Rare and Precious

Liu Shang smiled with complete confidence at the words of this veteran expert, Manager Zhong. "Manager Zhong, please, ask away."

"Actually, in order to prove as soon as possible that I'm worthy of this position, I rather hope your questions will be more difficult."

Hearing Liu Shang say that, the managers in the conference room—especially the younger and middle-aged ones—could not help showing mocking expressions and smiles.

What a joke. The Manager Zhong standing before him was a highly renowned veteran expert in the oil field, once one of the Eight Diamond Guardians famous throughout Fengcheng Oil Field.

Not to mention a freshman who had only just entered university—even they, with more than a decade of experience, would not dare claim to have Manager Zhong's questions completely covered.

"Haha, kid, you really do have a bit of the bearing I had in my youth."

"Very well. As you wish, I'll ask you some difficult questions concerning practical field applications."

"Liu Shang, you just said that water-injection well profile control technology involves injecting various types of plugging agents underground to adjust a water well's injection profile."

"However, in the current academic field, there are roughly two schools of thought regarding the adjustment of water-injection well profiles."

"The first is the approach supported by Professor Xu: using chemical methods to adjust the injection profile of water-injection wells."

"The second is the approach taken by people like us who work in engineering processes. We mainly adjust injection profiles through water-injection techniques and water-distribution techniques."

"I wonder what you think?"

Without a moment of thought or hesitation, Liu Shang replied with certainty, "Manager Zhong, as I said before, the root of the problem is that during long-term waterflood development, water-channeling pathways and highly water-absorbing zones form, greatly reducing waterflooding efficiency and leading to a series of subsequent problems."

"In theory, layered water injection and the use of water distributors to artificially control the injection volume of each layer can produce a certain effect."

"However, this method treats the symptoms rather than the root cause. At best, it alleviates the contradiction, and its effect is extremely limited."

"For example, we currently mostly use two-stage or three-stage water injection. Even if we artificially alter the injection volume of a single layer, once the injected water enters the formation, water-channeling pathways will still exist."

"Mechanical methods simply cannot resolve the underlying contradictions within the reservoir."

"Not to mention that mechanical zonal injection also has many disruptive factors and difficulties, such as tool failures and unclear layer isolation."

"Therefore, I believe chemical profile control technology is the mainstream direction for future development."

As Liu Shang answered the question, Professor Xu Tiande's eyes grew brighter and brighter. He had not expected this child to truly give him such a surprise today.

Manager Zhong, who came from the engineering department, did not become angry because Liu Shang had overturned the judgment of their group of engineers. Instead, like Xu Tiande, the more he looked at Liu Shang, the more pleasing he found him.

Clearly, he had long recognized the crux of the issue in his heart, and his view was consistent with what Liu Shang had expressed.

For veteran experts like them, who had already retired and achieved both success and fame, their greatest pleasure at this stage was recognizing talent.

They also hoped to find a qualified disciple to inherit their legacy.

The company's younger and middle-aged faction, however, could not help snorting coldly after hearing Liu Shang's answer.

Though Liu Shang had answered well, it was still merely armchair theorizing—just fancy talk from a theorist.

At this moment, Liu Shang had clearly piqued Manager Zhong's immense interest.

"Good, good, good, Liu Shang. Your answer was good."

"Indeed, when it comes to solving the problem, chemical profile control technology is an effective technical measure."

"For a mere freshman to possess such understanding and insight, I'll give you four words: rare and precious."

"According to the original plan, we were prepared to discuss a technical issue today. That is, if profile control is carried out on a water-injection well, the downhole mechanical water distributor must first be removed."

"But after the profile control measures are completed, is it necessary to lower the water distributor back down again?"

"You must understand that lowering it again would increase construction costs, could affect the results of the profile control measures, and might even create a series of subsequent risks."

In fact, Huahai Company's technical team had discussed this issue many times and reached a consensus: after the profile control measures were carried out, there was no need to reinstall the water distributor.

Even Xu Tiande and Manager Zhong shared that view.

Yet, to everyone's surprise, Liu Shang once again gave his answer directly without any thought or hesitation.

"Manager Zhong, there's no need to even think about it. After the profile control measures are carried out, it is absolutely necessary to reinstall the water distributor."

The moment they heard Liu Shang's answer, the younger and middle-aged faction in the conference room shared knowing smiles, mocking him inwardly. Heh, this inexperienced kid is still too green!

Even Professor Xu and Manager Zhong had unanimously concluded otherwise, yet he actually said it was necessary with such certainty?

Could it be that two veteran experts of their caliber, plus all of them, were inferior to a freshman?

It was not just them. After Liu Shang gave such a definite answer, Xu Tiande and Manager Zhong both turned solemn and looked up at him.

"Oh? Liu Shang, since you're so certain, tell us your reasoning."

Liu Shang nodded, then looked at Xu Tiande. "Professor Xu, may I ask what our company's current profile-control plugging agent system is primarily based on?"

Xu Tiande replied, "Huahai's current plugging agent system mainly uses polyacrylamide gel combined with physical plugging expansion particles."

"Then, Professor Xu, what molecular weight polymer does our company currently use, and what type of crosslinking agent is the primary component?"

Hearing Liu Shang's question, Xu Tiande and Manager Zhong were visibly taken aback. They had not expected this child to truly know his stuff.

Ordinary non-specialists would never even think to ask such a question.

Still stunned, Xu Tiande answered honestly, "The polymer used by our company has a molecular weight of around eight million, while the crosslinking agent is primarily metal ions."

Liu Shang nodded. "Professor Xu, if I'm not mistaken, the stability period of this polymer gel system in the laboratory would not exceed a year and a half."

"And in actual underground conditions, considering temperature, mineralization, formation sensitivity, as well as oil contamination and impurities in subsequently injected water, its effectiveness would not last more than half a year—perhaps even less."

"And the possibility of a single water-injection well undergoing profile control measures twice in succession is minuscule. So clearly, in order to ensure the effectiveness of the measures, reinstalling the water distributor is necessary."