Assessment of the downhole heater system applied in Huyapari field at the Orinoco Belt – Venezuela

Assessment of the downhole heater system applied in Huyapari field at the Orinoco Belt – Venezuela by Dulcemaria Carolina Cabrera Montes, Eglier Yanez
English | 2022 | ISBN: N/A | ASIN: B0BLXXYXWD | 85 pages | EPUB | 2.40 Mb
The certification of billions of reserves of heavy and extra heavy oil during the last 3 years, has positioned Venezuela as the country with the highest volume of proven crude oil reserves in the world. The development of these reserves, in an efficient way, has become a challenge for PDVSA and the joint ventures operating in the Orinoco Belt, who are researching and trying the best production technologies in the world to accomplish their production objectives successfully.

Downhole heater systems – using electric cable – is an emerging technology which has been applied to maintain adequate conditions of flow while producing oil in extreme conditions of temperature and more recently in HO and EHO wells, by reducing the viscosity of the oil in the well and near wellbore, enhancing its productivity. The first DHH systems, in horizontal wells, were installed in Huyapari field in the OB, where two wells were converted into this technology.
The results obtained in the productivity of the wells were notorious and increases in the oil production rate of up to 20 % were obtained. A rise in the temperature profile of up to 60°F, along the horizontal section of the well, caused the reduction of the oil viscosity, leading to a reduction in the pressure losses in this section due to friction. All these factors helped to increase in the intake pressure at the progressive cavity pump (PCP) of up to 17% and reduce the torque in 50% in one of the cases. Operational practices observed in a neighbour field, where this technology was applied in 2010, helped to identify factors to be optimised in Huyapari field and recommendations were mad.
The economic evaluation yielded positive indicators for the application of this technology, and showed the impact of the investment and oil production rate, in this assessment.