Effects of Asphaltene Deposition on Oil Reservoir Characteristics Including Two-phase Flow

Prediction of the effects of asphaltene deposition on oil reservoir parameters during water flooding was investigated in two scenarios of oil production wells with controlled oil rate and controlled bottomhole flow pressure of the producer well. The effects of asphaltene deposition on average reservoir pressure, cumulative oil production, and water breakthrough in the first scenario were predicted. Then the effects of asphaltene deposition on average reservoir pressure, bottomhole pressure in the oil production well, and water breakthrough in the second scenario were assessed. The network model results were incorporated into a three-dimensional, three-phase black oil simulator, BOAST, from the US Department of Energy. The asphaltene deposition effect on oil reservoir performance was evaluated using reported experimental data including oil and water relative permeability and the calculated network modeling results including capillary pressure during imbibition. The experimental data were related to the actual conditions of reservoir fluids, and flow through actual carbonate cores under similar reservoir conditions of temperature and pressure. Three different asphaltene contents of crude oil from the UAE were investigated.