Abstract
An engineering feasibility study has been conducted on a major oil field operated by Waha Oil Company to determine the feasibility of applying downhole oil-water separation technology (DHOWS) and to rank the candidate wells within this field on the basis of their suitability for a DHOWS installation. With the current depletion strategy (or any future developments), the nature of the GE reservoir is such that the remaining oil reserves will have to be produced at high and constantly increasing watercuts. Downhole separation and disposal of produced water present a material opportunity to improve the current and future field performance. A screening template was developed to review the reservoir and well characteristics in more detail and to identify a list of candidate wells for the possible implementation of DHOWS technology. Several operational risks and concerns that exist in respect of the candidate wells were identified. Eighteen wells out of twenty-four wells demonstrated favorable reservoir and well characteristics and met the initial DHOWS screening criteria. The screening template may be used to evaluate other fields for potential conventional DHOWS applications. A preliminary design of a DHOWS application for three wells is presented in this paper.