Low Temperature Geothermal Resources at Huabei Oilfield, China

Abstract

Water cut in many mature oil and gas fields is very high, up to 97%. The produced water is usually considered a nuisance to oil and gas producers because it is required to dispose or re-inject the water into reservoirs. This process costs a lot and reduces the net profit value of the oil and gas producers. In many of the high water cut oil and gas reservoirs, the temperature of the produced water is over 100oC, high enough to generate electricity using modern power generation technology. Electricity generation from the produced water will give new life to low yield oil and gas producers because of high water cut. In this paper, feasibility of generating electricity using the hot fluids (oil, gas, and water) produced from Renqiu oil reservoir at Huabei oil field, China was investigated. The current daily production of water from Renqiu oil reservoir is about 18000 m3 with a temperature of over 100oC. The estimated gross electrical power potential is about 4 MW and may be enhanced to 110 MW by increasing the production of water. A pilot binary power plant of 300 KW was proposed. The pay back time is about 5 years.