and a  ko   w   Pe   Pso 
mathematical correlation can be obtained that 1  Peo 
combines: pressure, permeability and fluid rate. This 
mathematical expression is developed for a
cylindrical core as shown, by which oil and water is Now f o depends on inlet and outlet pressure for
injected through it, in order to determine relative
each phase. If we consider that outlet pressure for
permeability and irreducible water saturation.
( Ps  0 ), then permeability
w
water is cero
relationships as a function of pressure can be written
as:
 Pso   k w   krw   w   Peo  
1 P o  (1  f o )
 ko  1   w  o  Peo           w  1  so 
Pe  qw     Pe
w
 ko   k ro   o   Pe   Pe  fo
 k w  qo   o   Psw 
1  Pew 

This mathematical expression combines permeability
as a function of outlet oil pressure ( Ps  0 ) and
o

Peo And Pew represents inlet pressure for oil and water saturation.

Pso Psw Meanwhile the institute of oil research (Inpeluz) of

water and defines outlet pressure at the
outlet for both fluids. Fluid rates for water and oil are Zulia University in Venezuela has modified its
laboratory equipment, in order to obtain from some
represented by
qo
and
qw
, respectively.
o And core samples of different reservoirs, a family of
curves of relative permeability as a function of
 w represents viscosity of oil and water. Effective pressure. The determination of effective permeability
ko kw of water or oil is measured through a triaxial cell
permeability are also represented by and , which has been transformed in order to control
respectively. pressure at the outlet, by means of the installation of
a control valve, so it can measures different
differential pressures (See figure 1 ).Also a hydro
This mathematical expression differs from the ones pneumatic system was installed in order to guarantee
used in the lab for determining inlet pressure in cores constant pressure for fluid flow displacement though
when using triaxial cells (3): the core sample In addition five rock samples from
the same core were carefully selected with similar
1  w  o permeability values . Displacement fluids were
Pew  0.556   Pe treated water and an oil type of fluid called Marcol.
qo  o  See table 2

During the experiment, the water and oil phases were

Applying Buckley-Leverett, for oil flow
rewritten as follows:
f o can be
handled at a constant flow rate and injection pressure.
It was decided to choke the flow of fluid only for
water at different values of Pws/ Pwe = 0%, 16.6%,
33.3%.

It was determined that the effective permeability of

water, changes from 56 mD (milidarcies) to 24 and

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0.5 mD, when the pressure drop through the rock
changes from 36 Psi to 30 Psi and 24 Psi,
respectively. See table 3 also different curves of
permeability relationship krw/kro, as a function of
pressure and saturation were obtained. See Figure 2 It
can be seen that at higher outlet pressure, the value of
effective permeability of water is less thus favoring
the mobility of oil.
The importance of this investigation deals on the fact
that permeability can be represented as a function of
the pressure variable , especially at the outlet of the
core sample which represents in the reservoir Pwf or
flowing bottom hole pressure.
3. EQUIPMENT DESCRIPTION
This equipment installed in the well is self-contained
(hardware/software) and diagnoses the behavior of
the parameters of the artificial lift system and
determines the optimal parameters of operation of the
lifting system (speed, casing pressure, etc.) to obtain
the maximum production of the well. See Figure 3
The software consists of expert systems and
diagnostic patterns that control favorably irruption of
water or gas and improve oil production, this is
performed trough: analysis of electrical parameters
coming from the variable frequency drive (vfd),
interpretation of down hole well pressure, surface
temperature of the fluid and wellhead pressure, in
order to obtain the optimal casing pressure.
The equipment monitors the operational conditions of
the wells and the software decides if it has to actuate
over the control valve installed at the casing or over
the speed of the motor. See Figure 4.
COMPONENTS
A. Field computer. The Remote Control Unit
(RCU) receives information from: vfd, motor, torque,
frequency, velocity of pump, and can control the
frequency and speed of the surface drive.
The RCU is programmed to gather information from
the drive and operate the artificial lift system based
on the analysis of the Expert System. It records and
sends operational and historical data to a SCADA,
DCS, etc. It communicates with automation devices
trough 4-20 mA (miliampere), 1-5 Volts and Modbus
World Heavy Oil Congress 2016
RTU protocol, interfaces with RS-232, RS-485 or
Ethernet.
B. Software It is programmed in Language C/CC+;
the software was developed using Artificial
Intelligent techniques, such as: Expert Systems,
neural network, and diffusive logic (4). The expert
system tries to increase the input pump pressure by
closing the annular control valve, and releasing the
casing pressure when it is needed, in order to
maintain an optimal point. Maintaining this optimal
point is essential for optimizing the well production.
The software also analyzes and process information
gathered from: the instrumentation installed at the
wellhead, VFD parameters, different pattern
recognition of pump cards, at the same time, the
program must avoid a significant decrease of the
dynamic fluid level to avoid down hole pump
damage
C. Surface Instruments (Figures 5, 6)
 Fluid temperature device
 Pressure sensor at the tubing
 Control valve at the casing
 Water cut monitor in the flow line, the brand
is Sentech WCM, patented Secap
technology, based on an electronic oscillator
that is influenced by the dielectric constant
of the media surrounding it. (Figure 7).
 Batteries to provide energy for valve
actuation and avoid harmonics and noise
from vfd
4. RESULTS FOR WELL NZZ-196
A well completed in the H sand of the mixed
company (ONGC and PDVSA) Indo Venezolana is
located in eastern Venezuela (Figure 8), was selected
for evaluation because it had a stable production of
730 BFPD (barrels fluids per day) and a water cut
that varied between 24-36% in 2014, (method of
collecting is by one sampling of water cut at the
wellhead), °API of the oil is 15 , a GOR (gas oil
ratio) around 200, a progressive cavity pump was
installed on July 2012 (Figure 9) . On February 5
2015, a well test was performed with a portable well
test unit consisting of a separator and tank, water cut
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measurements were taken, and to get an average,
several well samples were collected and the result
was 32%, with a total fluid of 623 BFPD and net oil
of 440 BOPD (barrels oil per day) at 200 RPM, this
velocity remained the same through the whole
evaluation till October 2015. This well test was taken
as the initial well test to compare against the
following tests with the equipment. After that the
well was pressurized manually with the equipment,
without the use of the water cut monitor, which was
not available at the time, and the calibration of the
expert system was based on electrical and fluid level
parameters as can be seen in table 4. A well test was
performed on February 7 at a casing pressure of 250
psi (pound per square inch) and tested 690 BFPD,
490 BOPD with an average water cut of 33%.
Also from this table 4, it can be concluded that fluid
level over the pump increased from 502 feet to 723
feet, improving pump efficiency, since less gas is
liberated, about 88 psi additional of Pump intake
pressure, from 208 psi to 288 psi approximately
(Figure 10).
Fluctuating water cut measurements were reported
during the months between March, April and May
since the optimal casing pressure point was not
obtained as the water cut monitor was damaged
during installation and was under repair, the
calculation for optimal point was still manual (around
420 psi). A well test performed 12 of April by a
multiphase test meter (Agar) with an electronic water
cut measurement system, which is the most reliable,
since it calculate water cut every 10 minutes during
the test, Agar utilize a microwave transmitter (2.45
Giga hertz) to measure bulk dielectric properties of
the flow stream, regardless of salinity, density or
viscosity and the high frequency signal will maintain
accuracy in the presence of process coatings.
Results obtained were 692 BFPD, 398 BOPD,
43%water cut, 238 GOR, Figure 11 represents this
period
Finally during late May and early June 2015, the new
water cut monitor arrived and was installed, also
automatically the software was getting the optimal
point due to changes in the program; this water cut
was calibrated against continuous water cut sampling
collected in two hours at different days in June and
analyzed in the laboratory of San Tome District, and
also was compared against a well test performed by
the electronic system on 14 June 2016 , following
World Heavy Oil Congress 2016
are the results in table 5, in which there is less than
2% difference between AGAR and SOE´s water cut
monitor.
The result in Figure 12 shows that the equipment
records the water cut in real time and continuously
As mentioned a well test performed by Agar, June
13th yielded: 756 BFPD, 518 BOPD, 386 GOR, 30%
water cut at 332 psi casing pressure as the optimal
point finally was found for controlling water
production and improving pump efficiency (5). .
Further well test were performed at the same casing
pressure, resulting for August 12 th, Total fluid per
day 712 (BFPD), and 491 (BOPD) barrels of oil
with a water cut of 30.5% recorded from the SOE
equipment, By September 13 th, 708 BPD and 488
BOPD with the same water cut as August. Finally a
well test on 13 of October, with 740 BFPD, 460
BOPD, and 35.3% water cut from the Sentech
monitor installed at the wellhead. See table 6.
In early November 2015 the evaluation of the
equipment finished, and was disconnected from the
well, all equipment were returned to the owner ATS.
5. CONCLUSIONS
1.-Preliminary lab tests have shown that the effective
permeability to water decreases as a differential
pressure is applied, so an oil phase moves
preferentially over a water phase in a core sample at a
constant value of saturation
2.-Best water cut accuracy measurement is obtained
through electronic monitoring, , if these equipment
are not available, then a fair water cut measurement
can be calculated by sampling continuously or getting
an average, and lastly through a one sample
collection at the wellhead.
3.-After automatic control of casing pressure has
been established at its optimal point, the equipment
has controlled in well NZZ-196 water cut, and
improved pump efficiency, increasing oil well
production by a 13% average.
6. REFERENCES
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1. – Castillo V. 2012 internal report on evaluation of
Maxiprod. Marcano J. Awpa presentation of
Petrolera Indovenezolana, 2014.
2. - Brunings C. et al. Oil Production Increase
through an Automated Annulus Pressure Control
System applied Extra-heavy Oil wells in PDVSA,
San Tome District; World Heavy Oil Congress,
2009-128.
3.- Richard Marquez, Linerbeth Garcia, Design of
Relative Permeability Curves as a function of
World Heavy Oil Congress 2016
Pressure, Technical Presentation Inpeluz, Maracaibo,
March 2016.
4. - Ramirez M, Brunings C. Automated Surface Gas
Handling Through Expert Systems for Optimization
of Artificial Lift Systems, Spe 13lAAl,2013.
5. – Leonardo M, Pereira A., Marcano J., Technical
Report Evaluation of SOE, Expert Optimization
System, NZZ-196, August 2015.
Page | 5
 Table 1. Well Evaluation

SUCCESSFUL AUTOMATIC CASING GAS PRESSURIZATION EVALUATION

# WELL EQUIPMENT YEAR BOPD (BEFORE) BOPD (AFTER) ORIGIN
15 A 98-2012 360 677 WATER CUT REDUCTION
9 B 2005-2009 203 259 PUMP EFFICIENCY / GAS
3 C 2007-2008 616 750 PUMP EFFICIENCY / GAS
1 D 2014 190 234 PUMP EFFICIENCY / GAS
5 E 2010-2015 478 657 WATER CUT REDUCTION
1 F 2015 441 518 PUMP EFFICIENCY / GAS

Table 2. Core Sample Information.

Air Permeability, md 318

Pore Volume cc 10.1000

Water Viscocity, cp 0.919
Oil Viscocity, cp 1.236
Length over area cm / cm 2 0.33
Differential Pressure, psi 36
Length, cm 3.76
Area, cm2 11.34
Porosity, % 24

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 Table 3. Preliminary Results Inpeluz Lab Tests.

Pwe (Lpc) Pws (Lpc) Swi (%) Kw (mD) Qw (cc/seg) Pwe / Pws (%)

36 0 24.24 56 0.20 0

36 6 43.09 24 0.12 16.6

36 12 40.3 0.5 0.10 33.3

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 Table 4 Well parameters, operating manually

FLUID
CSG LEVEL % WATER
DATE HOURS PRESSURE OVERPUMP LIQUID CUT COMMENTS
06/02/2015 10:00 106 504 36 32
07/02/2015 09:00 142 1290 100 32
07/02/2015 10:00 134 1335 100 36
07/02/2015 11:00 173 751 63 38
07/02/2015 12:00 197 721 65 32
SET POINT
07/02/2015 13:00 230 675 66 28 230 PSI
07/02/2015 14:00 230 935 90 32
07/02/2015 15:00 244 623 63 28
09/02/2015 12:00 262 620 64 21
09/02/2015 13:30 300 587 68 15
SET POINT
10/02/2015 18:37 349 728 100 0 @350
11/02/2015 16:18 350 723 100 22

Table 5 Comparison of water cut from electronic equipment and a Laboratory

A: Equipment B : Lab STM %, C: Electronic, %.

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 Table 6. Well Tests

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 Figure 1.Modified triaxial cell.

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 Figure 2. Relative Permeability curves vs pressure and Sw

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 Figure 3. Surface well Schematic for automatic valve control

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 Figure 4. Functional schematic of a well optimization system

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 Figure 5. Components of Equipment

Figure 6. Surface Instruments

Figure 7. Water Cut Monitor

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 Figure 8. General data Indovenezolana, San Cristobal Field.

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 Figure 9. Increase in pump Efficiency

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40

1 4 /0 6 /1 5
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1 3 /0 6 /1 5
1 1 /0 6 /1 5
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1 1 /0 6 /1 5
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0 8 /0 6 /1 5
26

0 2 /0 6 /1 5
36

2 0 /0 5 /1 5
22
42,6

2 7 /0 4 /1 5
1 1 /0 4 /1 5
42
Figure 10. Water cut measurements Manual mode

0 7 /A b r
9

13 -M a r
Figure 11. Sentech water cut measurement
40

12 -M a r
05 -M a r
13
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12 -F e b
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POZO NZZ-196
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07 -F e b
28

07 -F e b
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07 -F e b
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07 -F e b
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