Reservoir Engineering
Wormholes grow in the reservoir as a result of progressive cavity pumps being implemented to pump oil, gas, water and sand out of the reservoir. This growth is modeled using a sand pack at the Alberta Research Council (Figure 14). Geomechanical simulation is also capable of predicting the porosity patterns encountered in cold production (Figure 15).
Reservoir simulations show the effect of ten years of cold production on porosity maps. Initial state (Figure 16) is converted to porosity map after ten years of production (Figure 17).
Due to pressure drops in heavy oil reservoirs during production, pressure falls below the bubble point and gas comes out of the solution and creates foamy oil.
Foamy oil drive is a form of solution gas drive mechanism. Laboratory experiments show that depletion rate influences the cumulative oil production (Figure 18).