Invasion Characteristics of Marginal Water under the Control of High-Permeability Zones and Its Influence on the Development of Vertical Heterogeneous Gas Reservoirs

Abstract

In-depth understanding of the gas–water seepage law caused by different degrees of gas layer perforation and varying gas production rates is key to determining a reasonable development technology policy for vertical heterogeneous edge-water gas reservoirs. Based on core physical data from the entire section of the X2 well, a large-scale high-pressure positive-rhythm profile model that takes into account the influence of “discontinuous interlayer” was innovatively established. The water intrusion process of the gas layer profile under different gas production rates and degrees of gas layer perforation was simulated using an electrical resistivity scanning device. The experimental model has an area of 3000 cm2, with a maximum pressure of 70 MPa and a maximum temperature resistance of 150 °C. It includes 456 evenly distributed fluid saturation test points to accurately monitor the gas–water distribution, addressing the issues of small bearing pressure and insufficient saturation monitoring points found in other large-scale models. The experimental results show that, in heterogeneous reservoirs, the high-permeability zone controls the invasion path of edge water, which is the main reason for the uneven invasion of edge water. For the positive-rhythm profile of the F layer, a higher gas production rate (1000 mL/min) shortens the water-free gas recovery period of the gas well and reduces the recovery rate. Perforating the upper two-thirds of the layer can inhibit edge-water breakthrough, prolong the water-free gas recovery period of the gas well, enable the gas–water interface to advance more uniformly, and enhance the recovery degree. The results of this study greatly enhance our understanding of the water invasion characteristics of positive-rhythm reservoirs under the influence of different gas production rates and varying degrees of gas layer perforation.

Keywords

• edge-water gas reservoir
• water invasion dynamics
• high-pressure profile model
• high-permeability zone
• heterogeneity
• perforation degree of gas layer