Integrated Study on Carbon Dioxide Geological Sequestration and Gas Injection Huff-n-Puff to Enhance Shale Oil Recovery

Abstract

Multi-stage fractured horizontal well technology is an effective development method for unconventional reservoirs; however, shale oil reservoirs with ultra-low permeability and micro/nanopore sizes are still not ideal for production and development. Injecting CO2 into the reservoir, after hydraulic fracturing, gas injection flooding often produces a gas channeling phenomenon, which affects the production of shale oil. In comparison, CO2 huff-n-puff development has become a superior method in the development of multi-stage fractured horizontal wells in shale reservoirs. CO2 huff and injection can not only improve shale oil recovery but also store the CO2 generated in industrial production in shale reservoirs, which can reduce greenhouse gas emissions to a certain extent and achieve carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS). In this paper, the critical temperature and critical parameters of fluid in shale reservoirs are corrected by the critical point correction method in this paper, and the influence of reservoir pore radius on fluid phase behavior and shale oil production is analyzed. According to the shale reservoir applied in isolation to the actual state of the reservoir and under the condition of a complex network structure, we described the seepage characteristics of shale oil and gas and CO2 in the reservoir by embedding a discrete fracture technology structure and fracture network, and we established the numerical model of the CO2 huff-n-huff development of multi-stage fractured horizontal wells for shale oil. We used the actual production data of the field for historical fitting to verify the validity of the model. On this basis, CO2 huff-n-puff development under different gas injection rates, huff-n-puff cycles, soaking times, and other factors was simulated; cumulative oil production and CO2 storage were compared; and the influence of each factor on development and storage was analyzed, which provided theoretical basis and specific ideas for the optimization of oilfield development modes and the study of CO2 storage.

Keywords

• multi-stage fractured horizontal well
• CO₂ huff-n-puff
• shale oil
• embedding discrete fracture