SOCAR plans to increase water injection at Azerbaijan's Gunashli field over 3 years to boost oil production

BAKU. Dec 3 (Interfax) - The State Oil Company of the Azerbaijani Republic (SOCAR) is planning to increase oil reservoir recovery at the shallow-water section of the Gunashli field by increasing water injection volumes over the next three years.

Effective development of the Gunashli field largely depends on water flooding, as this process helps maintain high reservoir pressure and oil recovery rates over an extended period, SOCAR said.

"Currently, the replacement rate of extracted oil with injected water in the field's productive horizons ranges from 8% to 35%, whereas the target level is around 100%. The insufficient volume of injected water leads to a drop in pressure of approximately 50%, which complicates efficient field operation. Over the next three years, we aim to achieve a 50% replacement rate through water injection, which will boost overall oil production and prevent a decline in pressure," the company said.

Achieving this goal will require precise information about the field, in-depth technical analysis, drilling high-capacity water injection wells, installing surface equipment and constructing pipelines, SOCAR said. Currently, reservoir studies are being conducted based on a model for forecasting the conversion of wells into the injection system.

Previously, water flooding was carried out using one pump from a single offshore platform through eight wells with a daily capacity of 3,500 cubic meters. Thanks to the installation of additional pumps on three platforms as part of the new project, total injection capacity has increased to 17,000 cubic meters per day. "Daily oil production at the field has already risen by 200 tonnes. Additionally, 27 wells have been selected for conversion to the injection system," SOCAR said.

Gunashli is one of Azerbaijan's largest oil fields. It was discovered in the 1980s. More than 200 wells are currently in operation there. The development of the shallow-water section of Gunashli is managed by the 28 May Oil and Gas Production Department of the Azneft Production Association.