Modeling and optimizing oil and gas production and gathering systems: Cerro Fortunoso field case

Cerro Fortunoso field produces a heavy and viscous oil and a separator gas which contains 95% of CO2. In 1996 a decision was made to reinject the gas to maintain pressure and prevent environmental damage. A technical team use d a network simulator to model both the current oil gathering and the futur e gas reinjection systems. A parallel study was conducted to analyze the ef fect of non-Newtonian performance on predicted pressure drop. Although devi ation was found to be slight, the non-Newtonian effect should be properly i ncluded in design calculations. Besides, as the gas will be reinjected near its critical point, thermodynamics becomes extremely important.