Water Injection (oil Production)

Water Injection (oil Production)

Water injection refers to the method in the oil industry where water is injected back into the reservoir, usually to increase pressure and thereby stimulate production. Water injection wells can be found both on- and offshore, to increase oil recovery from an existing reservoir. The first use of water injection to increase production from failing oil wells was in the states of New York and Pennsylvania in the early 1930s.

Water is injected (1) to support pressure of the reservoir (also known as voidage replacement), and (2) to sweep or displace oil from the reservoir, and push it towards a well.

Normally only 30% of the oil in a reservoir can be extracted, but water injection increases that percentage (known as the recovery factor) and maintains the production rate of a reservoir over a longer period.