Establishment of an initial water production evaluation chart for the gas province in the East China Sea

Abstract In order to reveal the reasons for the differences in initial water production characteristics of gas wells in different regions of the East China Sea Basin and to screen favorable targets for low-permeability reservoir reconstruction, a calculation method of initial production water–gas ratios at different gas column heights was established by combining gas-water two-phase capillary pressure with J function definition, power function relative permeability model and fractional flow equation. Then based on the experimental data of standard capillary pressure and standard relative permeability in the gas province of the East China Sea, an evaluation chart on initial production water–gas ratio of the East China Sea at different gas column heights was calculated and established. Finally, the evaluation chart was validated by using the data of the tested or commissioned gas wells in the gas reservoirs of the East China Sea, and the physical property conditions suitable for reservoir reconstruction of low-permeability gas reservoirs in the East China Sea were determined according to the evaluation chart. The following research results were obtained. First, the evaluation chart established in this paper reflects that the correlation between the parameters is similar to the actual production law and matches well with the actual data, which verifies the correctness and reliability of the chart establishment method and the key parameter calculation method. Second, with the production water–gas ratio less than 1 m3/104 m3 as the screening condition, for the permeability of the low-permeability gas reservoirs (with gas column height of about 50 m) in the west sub-sag, the central uplift belt and the periphery suitable for reservoir reconstruction shall be greater than 0.65 mD, and that of the large low-permeability gas reservoirs (with a gas column height of more than 100 m) in the north of central uplift belt shall be greater than 0.26 mD. Third, there is no gas–water contact in gas reservoirs under the hydrocarbon accumulation conditions of in-situ reservoirs, so the method and the evaluation chart proposed in this paper are not applicable. It is concluded that the method of establishing the initial water production evaluation chart and the method of calculating the key parameters proposed in this paper can provide meaningful reference for the development and evaluation of other gas fields in China.