Two-Stage Geothermal Well Clustering for Oil-to-Water Conversion on Mature Oil Fields

Abstract

There are numerous oil fields that are approaching the end of their lifetime and that have great geothermal potential considering temperature and water cut. On the other hand, the oil industry is facing challenges due to increasingly stringent environmental regulations. An example of this is the case of France where oil extraction will be forbidden starting from the year 2035. Therefore, some oil companies are considering switching from the oil business to investing in geothermal projects conducted on existing oil wells. The proposed methodology and developed conversions present the evaluation of existing geothermal potentials for each oil field in terms of water temperature and flow rate. An additional important aspect is also the spatial distribution of existing oil wells related to the specific oil field. This paper proposes a two-stage clustering approach for grouping similar wells in terms of their temperature properties. Once grouped on a temperature basis, these clusters should be clustered once more with respect to their spatial arrangement in order to optimize the location of production facilities. The outputs regarding production quantities and economic and environmental aspects will provide insight into the optimal scenario for oil-to-water conversion. The scenarios differ in terms of produced energy and technology used. A case study has been developed where the comparison of overall fields and clustered fields is shown, together with the formed scenarios that can further determine the possible conversion of petroleum assets to a geothermal assets.

Keywords

• geothermal
• conversion
• clustering
• upscaling
• heat
• electricity