Systems and methods for conformance control of a wellbore

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12428913-B1
Application number	US-202418616716-A
Country	US
Kind code	B1
Filing date	Mar 26, 2024
Priority date	Mar 26, 2024
Publication date	Sep 30, 2025
Grant date	Sep 30, 2025

Abstract

A conformance control method includes identifying a target location of a wellbore formed from a terranean surface to two subterranean formations that include a high permeability formation having a first permeability and a low permeability formation having a second permeability that is equal or less than one-third of the first permeability. The method includes forming a first plurality of tunnels in the high permeability formation from the wellbore; injecting, into the high permeability formation and the low permeability formation, a chemical fluid from the wellbore through the first plurality of tunnels; expanding a sweep area of the injected chemical fluid by injecting the chemical fluid into the high permeability formation through the first plurality of tunnels; forming a second plurality of tunnels in the low permeability formation from the wellbore; and increasing a contact area of an injection fluid in the low permeability formation with the second plurality of tunnels.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A conformance control method, comprising:
identifying a target location of a wellbore formed from a terranean surface to at least two subterranean formations, the at least two subterranean formations comprising a high permeability formation having a first permeability and a low permeability formation having a second permeability that is equal or less than one-third of the first permeability;
forming, with a radial jet drilling assembly, a first plurality of tunnels in the high permeability formation from the wellbore;
injecting, into the high permeability formation, a chemical fluid from the wellbore through the first plurality of tunnels;
expanding a sweep area of the injected chemical fluid by injecting the chemical fluid into the high permeability formation through the first plurality of tunnels;
forming, with the radial jet drilling assembly, a second plurality of tunnels in the low permeability formation from the wellbore subsequent to injecting the chemical fluid from the wellbore, through the first plurality of tunnels, and into the high permeability formation; and
increasing a contact area of an injection fluid in the low permeability formation with the second plurality of tunnels.

2. The conformance control method of claim 1 , wherein each of the first plurality of tunnels is 1-2 inches in diameter and between 100 and 700 feet in length from the wellbore, and each of the second plurality of tunnels is 1-2 inches in diameter and between 100 and 700 feet in length from the wellbore.

3. The conformance control method of claim 1 , wherein the chemical fluid comprises a gel.

4. The conformance control method of claim 3 , wherein the chemical fluid comprises swellable particles.

5. The conformance control method of claim 1 , comprising logging the wellbore.

6. The conformance control method of claim 5 , comprising identifying the target location based at least in part on a log of the wellbore generated by the logging.

7. The conformance control method of claim 1 , comprising injecting the injection fluid into the wellbore subsequent to forming the second plurality of tunnels in the low permeability formation.

8. The conformance control method of claim 1 , wherein the first plurality of tunnels comprises between 2 and 8 tunnels, and the second plurality of tunnels comprises between 2 and 8 tunnels.

9. The conformance control method of claim 1 , wherein a volume of the injected chemical fluid comprises between 0.02 and 0.10 pore volume of the high permeability formation.

10. The conformance control method of claim 1 , comprising isolating, with a temporary zonal isolation device, the low permeability formation from the wellbore prior to injecting the chemical fluid from the wellbore through the first plurality of tunnels.

11. A well system, comprising:
a wellbore formed from a terranean surface to a target location comprising at least two subterranean formations, the at least two subterranean formations comprising a high permeability formation having a first permeability and a low permeability formation having a second permeability that is equal or less than one-third of the first permeability;
a radial jet drilling assembly configured to perform operations comprising:
forming a first plurality of tunnels in the high permeability formation from the wellbore; and
subsequent to an injection of a chemical fluid into the high permeability formation from the first plurality of tunnels, forming a second plurality of tunnels in the low permeability formation from the wellbore; and

a fluid injection system configured to inject the chemical fluid into the high permeability formation from the wellbore through the first plurality of tunnels, wherein
a sweep area of the injected chemical fluid is expanded by injecting the chemical fluid into the high permeability formation through the first plurality of tunnels, and
a contact area of an injection fluid is increased in the low permeability formation with the second plurality of tunnels.

12. The well system of claim 11 , wherein each of the first plurality of tunnels is 1-2 inches in diameter and between 100 and 700 feet in length from the wellbore, and each of the second plurality of tunnels is 1-2 inches in diameter and between 100 and 700 feet in length from the wellbore.

13. The well system of claim 11 , wherein the chemical fluid comprises a gel.

14. The well system of claim 13 , wherein the chemical fluid comprises swellable particles.

15. The well system of claim 11 , comprising a logging system configured to perform injection profile logging of the wellbore.

16. The well system of claim 15 , wherein the target location is identified based at least in part on a log of the wellbore generated by the logging system.

17. The well system of claim 11 , wherein the fluid injection system is configured to inject an injection fluid into the wellbore subsequent to the formation of the second plurality of tunnels in the low permeability formation.

18. The well system of claim 11 , wherein the first plurality of tunnels comprises between 2 and 8 tunnels, and the second plurality of tunnels comprises between 2 and 8 tunnels.

19. The well system of claim 11 , wherein a volume of the injected chemical fluid comprises between 0.02 and 0.10 pore volume of the high permeability formation.

20. The well system of claim 11 , comprising a temporary zonal isolation device positioned in the wellbore to fluidly isolate the low permeability formation from the wellbore prior to injection of the chemical fluid from the wellbore through the first plurality of tunnels.

Assignees

• Saudi Arabian Oil Co

Inventors

• Bu Xingang
• Alsofi Abdulkareem
• Huang Tianping
• Alotaibi Mohammed B

Classifications

• E21B43/305

  comprising at least one inclined or horizontal well · CPC title

• E21B43/16

  Enhanced recovery methods for obtaining hydrocarbons · CPC title

• E21B7/18 Primary

  Drilling by liquid or gas jets, with or without entrained pellets (E21B7/14 takes precedence) · CPC title

• E21B49/008 Primary

  by injection test; by analysing pressure variations in an injection or production test, e.g. for estimating the skin factor (measuring pressure E21B47/06) · CPC title