“Integrated comprehensive study to design optimum appropriate

economic enhanced oil recovery technique. A real case study in

surma basin”

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION
1.1 Oil supply and demand
Oil is the crown jewel of commodities that is used in a multitude of ways in our lives, from
plastics to asphalt to fuel. The oil industry is an economic powerhouse and the movements of oil
prices are closely watched by investors and traders. Changes in oil prices can send shockwaves
throughout the global economy. Every movement on the production and consumption side of oil
is reflected in the price. Oil is not a diamond or caviar, luxury items of limited utility that most of
us can live without. Oil is abundant and in great demand, making its price largely a function of
market forces.
On several occasions—most notably during the oil crises of 1973–74 and 1978–79 and during
the first half of 2008—the price of petroleum rose steeply. Because oil is such a crucial source of
energy worldwide, such rapid rises in price spark recurrent debates about the accessibility of
global supplies, the extent to which producers will be able to meet demand in the decades to
come, and the potential for alternative sources of energy to mitigate concerns about energy
supply and climate change issues related to the burning of fossil fuels.
How much oil does Earth have? The short answer to this question is that nobody knows. In its
1995 assessment of total world oil supplies, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) estimated that
about 3 trillion barrels of recoverable oil originally existed on Earth and that about 710 billion
barrels of that amount had been consumed by 1995. The survey acknowledged, however, that the
total recoverable amount of oil could be higher or lower—3 trillion barrels was not a guess but
an average of estimates based on different probabilities. This caveat notwithstanding, the USGS
estimate was hotly disputed. Some experts said that technological improvements would create a
situation in which much more oil would be ultimately recoverable, whereas others said that much
less oil would be recoverable and that more than one-half of the world’s original oil supply had
already been consumed.
There is ambiguity in all such predictions. When industry experts speak of total “global oil
reserves,” they refer specifically to the amount of oil that is thought to be recoverable, not the
total amount remaining on Earth. What is counted as “recoverable,” however, varies from
estimate to estimate. Analysts make distinctions between “proven reserves”—those that can be
demonstrated as recoverable with reasonable certainty, given existing economic and
technological conditions—and reserves that may be recoverable but are more speculative. The
Oil & Gas Journal, a prominent weekly magazine for the petroleum industry, estimated in late
2007 that the world’s proven reserves amounted to roughly 1.3 trillion barrels. To put this
number in context, the world’s population consumed about 30 billion barrels of oil in 2007. At
1
this rate of consumption, disregarding any new reserves that might be found, the world’s proven
reserves would be depleted in about 43 years. However, because of advancements in exploration
and unconventional oil extraction, estimates of the world’s proven oil reserves had risen to
approximately 1.7 trillion barrels by 2015.
By any estimation, it is clear that Earth has a finite amount of oil and that global demand is
expected to increase. In 2007 the National Petroleum Council, an advisory committee to the U.S.
Secretary of Energy, projected that world demand for oil would rise from 86 million barrels per
day to as much as 138 million barrels per day in 2030. Yet experts remain divided on whether
the world will be able to supply so much oil. Some argue that the world has reached “peak oil”—
its peak rate of oil production. The controversial theory behind this argument draws on studies
that show how production from individual oil fields and from oil-producing regions has tended to
increase to a point in time and then decrease thereafter. “Peak-oil theory” suggests that once
global peak oil has been reached, the rate of oil production in the world will progressively
decline, with severe economic consequences to oil-importing countries.
A more widely accepted view is that through the early 21st century at least, production capacity
will be limited not by the amount of oil in the ground but by other factors, such as geopolitics or
economics. One concern is that growing dominance by nationalized oil companies, as opposed to
independent oil firms, can lead to a situation in which countries with access to oil reserves will
limit production for political or economic gain. A separate concern is that nonconventional
sources of oil—such as oil sand reserves, oil shale deposits, or reserves that are found under very
deep water—will be significantly more expensive to produce than conventional crude oil unless
new technologies are developed that reduce production costs.

Global oil demand is expected to fall by a record 9.3 mb/d year-on-year in 2020. The impact of
containment measures in 187 countries and territories has been to bring mobility almost to a halt.
Demand in April is estimated to be 29 mb/d lower than a year ago, down to a level last seen in
1995. For 2Q20, demand is expected to be 23.1 mb/d below year-ago levels. The recovery in
2H20 will be gradual; in December demand will still be down 2.7 mb/d y-o-y.

2
 Figure 1.1: Global oil demand from 2006-2020
Global demand for crude oil (including biofuels) in 2019 amounted to 100.1 million barrels per
day and is projected to decrease slightly to an average of 101.0 million barrels per day in 2020.
This decrease is due to the economic and mobility impacts of Covid-19, including the
widespread shutdown of the economy in China. When compared to the daily oil demand of 86.4
million barrels in 2010, the increasing demand trajectory that occurred in the past decade is
nevertheless still clear.
The outlook for long-term demand estimates that the total global demand for oil will amount to
nearly 140 million barrels per day in the year 2040. Of that amount, developing countries are
expected to account for a demand of nearly 67 million barrels per day, and OECD nations will
account for a total of 38.7 million barrels daily. The Organization of Petroleum Exporting
Countries (OPEC), which currently has 14 member countries, is projected to demand some 12.3
million barrels of oil per day in 2040.
Oil is an important and versatile substance, used in different ways and in different forms for
many applications. As of 2017, the ‘road’ sector accounted for more than 50 percent of the
global demand for oil. Petrochemicals were the second largest oil demanding sector that year,
although this sector accounted for considerably less than the road sector, at 14.4 percent.
Aviation was ranked fourth at 7.8 percent.

3
1.2 Enhance oil recovery (EOR)
To increase the production of oil on a global scale EOR (Enhanced Oil Recovery) plays an
essential role. In order to produce oil from any reservoir there is significance of pressure. The
natural forces such as gas cap drive, water drive etc. help to maintain the reservoir pressure. It is
the reservoir pressure that plays the primary role to push the oil towards the production well.
However, this pressure reduces with time and as a result additional external drives are required.
By introducing EOR into a reservoir the recovery can be increased to 15% - 40%, while in
primary recovery the recovery factor is only 10%. EOR improves the oil recovery, improves the
life of reserve and increases the recovery factor. After primary and secondary recovery EOR is
important to improve the recovery by releasing the trapped oil from the reservoir which increases
the overall production from the field in question. If unrecovered oil remains in a pore space
without any connection due to capillary forces, this is called residual oil saturation. The main
purpose in EOR is to mobilize this oil by overcoming the capillary forces at the interface.
Technology is mature and cost effective.

1.3 Low salinity water flooding

LSW is an immature EOR technique with considerable potential for increasing oil recovery, as
verified through various laboratory studies and field applications. The incremental recovery
reported in the literature ranges from 0 to 15% OIIP depending on the rock and fluid properties
and reservoir conditions.
Several recovery mechanisms have been proposed by various researchers; however, no
consensus exists as to which mechanisms are dominant in improving oil recovery during low-
salinity water injection. Therefore, prior to any field-scale application, extensive laboratory
studies should be conducted on the representative rocks and fluid samples to investigate the
potential of LSW to increase oil recovery.
The provision of a low-salinity water supply in a field can act synergistically with other water-
based EOR processes such as alkaline/surfactant/polymer flooding with the potential for even
greater incremental recoveries. The injection of low-salinity water can also help in overcoming
conventional problems such as souring and scaling.
Although not yet proven, LSW either alone or in conjunction with other water-based EOR
techniques has the potential to be a “game changer” in both offshore and onshore reservoirs, and
therefore, the potential benefits of switching to LSW should be studied for all fields in which
water flooding is ongoing or planned. Such research should be undertaken systematically and
consistently through independent laboratories.

4
1.4 Surma basin
The Surma Basin is situated in the north-eastern part of Bangladesh and forms a portion of the
Bengal Basin. About eight TCF of gas and thirty-four MMSTB of condensate have been
estimated as recoverable reserve from six gas/condensate fields of the Surma Basin. The recent
discovery of oil in Sylhet-7 has opened a new avenue for the exploration geologists to establish
the geological condition in the basin responsible for generation, migration and accumulation of
liquid hydrocarbon. An extensive geological and geophysical (mostly seismic) survey have been
carried out in order to describe stratigraphy, regional setting, structural evolution, condition of
deposition of sediments and paleogeography of the basin. Geochemical analyses of oil, oil seep,
condensate, gas core and cutting samples of six wells have been studied. The results are
integrated with the regional geological information to identify the probable source rock of the
hydrocarbon discovered and to locate the new areas of high potential for concentrated petroleum
occurrence.
All the gases discovered in the Surma Basin are genetically similar to each other and are
generated probably from terrestrial kerogen at various levels of maturity equivalent to approx.
0.6 to 1.30% vitrinite reflectance (Ro). Condensates produced with the gases may have
originated from terrestrial kerogen as well as maturity greater than 1.0% Ro. Oil from Patharia
and Sylhet-7 have similar characteristics and may have sourced from the Oligocene sediments.
On the basis of the limited data, Oligocene sections penetrated in Atgram contain 0.6–1.59%
organic carbon derived from terrigenous source and may have good potential for oil generation
together with significant quantities of gas. Good possibilities exist for moderate oil accumulation
in the undisturbed Oligo-Miocene reservoirs close to the generative depressions.

5
Figure 1.2: Location map of Surma basin