Water inflow to petroleum wells hampers production of oil or gas leading to early shut downs of the wells without sufficient recovery of hydrocarbons in place. Downhole water sink (DWS) is a completion/production technique for producing water-free hydrocarbons with minimum amount of water from reservoirs with bottom water drive and strong tendency to water coning. DWS eliminates water invasion to hydrocarbon production by employing hydrodynamic mechanism of coning control in situ at the oil-water or gas-water contact. The mechanism is based upon a localized water drainage generated by another well completion (downhole water sink) installed in the aquifer beneath the oil/water or gas/water contact. The paper summarizes the development and state-of-the-art of DWS technology. Presented are results from theoretical studies, physical and numerical experiments, and field projects to date. It is demonstrated that DWS could increase recovery and control water production in vertical and horizontal oil wells—with natural flow, downhole pumps or gas lift, and in the gas wells producing from low-pressure tight gas reservoirs. To date, DWS has been used in reservoirs with bottom water. Moreover, in principle, the technology might also be used in the dipping reservoir structures with encroaching side-water.

Issue Section:
Technology Review
Keywords:
oil technology, hydrodynamics, flow control
Topics:
Reservoirs, Water, Wells, Oil wells, Drainage, Petroleum
1.
Shirman, E. I., and Wojtanowicz, A. K., 1998, “More Oil with Less Water Using Downhole Water Sink Technology: A Feasibility Study,” paper SPE 49052 prepared for presentation at the SPE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition in New Orleans, LA, USA, 27–30 October.
2.
Smith
,
C. R.
, and
Pirson
,
S. J.
,
1963
, “
Water Coning Control in Oil Wells by Fluid Injection
,”
SPE J.
,
3
(
4
), pp.
314
–
326
.
3.
Hoyt, D. L., 1974, “Gradient Barrier in a Secondary Recovery Operation to Inhibit Water Coning,” U.S. Patent No 3, 825070, 23 July.
4.
Pirson, S. J., and Mehta, M. M., 1967, “A Study of Remedial Measures for Water-Coning by Means of a Two-Dimensional Simulator,” SPE 1808, 42nd SPE Meeting, Houston, TX, USA, 1–4 October.
5.
Widmyer, R. H., 1955, “Producing Petroleum from Underground Formations,” US Patent No. 2855047, 3 October.
6.
Driscoll, V. J., 1972, “Multiple Producing Intervals to Suppress Coning,” US Patent No. 3638731, 1 February.
7.
Fisher
,
W. G.
,
Letkeman
,
J. P.
, and
Tetreau
,
E. M.
,
1970
, “
The Application of Numerical Coning Model to Optimize Completion and Production Methods to Increase Oil Productivity in Bellshill Lake Blairmore Pool
,”
JCPT
,
Oct-Dec
, pp.
33
–
39
.
8.
Castaneda, F., 1982, “Mathematical Simulation Effect of Selective Water Encroachment in Heavy Oil Reservoirs,” Proceeding of the II UNITAR Conference, Caracas, Venezuela, 7–17 February.
9.
Wojtanowicz, A. K., Xu, H., and Bassiouni, Z., 1991, “Oilwell Coning Control Using Dual Completion With Tailpipe Water Sink,” paper SPE 21654 prepared for presentation at the Production Operations Symposium in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA, 7–9 April.
10.
Shirman, E. I., and Wojtanowicz, A. K., 1997, “Water Cone Histeresis and Reversal for Well Completions Using the Moving Spherical Sink Method,” paper SPE 37467 prepared for presentation at the Production Operations Symposium in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA, 9–11 March.
11.
Wojtanowicz, A. K., Shirman, E. I., and Kurban, H., 1999, “Downhole Water Sink (DWS) Completion Enhance Oil Recovery in Reservoirs with Water Coning Problems,” paper SPE 56721 prepared for presentation at the SPE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition in Houston, TX, USA, 3–6 October.
12.
Siddiqui, S. S., and Wojtanowicz, A. K., 2002, “A Study of Water Coning Control in Oil Wells by Injected or Natural Flow Barriers Using Scaled Physical Model and Numerical Simulator,” paper SPE 77415 prepared for presentation at the SPE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition in San Antonio, TX, USA, 29 September–2 October.
13.
Inikori, S. O., Wojtanowicz, A. K., and Siddiqui, S. S., 2002, “Water Control in Oil Wells With Downhole Oil-Free Water Drainage and Disposal,” paper SPE 77559 prepared for presentation at the SPE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition in San Antonio, TX, USA, 29 September–2 October.
14.
Arslan, O., and Wojtanowicz, A. K., 2003, “Inflow Performance Methods For Evaluating Downhole Water Sink Completions vs. Conventional Wells in Oil Reservoirs With Water Production Problems,” paper 2003-195 prepared for presentation at the Petroleum Society’s Canadian International Petroleum Conference 2003, Calgary, Alberta, Canada, 10–12 June.
15.
Swisher, M. D., and Wojtanowicz, A. K., 1995, “New Dual Completion Method Eliminates Bottom Water Coning,” paper SPE 30697 prepared for presentation at the SPE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition in Dallas, TX, USA, 22–25 October.
16.
Bowlin, K. R., Chea, C. K., Wheeler, S. S., and Waldo, L. A., 1997, “Field Application of In-Situ Gravity Segregation to Remediate Prior Water Coning,” paper SPE 38296 prepared for presentation at the Western Regional Meeting in Long Beach, California, USA, 25–27 June.
17.
Centrilift: Dual ESP Downhole Water Sink Completion in Venezuela, SPE Applied Technology Workshop, Houston, TX, USA, 25–27 March 2003.
18.
Davis, L., Frorup, M., and Farias, L., 2002, “Dual Flow Well Technique for Produced Water Management,” paper SPE 78345 prepared for presentation at the SPE 13th European Petroleum Conference in Aberdeen, Scotland, UK, 29–31 October.
19.
Inikori, S. O., and Wojtanowicz, A. K., 2002, “New Concepts of Dual-Completion for Water Cresting Control and Improved Oil Recovery in Horizontal Wells,” paper SPE 77416 prepared for presentation at the SPE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition in San Antonio, TX, USA, 29 September–2 October.
20.
Marcano, L., and Wojtanowicz, A. K., 2002, “Dual Gas Lift Wells With Downhole Water Sink Completion,” paper 2002-238 prepared for presentation at the Petroleum Society’s Canadian International Petroleum Conference 2002, Calgary, Alberta, Canada, 11–13 June.
21.
Armenta, M., and Wojtanowicz, A. K., 2002, “Severity of Water Coning in Gas Wells,” paper SPE 75720 prepared for presentation at the SPE Gas Technology Symposium in Calgary, Canada, 30 April–2 May.
22.
Armenta, M., and Wojtanowicz, A. K., 2003, “Incremental Recovery Using Dual-Completed Wells in Gas Reservoirs with Bottom Water Drive: A Feasibility Study,” paper 2003-194 prepared for presentation at the Petroleum Society’s Canadian International Petroleum Conference 2003, Calgary, Alberta, Canada, 10–12 June.
23.
Armenta, M., and Wojtanowicz, A. K., 2004, “Operating Dual-Completed Well to Increase Gas Recovery in Low Productivity Gas Reservoirs With Water Production Problems,” paper 2004-172 prepared for presentation at the Petroleum Society’s Canadian International Petroleum Conference 2004, Calgary, Alberta, Canada, 8–10 June.
24.
Arslan, O., Wojtanowicz, A. K., White, C. D., and Kumar, A., 2004, “Early Production and Bypassed Oil in Edge Water Drive Reservoirs,” paper 2004-269 prepared for presentation at the Petroleum Society’s Canadian International Petroleum Conference 2004, Calgary, Alberta, Canada, 8–10 June.
25.
Kimbrell, C. W., and Wojtanowicz, A. K., 2004, “Identifying Potential in Inactive Wells with Innovative Technology,” paper 2004-271 prepared for presentation at the Petroleum Society’s Canadian International Petroleum Conference 2004, Calgary, Alberta, Canada, 8–10 June.
Copyright © 2005
 by ASME
You do not currently have access to this content.