Technological Advancements and Research Directions for Oil Reservoir Type Underground Gas Storage

doi:10.11885/j.issn.1674-5086.2025.12.14.02

Abstract

Abstract: Undersaturated oil reservoirs utilized for underground gas storage are devoid of primary gas caps and are characterized by multiphase fluid coexistence and compositional exchange. Currently, they encounter critical challenges, including an inadequate understanding of gas-liquid interactive displacement mechanisms and suboptimal precision in performance indicator design. By analyzing the special characteristics of gas-liquid interaction flooding and fluid properties periodic changes in oil reservoir type UGS, key theoretical and technical challenges have been proposed. Recent key developments have been summarized, and future research directions have been proposed. Research has shown that oil reservoir type UGS faces key scientific issues, such as the expansion mechanism of under gas-liquid interactive displacement and the interphase mass transfer mechanism, as well as technical issues such as secondary gas cap formation and control, index design, and efficient liquid discharge expansion. Special site selection indicators such as water drive efficiency and sweep efficiency have been proposed in oil reservoir type UGS. Simulation experiments reveal that the interactive displacement efficiency of fluid and oil has increased by 10.3 and 12.5 percentage points respectively compared to single gas displacement. Considering the factor of phase mass transfer, the effective storage capacity increases by 17.8%. In the future, oil reservoir type UGS will deepen theoretical and technological research on mechanism of space utilization and phase interaction, UGS construction parameter design, and secondary gas cap formation and control. The research results provide important basis for scientifically guiding the UGS design, achieving peak shaving capacity, and improving the oil recovery.

Key words: oil reservoir, underground gas storage, space utilization, interphase mass transfer, secondary gas cap, displacement fluid efficiency

CLC Number:

TE822

YU Chenglin, LIU Wei, SHANG Lin, ZHENG Jiapeng, GAO Guangliang, HE Haiyan, LI Chun. Technological Advancements and Research Directions for Oil Reservoir Type Underground Gas Storage[J]. Journal of Southwest Petroleum University(Science & Technology Edition), 2026, 48(4): 1-10.

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