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Short circuit
A short circuit occurs when an oil production well sees a sharp drop in oil rate due to a fracture from a water injector.
It is also known as non-conformance, conformance issue, or induced fracture.
It is undesired in petroleum fields because it creates inefficient oil sweep, cycles water, and leads to oil production and oil reserves losses.
Short circuits usually have some or all of the following characteristics:
(1) Sharp drop in oil production well rate.
(2) Sharp increase in water cut.
(3) Sharp drop in oil production well bottom hole temperature (BHT) due to cooler water from the water injector.
(4) Sharp drop in produced water salinity (total dissolved solids, ppm or mg/litre).
(5) Sharp drop in water injector bottom hole pressure (BHP) and tubing head pressure (THP).
Remediation options:
- Shut in water injector or reduce water injection rate.
- Water injector chemical water shut off
- Water injector mechanical water shut off
- Water injector abandonment and re-drill