Abstract
Pressure-driven water injection technology shows significant potential in addressing the key challenges of low-permeability oil reservoirs, improving water flooding development efficiency. Grounded in FDEM theory, this study establishes fluid matrix constitutive equations and employs FDEM to resolve rock stress−strain fields. A numerical simulation method for pressure-driven water injection in low-permeability reservoirs is developed to study the impact of different well pattern densities. The results indicate that the 90° horizontal well pattern using the five-spot method yields optimal outcomes, with approximately 32.32% higher cumulative liquid production than vertical well patterns. The 45° horizontal well pattern with the reversed nine-spot method also performs well, with about 30% higher cumulative liquid production than single-row vertical wells. Pressure-driven water injection improves matrix oil−water permeability and expands water flooding coverage. Based on the pressure gradient distribution driven by different well patterns, an evaluation method for the inter-well utilization capacity and its effectiveness was established. This method quantitatively assesses the reservoir depletion under various horizontal well encryption schemes. For research on timing of water injection in pressure-driven water flooding. Compared to pressure-driven water injection after 90 days, there is increased cumulative oil production after 40 days, emphasizing the importance of early pressure maintenance for higher cumulative oil production and enhanced recovery rates in low-permeability reservoir development. These findings provide crucial theoretical and practical support.