Some Aspects of the Potential Application
of Surfactants or CO2 as EOR Processes
in North Sea Reservoirs
F. John Fayers, U.K. Atomic Energy Authority
R.1. Hawes, U.K. Atomic Energy Authority
J.D. Mathews, U.K. Atomic Energy Authority
Summary
This paper reviews some aspects of the quantitative
assessment of two types of enhanced oil recovery
(EOR) processes and their potential application to
North Sea reservoirs. Calculations are described that
were undertaken for a simplified conceptual reservoir
model with properties akin to those of the Forties
field. Possible initial conditions for EOR operation
resulting from various stages of waterflooding are
evaluated. The results of EOR assessment
calculations using advanced three-dimensional
chemical flood and compositional simulators are
presented, for both a low-tension aqueous surfactant
process and for CO 2 displacement in association
with a chase water drive.
Introduction
Development of oil reservoirs in the North Sea is now
approaching the stage when the production rate is
equal to the annual consumption of about 80
MMtons within the U.K. There are 26 fields where
production is already occurring or development is in
progress. The locations of the principal fields are
illustrated in Fig. 1. From the outset it was
recognized that secondary recovery should be
initiated in the early stages of primary production.
This is exemplified by the introduction of water
injection in most fields and gas reinjection in some
fields as part of the current development plans. Using
these methods, the overall oil recovery is expected to
be at least 1,400 MMtons, equivalent to 18 years'
consumption. The U.K. Dept. of Energy estimates 1
that the possible recoverable reserves from these
fields may be as high as 2,600 MMtons. The
remaining unrecovered oil in place after conventional
depletion is expected to be about 60070 of the original
0149-213618110009-9976$00_25
Copyright 1981 Society of Petroleum Engineers of AIME
SEPTEMBER 1981
(i.e., between 2,100 and 3,900 MMtons), which
represents a very substantial target for EOR. If the
development of a successful EOR process allowed
recovery of 10% or more of the residual oil after
waterflooding, the U.K.'s period of self-sufficiency
would be extended by several years, with substantial
benefit to the probable shortfall in the U.K. energy
position in the late 1990's.
The U.K. Dept. of Energy has funded an initial
study program to determine the research and
development in EOR that would be needed for the
particular conditions of North Sea reservoirs. This
program was intended to (1) investigate the ap-
plicability of those EOR processes seen as having the
best potential and (2) undertake calculations aimed at
evaluating the process technology. The ability to
predict EOR performance under real reservoir
conditions was considered a key issue. The studies
have been undertaken at AEE Winfrith with three
teams respectively concerned with the design of high-
pressure displacement experiments in long cores,
evaluation of mathematical modeling techniques,
and quantitative assessment of EOR displacement
under various conceptual reservoir conditions. In
addition to this conceptual study, a number of more
basic research projects have begun at several
universities, and the petroleum companies in the
U.K. have been encouraged to increase their EOR
programs in a collaborative manner.
This paper highlights some aspects of the
assessment studies undertaken at Winfrith and draws
attention to some of the features of the supply of
EO R materials.
Characteristic Features of
North Sea Reservoirs
North Sea reservoirs have a number of characteristics
that make them different from most American land
1617
 TABLE 1 - CHARACTERISTICS OF MAJOR NORTH SEA RESERVOIRS

Forties Brent Ninian Piper Thistle

---
Reserves, MM tons 240 229 148.161 88 69
Data of peak production 1978 1984 1981 1979 1982
Distance from Firth of Forth, km 310 620 600 340 650
Mean porosity, % 27 23 20 25 25
Connate water saturation, % 23 25 20 18 23
Mean permeability, p'm 2 0.4 0.3 0.85 1.5 0.75
Initial pressure, bar 220 410 450 240 410
Temperature, °C 90 93 102 80 102
Saturation pressure, bar 75 -289 90 110 66
Oil density,' kg/m 3 750 570 790 750 760
Oil viscosity,' mPa·s 0.82 0.28 1.35 0.73 1.05
Formation volume factor, vol/vol 1.23 1.94 1.20 1.28 1.20
GaR, vollvol 60 -214 56 80 37
Oil column, m 150 60 44 80 120
Well spacing, km 2 0.5 0.4 1.3 0.8 0.4
Formation water salinity, ppm TDS 102,000 26,700 21,400 75,000 25,000
.. At reservoir conditions.

reservoirs when considering the application of EOR
techniques. In addition to the obvious differences
associated with operation on deepwater platforms in
stormy seas, there are some special reservoir
characteristics that influence the possible behavior of
enhanced recovery processes. Published reservoir
and fluid rroperties for some of the North Sea
reservoirs 2- ,* are shown in Table 1. Many of the
reservoirs are faulted and some also contain very
high-permeability layers, so that the waterflooding
sweep efficiency could be much lower than expected.
Indeed, fields such as the Forties, Thistle, and Piper
already are experiencing water breakthrough on
some wells, so that the applicability of EOR
techniques may well be a paramount question in less
than 10 years. The well spacings, typically 0.5 km 2 or
more, are large, but the high permeabilities and
thicknesses could mitigate the spacing problem to
some extent when considering the feasibility of an
EOR process. However, developing a sound
quantitative understanding of the principal
geological features and the fluid saturation
distributions in these reservoirs during their con-
ventional depletion will be a vital first step in
planning any EOR operation.
Table 1 shows that the temperatures in North Sea
fields are high, ranging from 80 to 120°C. In ad-
dition, most reservoirs contain high-salinity water
with some variations in the salinity level. For
example, the Forties field is known to have a strong
natural water influx containing 102,000 ppm total
dissolved solids (TDS), while sea water containing
35,000 ppm TDS also is being injected into the
reservoir. Petroleum sulfonate surfactants, which
have been used in most of the American surfactant-
flood field pilots performed to date, are unsuitable
for these conditions, although two-component
surfactants may be more suitable. 6 The successful
development of a surfactant flood for North Sea
application probably will depend on the iden-
tification of a suitable nonionic surfactant that can
withstand the conditions of salinity and temperature
and that could be manufactured at a low cost. There
'private communication, Chevron Petroleum (UK) Ltd. (1980).
1618
is some progress in the search for suitable sur-
factants, as exemplified by the work reported by
Murtada and Marx.7
The pressure in North Sea reservoirs is also high
compared with many U.S. land-based reservoirs,
ranging from 200 to 400 bar, while the oil viscosities
and densities are low. These factors should favor the
application of gas displacement processes, preferably
under miscible conditions. Possible contenders for
consideration in gas displacement are CO 2 , flue gas,
and tailored natural gases. Although miscible gas
displacement has some clear attractions, its principal
limitation is sweep efficiency under an unfavorable
mobility ratio, particularly if highly permeable layers
dominate the displacement pattern. Therefore,
careful evaluation of sweep capability of gas
processes will be needed.
The following sections describe progress in
quantitative calculations undertaken to identify some
of the principal characteristics and problems that
could arise in considering the feasibility of a sur-
factant process in one case, and a CO 2 gas process as
another alternative.
Reservoir Description and Conditions
After Waterflooding
Before undertaking EOR-process assessments, it is
first necessary to define an initial state for a model
reservoir that has been waterflooded. A simplified
three-dimensional reservoir description has been used
as the basis for these initial exploratory assessment
studies. More realistic reservoir models will be
needed in the future. The conceptual reservoir has
been given uniform properties broadly similar to
those found in the Charlie sand of the Forties field,
which is isolated from the basal aquifer.
A repeated five-spot pattern has been assumed in a
sandstone 100 m thick and with uniform porosity of
270/0 and permeability 400 md. The pattern has been
produced at a constant rate of 6000 m 3 /d with an
equal injection of water into each injector. The
assumed well separation between an injector and a
producer was a typical value of 700 m. The uniform
connate water saturation was 230/0 and the residual
oil saturation from waterflooding was 300/0. The
JOURNAL OF PETROLEUM TECHNOLOGY

Fig. 1 - Location of operating North Sea reservoirs.
relative-permeability curves derived by using the
Naar et al. approximation 8 are shown in Fig. 4.
Densities and viscosities of oil and water appropriate
to the Forties field have been used.
The assumption of homogeneity in the five-spot
pattern allows eightfold symmetry to be invoked in
the calculations, and it is convenient to adopt a
curvilinear mesh based on unit-mobility potential
flow. On this basis, a three-dimensional mesh with
four stream tubes, eight subdivisions along each
tube, and five equally spaced vertical layers was used
in the symmetry sector. The areal mesh arrangement
is illustrated in Fig. 2. This problem description was
set up using the Intercomp Chemical Flood Ternary
Equilibrium (CFTE) code. 9 This code, which is
specifically designed for surfactant/polymer
displacement studies as described in the next section,
also could be used conveniently for the initial water
displacement study. With the above rather coarse
level of mesh definition, it was not thought necessary
to include the marginal effects associated with use of
a capillary pressure curve, but the calculated
SEPTEMBER 1981
PRODUCER
FIGURES WITHOUT BRACKETS DENOTE
TOP LAYER SATURATIONS
FIGURES IN BRACKETS DENOTE
SECOND LAYER SATURATIONS
so
(.1O)
·31
(·301
tfJECTOR
Fig. 2 - Distribution of oil saturation at water cut of 50%.
o
<= 0 ~
"
Fig. 3 - Assumed residual oil saturation as a function of
capillary number.
distribution of water saturations resulting from this
model is expected to be reasonably typical of a
possible condition for an EOR operation.
Water breakthrough occurs at the producers after
1,800 days, with a recovery of 46070 of original oil in
place (OOIP). The water cut rises to 50% after 2,360
days and the asymptotic recovery is about 60%
OOIP. The oil saturation is close to residual
everywhere at this time. Thus, the water sweep ef-
ficiency is very good, when viewed in relation to the
residual oil saturation of 30%, which implies a
maximum recovery of 61070 [Le., 1 - Swc - Sor) /(1-
Swc)]. The high recovery suggests that application of
EOR methods after completion of water flood
production may be a difficult target; consequently,
an EOR operation at an earlier stage in the depletion
history may be preferable. Therefore, our studies on
EOR processes have included cases where the
water flood has reached various stages, including a
water cut of 50%. The distribution of water
saturation in the top two calculation layers at this
stage is shown in Fig. 2. The saturation distribution
1619

101r--------.----------------------------~
oa
0&
02
SATURATION
Fig. 4 - Assumed variation of relative permeability with
capillary number.
indicates that some underriding of oil by the water
phase is occurring, and unswept oil is confined
mainly to the two outer stream tubes close to the
production well in the top two layers. Residual oil
saturation is found everywhere in the bottom three
layers at this time.
Results From Preliminary Surfactant
Displacement Calculations
Choice of Surfactant Process and Basic Data
The combination of high salinity and high tem-
perature conditions in North Sea fields presents a
difficult challenge to the design of a suitable sur-
factant process. Two promising lines of research on
surfactants are the use of a two-component system
consisting of a petroleum sulfonate mixed with a
phosphate ester surfactant, 6 or the use of a nonionic
surfactant based on an ethoxylated fatty alcohol. 7
Not enough published data are available on these
new developments to allow quantitative assessment
studies of them at this stage. The calculations of the
previous section have indicated that good sweep
efficiencies are obtained from conventional
waterflooding; thus, the good mobility ratios in-
volved suggest that it would be desirable to design a
surfactant process that avoided development of a
highly viscous middle phase, thereby avoiding the
need to introduce a subsequent polymer drive. In-
deed, the salinity and temperature conditions
preclude use of polyacrylamides, and it is not clear
that polysaccharides would be effective in these
conditions. For these reasons, some researchers in
the U.K. have been concentrating on the feasibility of
finding a surfactant that would operate in a low-
concentration aqueous process. This would have the
advantages of easing the rate of supply of sur-
factants, as well as placing relatively light loading
1620
PRODUCER
FIGURES WITHOUT BRACKETS DENOTE TOP LA'fER
SAlURATIONS.
fIGURES I N BRACKETS DENOTE BOTTOM
lAYt R SATURATIONS
·30
(.301
INJECTOR
Fig. 5 - Distribution of oil saturation after injection of 0.41
PV of surfactant and chase water.
factors in storage requirements on North Sea plat-
forms. However, this approach runs contrary to the
proposed optimal design of a high-salinity micellar
process discussed by Hirasaki et al. 10
The assessment calculations reported here assume
the design of a low-concentration process with
surfactant primarily partitioned with the aqueous
phase (i.e., a "II-process,,)J1 in which the following
properties are achieved.
1. A critical micelle concentration (CMC) of 200
ppm.
2. A lo~arithmic reduction in surface tension from
30 to 10- dynes/ cm as the surfactant concentration
increases from zero to the CMC.
3. The relationship between interfacial tension
and surfactant concentration is independent of
salinity variations (possible with some nonionic
surfactants).
4. Adsorption is similar to that for a petroleum
sulfonate and is assumed to be linear with con-
centration up to the limit of 0.00125 volumes per unit
pore volume at the CMC (see, for example, Ref. 12).
Desorption is excluded.
5. The density and viscosity of the aqueous phase
are essentially unchanged by the presence of a low-
concentration surfactant.
The Intercomp CFTE code used in these
calculations has been described by Todd and Chase. 9
It is believed to be one of the most advanced models
available for three-dimensional surfactant/polymer
studies. A basic requirement of input data for this
model is the relationship between capillary number,
Nc = up-la, and residual oil saturation. The
relationship given by Gupta and Trushenski 13 for
petroleum sulfonates in Berea sandstone has been
used, which is illustrated in Fig. 3. This relation
indicates that a capillary number of 10 - 3 is required
JOURNAL OF PETROLEUM TECHNOLOGY
 CONTINUOUS
INJECTION
10
0&2 PV
SURFACTANT
z
o
~
o
~
0'" PV
SURFACTANT
~·L-~----~'0~00~------~'0700~----~~~OO~------~'OOO
n"'E - DAYS
Fig. 6 - Effect of injected surfactant volume on
recovery.
to reduce the residual oil saturation from 30 to 10070.
At low velocities in North Sea conditions (e.g., 0.05
mid), reference to the surface tension characteristic
in Assumption 2 indicates that Nc = 2.4 x 10 - 4
would be attained above the CMC, but at higher
velocities (e.g., 0.5 mid), Nc = 10 - 3 is achieved at a
surfactant concentration of 160 ppm. A relationship
between relative permeability and capillary number
also is required in the input to CFTE, and this has
been developed following the recommendations
described by Todd and Chase. The resulting curves
are shown in Fig. 4.
Calculations for a Watered-Out Reservoir
The results of the water flood calculations in the
previous section have shown that under North Sea
conditions, residual oil saturation is achieved almost
everywhere if very high water cuts are accepted.
Therefore, the first surfactant calculations have been
undertaken for an initial condition of constant
residual oil saturation of 30070, the intention being to
evaluate the attributes of various surfactant slug
sizes. The first assessment calculations were for a
three-dimensional representation of the five-spot
pattern using the same mesh arrangement used in the
water flood study indicated in Fig. 2. Some
preliminary studies using finer meshes confirmed
that this mesh definition is broadly adequate. A
surfactant slug injection at the rate of 6000 m 3 /d for
a period of 5 years (equivalent to 0.41 PV) at a
concentration of 1,000 ppm was regarded as the
reference case for this purpose, with a further in-
jection of chase water at the same rate until oil
production became negligible. The oil saturation
SEPTEMBER 1981
'0 ------ 500 PPlll
_ _ 1000 ppm
_ _ 2000 ppN
<00 10.,.
)0
20
SO,.
10
oil Fig. 7 - Effect of surfactant concentration on oil
production (constant total mass surfactant).
distribution at this time in the top and bottom layers
of the model is shown in Fig. 5. The surfactant has
swept successfully a portion of the bottom layer and
has recovered oil efficiently close to the injector
where the capillary number is large. The surfactant
has penetrated only about half of the bottom layer
because of the effects of adsorption. Although
surfactant hardly has entered the top layer, some
extra oil is recovered from this layer near the
producer through further waterflooding. The
calculation indicates that 840,000 tons of additional
oil have been recovered in 10 years as a result of
injection of 11,000 tons of surfactant over 5 years,
and that only 16.3070 of the water flood residual oil
has been recovered. One of the dominant factors
contributing to the limited recovery occurs because
the assumed surfactant properties are not giving high
enough capillary numbers in the low-velocity regions
remote from the wells.
To investigate the effects of varying the surfactant
slug size, a number of two-dimensional areal
calculations using the same stream-tube geometry
have been run. The two-dimensional case
corresponding to the above three-dimensional study
produced very similar results (mainly because the
surfactant does not sweep the complete reservoir),
and thus two-dimensional studies provide a useful
basis for comparisons. The effects of use of larger
slug sizes are illustrated in Fig. 6. Doubling the slug
size has doubled the oil recovery to 32070 after 16
years, with surfactant breakthrough imminent. The
maximum possible recovery of 52070 of the target oil
requires some 100 years of surfactant injection
because of the adverse mobility ratio that develops as
1621
surfactant reduces oil saturation.
The effects of varying concentration in the slug
also have been examined; it was assumed that a fixed
total of 11,000 tons of surfactant (i.e., corresponding
to the injection of 1,000 ppm at 6,000 m 3 / d for 5
years) would be used. Oil recoveries from injection of
concentrations of 500, 1,000, and 2,000 ppm for
appropriate durations are compared in Fig. 7. The
cumulative totals of oil produced are 16.4, 16.3, and
16.1070, respectively. However, the time scales for
producing the extra oil are shortest for the highest
concentration, and the water-cut performance is
considerably improved in this case.
Calculations for Earlier Injection of Surfactant
These cases have assumed that surfactant flooding
started after the field is fully waterflooded. However,
there may be attractions in initiating EOR at an
earlier stage in the production history. A series of
additional three-dimensional calculations was
performed in which the surfactant, again at 1,000
ppm for 5 years, was introduced at various stages in
the waterflood: (1) surfactant injection at the start of
reservoir life, (2) surfactant injection initiated when
water breakthrough first occurred, and (3) surfactant
injection started when the water cut reached 50%.
The results of these calculations, shown in Fig. 8,
show that the period of operation with essentially
zero oil production can be avoided by starting in-
jection before the reservoir becomes watered out. In
addition, the oil cut remains at a high level for longer
periods if the surfactant is introduced early in the
operation of the reservoir. This view of the problem
suggests that waterflooding and surfactant flooding
should be examined as a joint project and optimized
accordingly.
Implications of Preliminary Surfactant Studies
If, in the case of the Forties field, we assume that
about half the field area has porosity/permeability
characteristics suitable for an EOR operation, the
above results suggest that some 140,000 tons of
surfactant material would need to be injected into the
reservoir over a period of 5 years, at a concentration
of 1,000 ppm; this might recover some 10 MMtons of
extra oil over 10 Years. However, the oil production
rates predicted in Fig. 7 are low and time scales are
too long to infer economic viability for this
postulated low-concentration process. It would
appear that oil production rates could be improved
by considering a higher-concentration process. The
limitations of the present surfactant assessment
studies have indicated the need to obtain more
definitive data on surfactant properties that can
operate under North Sea conditions. Most of the
basic data we have deployed are tenuous. It would be
desirable to study a higher-concentration process
operating in the Upper Phase II + region 11 under
optimal salinity design as suggested by Hirasaki et
al. 1O Greater realism will be needed, such as in-
clusion of the effects of variation of salt and calcium
ion concentrations, as well as improved surfactant
adsorption and desorption characteristics. The CFTE
model and some planned further improvement for
1622
this code provide a good vehicle for any future
studies.
Results From Preliminary CO 2
Displacement Calculations
Prediction of Displacement Mechanism
The efficiency of oil displacement by CO 2 depends
on the type of displacement mechanism involved,
which can be first-contact miscible, multicontact
miscible, or immiscible, depending on oil com-
position, reservoir temperature, and pressure.
Achievement of miscibility appears to be desirable,
since this provides the possibility of 100%
displacement in the swept regions, but immiscible
displacement also can have advantages, as discussed
later. The first step in our investigation was to review
the likely position on miscibility of CO 2 in various
North Sea reservoirs. To accomplish this evaluation,
a computer code, VOLE, 14 based on an equation-of-
state approach, has been developed. The VOLE
program provides phase equilibria data for
multicomponent systems with hydrocarbons, CO 2 ,
and N 2' including the calculation of the critical-
point, dew-point, and bubble-point boundaries. The
code also can simulate a multistep process leading to
multicontact miscibility. The main option used in the
VOLE program has been the Peng-Robinson
equation of state in the form
RT a(T)
p= V-b - V( V+b) +b( V-b) , ......... (1)
where the parameters a and b depend on the critical
properties of components and the interaction
coefficients oij between the components.
The principal difficulty in using the equation-of-
state approach for real oils is the question of
choosing a limited number of pseudo components for
the higher fractions and assigning appropriate in-
teraction coefficients for these. Nevertheless, with
the appropriate choice of parameters for pseudo-
components, this approach can work quite well and
we have evaluated VOLE results 14 against a variety
of published experimental data. One example is the
data given by Besserer et al. 15 for the Kaybob gas
condensate reservoir in Alberta. Equilibrium K
values predicted by VOLE are compared with
measured values in Fig. 9.
The VOLE code has been used to predict
multicontact miscibility pressures for the reservoirs
listed in Table 1; these results also are compared in
Table 2 with predictions obtained using the recently
published correlation by Holm and 10sendal. 16 Fair
agreement is obtained between these two procedures.
CO 2 densities also are compared with oil densities at
the reservoir conditions in this table, from which it is
seen that both override and underride situations
could result from CO 2 displacement in North Sea
reservoirs. It will be necessary to confirm the
miscibility results by direct experiments with
reservoir oils in any future work.
Data Selection for Immiscible Calculations
The assessment calculations of CO 2 displacement
JOURNAL OF PETROLEUM TECHNOLOGY
 TABLE 2 - COMPARISONS OF CO 2 AND OIL PROPERTIES FOR MAJOR NORTH SEA RESERVOIRS

Forties Brent Ninian Piper Thistle

Reservoir temperature, °C 90 93 102 80 102
Initial reservoir pressure, bar 220 410 450 240 410
CO 2 MMp· from VOLE, 14 bar 220 350 250 200 240
CO 2 MMP from correlation, 16 bar 250 330 300 170 240
Oil density, kg/m 3 750 570 790 750 760
CO 2 density, kg/m 3 570 770 780 720 760
Oil viscosity, mPa· s 0.82 0.28 ,1.35 0.73 1.05
CO 2 viscosity, mPa·s 0.04 0.Q7 0.Q7 0.05 0.07
-Minimum miscibility pressure.

COMPLETE w~T!RFlOOD fO~LOWW 81 SVR'A(TANI

SLUG. 'litN (HASf wAH~

SURfACTANT IlUG INJICHO AT STA~T Of UF!

".!N (HAS! wAH~

SUR'''CTANT Ilue INJiCrm AT WAHR all! ....

TIIROUGH THfN CHASt WAHR

WR'''CTANI SluG INnClm A' 10 "I. WATER

(VI, III1N CHASE WATER

Fig. 8 - Effect of surfactant injection time on oil

production.

have been undertaken using the same simple repeated

five-spot model of the Forties reservoir that was
described earlier. Since the Forties field operating
pressure is below the initial value of 220 bar, it ap- DECANES
pears from Table 2 that CO 2 injection probably 10-2 UND£CANES
would operate in the immiscible range. The first step,
therefore, was to evaluate whether immiscible CO 2 ."
W
::>
displacement could provide an effective displacement ..I
«
mechanism. The calculations have been undertaken >
I

using the Intercomp Compositional Reservoir ~

Simulator (CRS). This is a multicomponent code for

three-phase flow that can operate in both immiscible
and miscible regimes, in one, two, or three dimen- - - CALCULATED
sions. The CRS capabilities have been reviewed by o MEASURED
Nolen. 17
Three-phase relative permeabilities have been
constructed for this study using water/oil data in Fig.
4, and gas/oil relative permeabilities based on the
Corey et al. model,18 with a residual oil saturation of
30%. Three-phase relative permeabilities are ob- 10_4~____________
C_18~+
____________~____~
tained automatically in the CRS model using Stone's 10 100 1000
unnormalized second method 19 in the form PR ESSURE (BAR)

kro (Sw,Sg) = [k rw (Sw) + k ro (Sw) ] [k rg (Sg)

Fig. 9 - Predicted K·values for Kaybob reservoir fluid using
VOLE program.
+k ro (Sg)]- [k rw (Sw)

+k rg (Sg)]' .............. (2)

A significant feature of the Stone approximation,
indicated in Fig. 10, is that the residual oil saturation
becomes larger in the presence of a 50/50 volume
SEPTEMBER 1981 1623

5, .1·0
~ GAS
iJ
~
Fig. 10 - Predicted oil relative permeabilities under three·
phase conditions.
mixture of gas and water. This type of behavior was
measured by Corey et al. 18 in a Berea sandstone and
would need confirmation for North Sea sandstones.
Another limitation in the representation of relative
permeabilities in this study is the omission of a
hysteresis effect for the case of water displacing CO 2
after the CO 2 has displaced oil, which then traps
some of the CO 2 ,
The study of gas displacement processes in a three-
dimensional model can present a number of dif-
ficulties because of the effects of an adverse mobility
ratio and the possibility of unstable behavior
resulting in viscous fingering. The density difference
in gas drive also can lead to the development of a
sharp "tongue" fingering rapidly toward a
production well. The relative advantages of miscible
displacement and immiscible behavior are not clear
in this context. In the immiscible case, the formation
of the Buckley-Leverett front near the injection well
leads to a slightly unfavorable mobility ratio of about
1.1, but viscosity changes resulting from com-
positional exchange between gas and oil phases then
modify the mobility ratio to a favorable value of
about 0.38. Similarly, the initial density ratio of 1.39
decreases to 1.1. Under miscible conditions, the
adverse mobility ratio for nonmixing displacement is
16.7, but mixing subsequently will improve this,
depending on the degree of fingering. Thus, both the
areal stability and override behavior in immiscible
flow may be superior to the miscible case. The two
extremes of fractional flow for immiscible CO 2 dis-
placement are compared with miscible displacement
under mixing conditions in Fig. 11.
1624
/
/
/
/
0-8
/
/
/
/
O-b
0-4
0-2
0-2 0-4 O-b 0-8 '-0
SATURATION
'I - IMMISCIBLE DISPLACEMENT AT INITIAL C02 STATE
f2 - IMMISCIBLE OISPlACEMfNT AT EQUILIBRIUM C02/ OIL STATE
'3 - loEAL MISC ISLE
SI /S2 - BUCKLEY LEVERETT FRONT SATURATIONS
Fig. 11 -Illustrative CO 2 fractional flow curves for various
types of displacement.
Results From Cross-Section Calculations
Because of the difficulty of selecting an adequate
'three-dimensional mesh from the start in a CRS
calculation, the present CO 2 displacement studies
have been restricted to a two-dimensional, vertical
cross section. The cross section selected is based on
the third stream tube from the center line of the
curvilinear mesh configuration shown in Fig. 2. This
variable-area stream tube was subdivided further in
its mesh detail to give 12 mesh intervals along the
tube and six nonuniform intervals vertically, with
more definition near the top of the section. Most of
the calculations have been undertaken with CO 2
injection beginning after an initial water cut of about
50070. The compositional representation used
throughout involves components CO 2 , C I , C 2 -C 3 ,
C 4 -C 6 , C 7 -C l1 , and C 12 +. The empirical phase-
equilibria procedure available in the CRS code using
these pseudocomponents was adjusted to reproduce
results from multi component VOLE calculations.
Four principal cases have been studied: (a) con-
tinuous CO 2 injection; (b) CO 2 injection as a slug
for 500 days, followed by chase water; (c) CO 2 in-
jection as a slug for 1,000 days, followed by chase
water; and (d) simultaneous injection of CO 2 into
the lower half and water into the upper half for 1,000
days, followed by chase water.
The inJection rates of CO 2 in Cases a, b, and c was
6000 m /d at reservoir conditions (i.e., 64,000
MscflD) and 3000 m 3 /d in Case d.
The oil recovery rates for these four strategies are
illustrated in Fig. 12. Case a achieves an asymptotic
JOURNAL OF PETROLEUM TECHNOLOGY

C"",",(. CON'\'fNUOVS tN)Kr,ON 0' COl
CVM • ~OO CAVS 01 COl TH(N
CV~"" < '000 DAYS Of C01 TlnN
AND WAT!~
SIMUlTANEOVS COl
~~---,-- --I~~~-~~-
Fig. 12 - Oil recovery resulting from different CO 2 injection
strategies.
recovery of 450,10 of the target oil after 3,000 days of
CO 2 injection. Case b achieves 32% recovery after
1,000 days of chase water. Case c gives 42% recovery
after 1,200 days of chase water. Simultaneous in-
jection in Case d gives 40% recovery after 700 days
of chase water and appears to be the most
economical in terms of CO 2 utilization.
The success of the immiscible recovery process
arises through two mechanisms: (1) the swelling of
oil through solution of CO 2 into the oil phase, and
(2) evaporation of the light ends into the produced
gas stream. The inclusion of water drive in
association with the CO 2 drive is clearly beneficial,
and there are both macroscopic sweep and
microscopic displacement contributions to this
improvement. The injected CO 2 tends to rise to the
higher level with an oil bank formed beneath, which
then can be driven by the injected water. The shapes
of the three-phase relative permeabilities shown in
Fig. 10 indicate that the presence of large gas
saturations is detrimental with residual oil increasing
to 45%, but the residual saturation also can reduce to
about 27% if the appropriate saturations of gas and
water are present simultaneously. If this type of
behavior is realistic, it is obviously desirable to plan a
combined CO 2 /water drive to take advantage of this
trend.
Some interesting distributions of hydrocarbon and
CO 2 concentrations can occur during these
displacement alternatives; these are illustrated for
Cases band d in Figs. 13 and 14. They show the loss
of recovery due to gravity override of CO 2 during
displacement. Similar patterns of behavior have been
reported by Warner. 20
The best results in terms of recovery efficiency are
obtained from simultaneous injection as indicated in
Case d, where the CO 2 requirement is 1.1 tons of
CO 2 per ton of oil. This result appears to be very
SEPTEMBER 1981
HYDROCAf!80N MASS AS A fRACTION Of WAHRflOOD ~ESIDUAl
[j ~--====:- =====i
EffECTiVe fRACTION Of PORE VO\.UME OCCUPIED BY CO2
CI1.oISf WATER
COlAS! W~T!R Fig. 13 - Distributions of hydrocarbon and CO 2 resulting
TlOfN CHASE WATE~
from a 500-day CO 2 slug followed by chase water.
) )
~:::::===---
0'
\ 10' 1°'
HYDROURBON MASS AS A FUNCflON OF wATERFlOOO RHIOUAl
~fHCTjVE FFUCTION Of PORE VOLUMf OCCUPIED n C02
Fig. 14 - Distributions of hydrocarbon and CO 2 resulting
from simultaneous injection of CO 2 and water for
1,000 days followed by chase water.
favorable, but the omISSIOn of the hysteresis in
water/gas relative permeabilities will be significant,
and the areal sweep efficiency also could be a
dominant factor. Two-dimensional areal mesh
studies are in progress as the first step in proceeding
to full three-dimensional calculations. The potential
advantages of operating under multicontact
miscibility with CO 2 also will need to be evaluated.
Problems of CO 2 Supply and Economic Factors
Substantial sources of naturally occurring CO 2 have
not been identified in the U.K. However, it is known
that a few oil reservoirs in the North Sea do contain
some useful amounts of CO 2 in their associated gas
(namely, the Brae and Toni fields, and the Sieipner
field in the Norwegian sector). In the South Brae
field, for example, the CO 2 concentration in the
natural gas is 35% and the estimated yearly
production rate of CO 2 could be about 0.7 MMtons.
The amounts of CO 2 produced could be of value in
the production strategies of these fields, but the CO 2
volume available is not sufficient for general ap-
plication in the North Sea. However, a successful
miscible gas displacement exercise in one of these
fields would provide encouraging background for a
more ambitious undertaking.
Onshore supplies of CO 2 are available in the flue
gas discharged from coal-fired power stations,
centered on three east-coast areas (Forth, Tyne, and
Humber). Table 3 lists the stations and their output
in terms of CO 2 availability. The estimates of
possible CO 2 supplies from power stations have been
made from the published records of the Electricity
Boards for 1979 and 1980. Power-load factors for the
stations listed ranged from 0.5 to 0.7 during 1979 and
1980, but account would need to be taken of their
future use, as well as seasonal power demands.
Useful supplies of CO 2 also could be recovered from
1625
 TABLE 3 - ONSHORE SOURCES OF CO 2 FROM COAL STATIONS

Distance From Maximum Amount of CO 2

Forties Field Electrical Produced in
Through Peterhead Output 1979 and 1980'
Location (km) Source (MW) (MM tons) Totals
Forth 345 Longannett 2,400 9.5
Cockenzie 1,200 4.2 13.7

Tyne 495 Blythe A 468 2.6

Blythe B 1,100 4.9 7.5

Humber 1152 Drax 1,875 9.7

(445.5 direct Eggborough 1,720 8.9

to Forties) Ferrybridge 1,932 10.2
Thorpe Marsh 942 2.7 31.5
52.7
'Includes assumed C02 separation efficiency -0.8.

the refineries at Cruden Bay and Grangemouth (see Although not enough detailed work has been
Fig. 1). The cost of production and supply of CO 2 completed to confirm the potential of these two types
from the coal-fired stations is estimated from of processes, the results of the calculations reported
preliminary studies to lie in the range £20 to £30/ton. in this paper are encouraging. The incentive for EOR
Included in this estimated range are the costs of will be strengthened by the continuing rise in the
separation, compression, and pipelines. A sub- price of oil in real terms over the next decade.
stantial fraction of the cost (-£15/ton) is associated Detailed quantitative evaluation of EOR processes
with energy consumption in separation and com- under more realistic conditions should form part of
pression. Research is needed on alternative CO 2 any future research program. This paper has con-
reagents for separation in terms of energy efficiency. centrated on surfactant and CO 2 displacement
The future cost basis of energy (e.g., coal) for CO 2 studies, but other processes also should be examined.
production in relation to oil prices will have a
significant effect on the economic viability of a CO 2 Nomenclature
project. a = parameter in equation of state
The idealistic calculations reported earlier have b = parameter in equation of state
indicated a CO 2 requirement of 1.1 tons per ton of kr = relative permeability
additional oil, but if a more realistic estimate of 3.5 Nc = capillary number
tons of CO 2 per ton of oil is used for planning p = pressure
purposes, this then indicates that a discounted price R = gas constant
for oil in the range £70 to £105/ton is needed to meet S = saturation
the cost of CO 2 , With a current nondiscounted T = temperature
price* at the refinery for North Sea oil of about V = volume
£133/ton, the above estimates suggest a potential for v = velocity
commercial viability in the use of CO 2 in the North J.t = viscosity
Sea. More extensive studies will be needed to a = surface tension
establish the real position. This analysis does not
include any provision for petroleum revenue tax or Subscripts
capital expenditure allowances in the current U.K. g = gas
offshore regulations. If all the power-station CO 2 o = oil
output listed in Table 3 could be used, this would w = water
imply the prospect of recovering some 15 MMtons of or = residual oil to water flood
additional oil per year. ore = residual oil to chemical flood
we = connate water
Conclusions
Two EOR processes have been identified - surfactant Acknowledgments
displacement and CO 2 gas drive - that have potential Thanks are due R. Mott, who undertook the CO 2
application to North Sea reservoirs. The surfactant miscibility calculations summarized in Table 2, and
calculations have indicated the need for improved H.A. Roberts for contributions to supply logistics
surfactant designs for North Sea reservoir con- studies. This work is funded through a contract with
ditions, and several lines of research are relevant to the U.K. Dept. of Energy.
this requirement. The CO 2 studies have revealed the References
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presented at the SPE Fifth Symposium on Reservoir
acre x 4.046 873 E+03 m2
Simulation, Denver, Jan. 31-Feb. 2,1979. ep x 1.0* E-03 Pa·s
10. Hirasaki, G., Van Domselaar, H.R., and Nelson, R.C.: eu ft x 2.831 685 E-02 m3
"Evaluation of the Salinity Gradient Concept in Surfactant OF CF-32)/1.8 °C
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Calculating the Phase Behaviour of Multi-Component 21·24,1980.

SEPTEMBER 1981 1627