Starter Pack

Science Course III:

Enhanced Oil Recovery
Academia Department
SPE ITS SC
 Proven resources with the easiest
practical exploration difficulties have
now been exploited and leave a higher
level of difficulty.

Therefore, advanced technology is

needed. One of them is by EOR which
can increase the amount of oil
EOR? extracted from oil fields reaching 50-
70%, compared to 10-40% using primary
and secondary recovery

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EOR

Enhanced Oil Recovery (also known as

tertiary recovery) is the implementation of
various techniques for increasing the
amount of crude oil that can be extracted
from an oil field. The purpose:
• Restore formation pressure
• To improve oil displacement or fluid flow in
the reservoir

According to the US Department of Energy,

there are three primary techniques for EOR:
thermal recovery, gas-miscible processes,
and chemical injection.

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Oil recovery Percentage in Production

10%
Primary recovery
10 - 50%
Secondary recovery

50 - 70%
Tertiary recovery

The three major types of EOR depends on: Reservoir temperature, pressure, depth, net pay, permeability,
residual oil and water saturations, porosity and fluid properties such as API gravity and viscocity

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 Miscible Gas Drive

Definition CO2
A gas-miscible process involves injecting a gas into the reservoir that
dissolves in the oil. Inert gas injection uses either carbon dioxide (CO2 ),
nitrogen (N), or liquefied petroleum gas (LPG).

N
Condition
Inert gas should:
• not corrode metal equipment in the well
• not mix with natural gas in the reservoir to form an explosive
combination
• be relatively inexpensive. LPG

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 Miscible Gas Drive
Unfortunately, since CO2 is less dense than oil or water, it tends to
rise toward the top of the reservoir and bypass large quantities of
oil in its path to the producing well.

To combat this tendency, the CO2 is often injected in slugs

alternated with water. The process, known as water alternated
with gas (WAG), tends to spread out the flood front, thereby
increasing the sweep efficiency.

The term for a successful CO2 injection are:

CO2
• reservoir at depth of at least 2500 feat
• oil at least 22-degree API
• Also, most CO2 EOR projects are conducted in a
Carbon Dioxide reservoir that is or has been waterflooded.

CO2 in contact with oil at high pressures (1,500 to

Did you know that…

2,500 psi) forms a miscible mixture. Like gin and
vermouth, any proportion is a stable mixture, but
some arc better than others. As the CO2 sweeps
across the reservoir (fig. 8-18), it mixes with the oil
and causes it to swell. That allows more oil to detach
itself from the walls of the pores and flow to the
producing well.
Injection of CO2 has had wide application in the Permian Basin of West
Texas and in New Mexico primarily for two reasons. First, large,
naturally occurring accumulations of CO2 lie nearby, in New Mexico and
southern Colorado. Second, there are many large, mature waterfloods
underway not too far from there, in the Permian basin
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Miscible Gas Drive

Nitrogen
Nitrogen can also be injected into the oil reservoir in a process like a
carbon dioxide flood.

The nitrogen was used for well completion and well workover
process. It has also been extensively used in oil field operations
such as reservoir pressure maintenace, gas lift, and gas cycle.

Most recently, nitrogen has been used a substitute for carbon

dioxide due to its inert and noncorrosive nature. It is most suitable
for deep light to medium oil reservoirs. (with a proven high
recovery of about 45 - 90% of the OOIP)

Miscible displacement conditions can be achieved using N2 at high

pressure, alongside with the reduction in oil viscosity

N2 gas injection has been reported for the Hawkins Field (Texas),
Cantarell Field (Mexico) and Elk Hills (California)

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Miscible Gas Drive

LPG
Liquefied petroleum gas is also miscible with oil and is used in a LPG drive. The source of the LPG
(propane or a propane-butane mixture) is usually wet gas.

The liquefied petroleum gas can be injected inside the wellbore to create an optimum mixture ratio
of 0.64. The optimum ratio allowed a controlled asphaltene precipitation of 9% that can be managed
with the pressure of the wellbore. The use of liquefied petroleum gas could improve the economy
viability of recovery process. (Ortega, 2017)

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 Chemical
Flooding
A chemical flood is a process in which
different fluids are injected into the
depleted reservoir in separate batches
(slugs). A chemical flood can be used only
for sandstone reservoirs because
carbonates absorb the surfactants. It can
Benefit
recover about 40% of the remaining oil • High injectivity
but is an expensive process. • Resistant to mechanical (up to 1000 m3 /m2-d flux
when entering porous rock) and microbial
degradation
• Sustain high reservoir temperatures (up to 200°C)
for extensive periods of time (5 to 10 years)
• Effective when mixed with reservoir brines
• Have low retention properties in porous rock
• Not sensitive to acidity (pH) or various chemicals
present at the oilfield.
Chemical Flooding

Polymer flooding consists in mixing long Surfactants may be used in conjunction with
Polymer chain polymer molecules with the injected polymers. They decrease the surface tension
Flooding water in order to increase the water between the oil and water. This reduces the
viscosity. residual oil saturation and improves the
macroscopic efficiency of the process

These microbes' function either by partially

Microbial digesting long hydrocarbon molecules, by
Injection generating bio surfactants, or by emitting
carbon dioxide.
In the first approach, bacterial cultures The third approach is used to address the
mixed with a food source (a carbohydrate problem of paraffin wax components of the crude
such as molasses is commonly used) are oil, which tend to precipitate as the crude flows
injected into the oil field. to the surface.
The second approach, nutrients are injected
into the ground to nurture existing
microbial bodies, these nutrients cause the
bacteria to increase production of the
natural surfactants they normally use to
metabolize crude oil underground.
 Thermal
Recovery Cyclic Steam Injection

Thermal recovery techniques utilize heat to

make heavy oil (<20 °API gravity) more fluid
for recovery. The increased heat reduces the
surface tension and increases the
permeability of the oil. The heated oil may
also vaporize and then condense forming Fire Flooding
improved oil.

Steam Flooding

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 Cyclic Steam Injection
Cyclic steam injection or the huff ’n’ puff method uses single wells to inject steam into the heavy oil
reservoir for a period of time such as two weeks during the injection period.

There are three step in cyclic steam injection:

• Injection Period
• Soak Period: The well is shut in for several days to
allow the steam to heat the heavy oil and make it
more fluid.
• Production Period: The same well is then used to
produce the heated heavy oil with a sucker-rod
pump during the production period for a similar
period of time to the injection period.

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 Fire Flooding
A fireflood or in-situ combustion involves setting the subsurface oil on fire. If the well is shallow, the fire can be started
with either a phosphorus bomb or a gas burner run into the well. Fire flooding works best when the oil saturation and
porosity are high. The recovery from a fireflood can be 30 to 40% of the oil in place. Corrosion of equipment is a
problem because of the high temperatures and corrosive gases that are generated.

There are three methods of combustion:

• Dry forward: uses an igniter to set fire to the oil. As
the fire progresses the oil is pushed away from the
fire toward the producing well. (Only air is injected)

• Reverse: the air injection and the ignition occur from

opposite directions

• Wet combustion: water is injected just behind the

front and turned into steam by the hot rock. This
quenches the fire and spreads the heat more evenly.
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Steam Flooding
A steamflood or steamdrive uses both injection and
production wells.

Steam flooding is one means of introducing heat to the

reservoir by pumping steam into the well with a pattern
similar to that of water injection. Eventually the steam
condenses to hot water; in the steam zone the oil
evaporates, and in the hot water zone the oil expands.

As a result, the oil expands, the viscosity drops, and the

permeability increases.

The recovery will vary between 25 to 65% of the oil in

place.

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THANK
YOU