Water Production Problem in Oilfields

Water production has been introduced as a severe and complicated issue in oil industry over the last two decades, and its' control has always been one of the most critical challenges in the oil fields. During the production life of oil wells, water is produced from the producer well due to the encroachment of water from aquifer or injected water in the reservoir, and sometimes the volume of water produced is much higher than the volume of oil produced. However, water can play an important role in maintaining reservoir pressure; it needs to be shut off when its' percentage reaches uneconomical limits. Excessive water production in oil fields results in a restriction of oil production and creates several production problems, including high lifting cost, producing corrosion and scale in production facilities and even sand production. In addition, high costs are incurred to separate, treat and dispose of the produced water. Produced water also contains organic and inorganic minerals which have a substantial negative impact on the environment.