Thermal effect on the compression coefficient of heavy oil reservoir rocks

• Main Authors: Zhang Chao, Yan Chuanliang, Liu Yuwen, Li Yang, Cheng Yuanfang, Tian Ji
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: The Royal Society 2018-01-01
• Series: Royal Society Open Science
• Subjects: temperature; compression coefficient; porosity; heavy oil reservoir
• Online Access: https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/pdf/10.1098/rsos.180534

The ever-decreasing oil resources receive more and more attention for the exploration and development of heavy oil reservoirs. Owing to the high viscosity and poor fluidity of heavy oil, it is necessary to use the method of injecting high-temperature fluid in the development process. But, this will cause a significant increase in the temperature in oil reservoir, and thus the compression coefficient of reservoir rock has a greater impact. The compression coefficient of heavy oil reservoirs at different temperatures was tested. The results show that the compression coefficient of rock is closely related to the nature of rock itself and its stress and temperature environment: the compression coefficient increases with the increase in rock porosity; the compression coefficient decreases with the increase in the effective confining pressure and increases with the increase in temperature. When the temperature is low, the increase in the compression coefficient is larger. As the temperature increases, the increase in the compression coefficient tends to decrease gradually. Because the temperature of the reservoir is higher than that of the ground, the influence of the temperature on the reservoir compression coefficient should be taken into account when carrying out the production forecast.