Field and laboratory support for the co-production of gas and water program. Annual report, March 1988-March 1989

The water-drive N.E. Hitchcock Frio A reservoir was produced as a conventional gas reservoir from 1958 through 1982. By 1983, the reservoir production strategy shifted to co-production, wherein emphasis is placed on producing large volumes of brine and associated gas. Well completions are designed to maximize total production of fluids, including brine, from the reservoir. The objective of co-production is to decrease the reservoir pressure substantially below the minimum achieved during primary production, and thereby mobilize gas previously trapped by inhibition during primary recovery. The surface equipment and operating procedures used for the separation and recovery of hydrocarbons, and for handling brine in an economical and environmentally acceptable manner, are described. The production and disposal well completions are described. Chemical and physical analyses on reservoir material and on produced fluids, which formed the basis for the design of the surface facilities, are presented. Analyses pertaining to the economic lifetime of the reservoir -- including analyses to monitor corrosion rates, to identify factors which degrade salt water disposal well injectivity, and to determine whether there is additional brine influx due to shale de-watering -- are also presented.