SPE-197398-MS

A Comprehensive Scheme for Application of Low Salinity Waterflooding

Technique in Mature Fields

Hossam Elmasry, Mohamed Anwar, and Esraa Moussa, Petrobel

Copyright 2019, Society of Petroleum Engineers

This paper was prepared for presentation at the Abu Dhabi International Petroleum Exhibition & Conference held in Abu Dhabi, UAE, 11-14 November 2019.

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Abstract
The main seek for the whole oil industry is to find a way to prolong the economic life of the existing mature
fields, as a result of the difficulty of finding new big assets. The waterflooding efficiency can be dramatically
enhanced by the application of new technologies with the target of sweeping higher amounts of unswept oil.
IOR/EOR methods are investigated to improve the oil production from the giant Belayim Onshore mature
field located in Gulf of Suez, Egypt. The field was previously developed by using sea water peripheral
injection. The existing water injection strategy is found not be the optimum strategy to increase the sweep
efficiency and the recovery factor as a result of the huge lateral heterogeneity and different mobility ratio.
This paper describes the work done to improve the efficiency of water injection by the application
of different IOR/EOR technologies specifically Low Salinity water. First, Coreflooding experiments on
porous medium have been performed in the tertiary mood to detect the effect of IOR compared to the sea
water injection. It was found that LS can increase oil recovery nearly to 7% more. After finishing the lab
phase, simulation runs have been performed to predict the enhancement on field scale. The coreflooding
experiments have been simulated using a wettability alteration model to determine the LS parameters and
the new relative permeability curves. These parameter were the input into a sector model of fine gridding.
The model was history matched using the wells production and injection data for the LS pilot area under
study. Different forecast scenarios have been run and the incremental increase in oil recovery was reported
against the current water injection scheme
A number of Single Well Tracer Tests have been performed to detect the effect of Low Salinity water
flooding on well scale. The test was designed to incorporate a number of injection, production and shut in
cycles in the pilot well with the aim determining the residual oil saturation with the current scheme of sea
water injection and after switching into low salinity water. It was found that Low salinity water has achieved
very promising results that produced a remarkable reduction in Sor at the range of (5-11) saturation units.
In order to estimate the full-field effect of the LS waterflooding as a promising EOR method, all the
major aspects have been taken into account including the expected reduction in residual oil saturation,
permeability alteration as a result of possible fine migration or clay swell and the possible change in the
sweeping efficiency.
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Finally, all the produced results from the experimental and simulation work have been incorporated
into an economic study to determine the feasibility of constructing a desalination plant for the full-field
application phase

Introduction
LS waterflooding has been extensively examined as a promising EOR method in the last decade. The most
agreed effect of LS waterflooding is that it tends to generate a significant reduction in residual oil saturation
along with a microscopic efficiency improvement. Different mechanisms were suggested to justify the
produced effect of low salinity waterflooding on the incremental increase in oil recovery, however there is
no agreement on a single mechanism to attribute this effect.
Although a lot of Laboratory tests have been performed by research centres and petroleum companies,
the low salinity waterflooding mechanism is still a matter of debate.
LS waterflooding has been significantly studied in sandstone reservoirs, however a number of
investigations for the effect of low salinity waterflooding in carbonate reservoirs has been performed.
In addition to that, LS water helps in improving the injection efficiency as a result of lower TDS and
reduces the risks of reservoir souring and scale formation.
Another point of advantages for low salinity water flooding as EOR is its lower capital and operation
costs compared to other EOR methods as it is considered on an extension for the current sea water flooding
schemes with only desalination units as added capitals. Moreover, LS water can be integrated easily
with other EOR methods like polymer flooding to form LS-Polymer EOR. This integration can boost the
incremental increase in oil recovery and helps in decreasing the polymer concentration required to reach a
certain mobility ratio compared to sea water injection.
In this study, a roadmap is provided for the optimum application of LS water EOR starting from screening,
design and execution.

Low Salinity Waterflooding Mechanism:

From the history of oil fields, Conventional waterflooding techniques have proved themselves as a
successful and reliable method. This incorporates injection of sea water or treated produced formation water
into the formation targeting sweeping larger amounts of oil in the direction of the producers and displacing
them from the rock pore spaces. The Low salinity water has been verified as having a better effect on oil
recovery as compared to the normal sea water injection. This effect comes from the fact that Low salinity
water tends to change the chemical equilibrium that takes place between brine, oil and rock surface leading
to an alteration for the system wettability. It was found that low salinity water tends to alter the original
wettability of the reservoir rocks towards a more water wet condition which is the favourable condition for
higher oil recovery.
A multiple mechanisms have been suggested to explain the produced wettability change, but still the
results are inconclusive. The most probable theory for explaining this effect is that a combination of factors
mix together to produce this alteration and no single factor is sufficient to attribute it all.
The most prevailing theory for LS waterflooding effect includes chemical reaction at the rock-oil-
brine interface that drives an alteration in wettability towards a more water wet condition. The different
mechanism suggested to explain the change in wettability can be summarized in the following timeline in
Figure 1
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Figure 1—Timeline of proposed mechanisms for the LS EOR.

Tang and Morrow (1999) have suggested a mechanism that depends on fine migration to justify the
impact of salinity on oil recovery. They have stated that the triggered fine migration will detach oil wet
particles from the pore space and that increases oil mobility. McGuire(2005) have suggested an alkaline –
like flooding to explain the LS behaviour which reduces the interfacial tension as a result of pH increase.
Lager (2006) has suggested the Multiple-Ion-Exchange (MIE) process to account for the LS effect. He
stated that cations at the brine film on the rock surface are attached to the polar compounds of the oil by
an organic bond and that produces the original oil wet condition. Introducing the low salinity water causes
an ion exchange between the injected water and the organic bonds leading to a more water wet condition.
Nasrallah (2013) has suggested that the MIE tends to increase the thickness of the electric double layer
at the clay surface which reduces the forces that attach oil to the rock surface. Pu (2010) suggested the
effect of mineral dissolution on LS behaviour. Austad (2010) claimed the effect the change of pH on the
degree of adsorption of alkaline and acidic compounds on the clay surfaces and this triggers the change of
wettability. This theory claims that the injection of low salinity water causes the cations to be adsorbed on
the clay minerals which generates an increase in pH. This results the detachment the organic film from the
clay surface pushing the wettability into a more water-wet condition. Emadi and Sorabi (2013) suggested a
mechanism that rely on the formation of a micro dispersed phase inside the oil phase.
Until now, none of these mechanism are pointed out as the most significant mechanism to account for the
LS effect. This comes from the fact that there is contradicting examples that can eliminate this mechanism.
On the other hand, it is widely accepted that the main mechanism involves some kind of chemical reaction
that takes place at the rock-water-oil interface that leads to wettability alteration and pH changes.
Although the fact that the proposed mechanisms to explain the LS effect are different, but there are
some minimum requirements for the screening of LS waterflooding projects that are common in most of
these mechanisms. This includes: 1- Strong Oil wet reservoirs 2- High formation clay content 3- Relatively
polar rich oil phase. The optimum introduced water salinity ranges from 1000 to 2000 ppm. However,
there are examples where water salinity up to 5000 ppm still can produce a significant LS effect. The main
requirements are included in the following figure 2
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Figure 2—EOR Requirements for LS EOR

Belayim Field in Brief

Belayim Field is a giant land field located in Gulf of Suez, Egypt. It is characterized by high lateral
heterogeneity and relatively viscous oil. It consists of 12 highly faulted reservoirs present in four zones.
The reservoirs are mainly sandstones interbedded with shale and anhydrites intercalations deposited in the
Miocene age. From structure point of view, Belayim Field can be considered as a faulted anticline with
10km long and 4km wide intercepted by two major faults. Reservoir oil can be considered slightly heavy oil
with 20 degree API and viscosity ranging between 4 and 8 cp. Original formation salinity is in the range of
220,000 ppm and reservoir temperature is in the range of 190 F. The field was initially discovered in 1954
and put on production in 1955 using primary recovery. Peripheral sea water injection has been adopted since
1983. About 550 wells have been drilled in the field and most of these wells are suffering from high water
cut problem with the total field recovery can be regarded as medium as a result of adverse mobility ratio.
Consequently, the low sweep efficiency and unsatisfactory recovery factor open a wider gate to implement
innovative methods to improve them

Low Salinity design and Implementation

The low salinity waterflooding effect was investigated through a comprehensive framework starting from
screening, laboratory analysis, reservoir simulation and single well chemical tracer test to precisely evaluate
the EOR effect at well scale. Concerning Belayim Field, it showed a good and favourable rock, brine and
oil properties compared to the agreed screening criteria.
1. It has mixed to strong oil wet condition.
2. Formation water salinity of the range higher than 220,000 ppm rich in divalent cations
3. pH in the range of 7
4. High clay content and water sensitive minerals
5. High polar compounds content in the oil phase
In term of surface facility, the desalination plant has to have the capability to be integrated in the current
water injection scheme.
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Laboratory Analysis
The comprehensive investigation for the LS effect has to start with evaluation of this effect at the core scale
before proceeding to the well scale. A tertiary coreflood experiments on the core plugs at the reservoir
conditions have been performed to determine the effect of low salinity water to improve oil recovery
compared to the sea water injection. The salinity of water injection was varied twice to determine the
optimum conditions in terms of incremental of oil recovery the effect on clay. The rock characteristics and
brine and oil properties are tabulated in table 1. The high salinity water simulates the sea water properties
used in the field with salt content of 39,000 ppm and lo salinity water is diluted to reach 5300ppm and
3000ppm. At standard condition, the dead oil with specific gravity of 0.93 was mixed with 25% toluene
solvent simulate the viscosity of live oil. The fluid viscosity is simulated at reservoir conditions while
the fluid specific gravity is simulated at standard conditions. The experiments have been performed in
Hassler cell for core confinement and put in an oven to simulate the reservoir temperature. The preparation
procedures for the selected plugs have been conducted as follow:
1. Cleaning by methanol and toluene at ambient temperature then drying.
2. Saturation of plugs with high salinity water.
3. Injection with high salinity brine and then measuring of permeability at different rates.
4. Flooding with oil at 170 F till connate water saturation.
5. Original wettability regaining by aging for 4 weeks.
6. Waterflooding by sea water then low salinity brine at constant rate.
7. The effluent fluids have been weighted and analysed at different pressure while the pH has been
recorded.

Table 1—Fluid and rock properties

In the first test, high salinity water representing sea water was injected to 16 PV followed by the injection
of low salinity water (5300ppm). Oil production was recorded by sampling the effluent fluids. It is recorded
as a function of the injected water volumes. The result of this test showed that the recovery factor is 55%
at the end of sea water injection and 63% at the end of low salinity water. However, the LS effect is not
clear as an acute change in recovery trend. As a result, it was decided to reduce the salinity in the following
tests to be 3000ppm.
In the second test, the high salinity water representing sea water was injected to 16 PV followed by
the injection of low salinity water (3000ppm). The incremental oil recovery factor is as shown in fig 4. It
is recorded as a function of the injected water volumes. The result of this test showed that the recovery
factor is 44% at the end of sea water injection and 57% at the end of low salinity water. This time, the oil
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production showed a variation in the trend with the reduced salinity. However, the measured pH did not
record a remarkable change

Figure 3—Coreflooding experiment 2

Figure 4—Numerical simulation for coreflood experiment 1 and relative permeability curves.

Concerning clay swelling, the pressure drop chart across the plug does not indicate its presence. However
this slight change can be attributed to mobilization of oil. The acute determination of the LS effect
quantitavely is still uncertain. This comes from the fact that the flooding with sea water still indicates a
remarkable change rate have not reached a stabilized condition. The qualitative indication of LS effect cab be
clearly noticed after 4 PV. The reduction in oil saturation is tabulated in table 2 for the two tests. The salinity
shock after switching from high salinity to low salinity water is clear in test 2 confirming the applicability
of this method on core scale. A numerical simulation of these experiments have been performed to quantify
the LS effect.

Table 2—Oil Saturation tracking in core experiments 1 and 2 at different stages

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Coreflood Experiments Simulation

According to Jerauld (2008), it is widely accepted during simulation of low salinity effect to use relative
permeability curves that are salt dependent. These curves determines the flow in porous medium and
consequently the produced residual oil saturation.
The simulation was performed using Schlumberger ECLIPSE reservoir simulator through a one
dimensional model. All the rock and fluid properties are deduced from the conventional core analysis and
the PVT analysis. Salt is assumed to be found only in the aqueous phase. The injection rate through the
plugs and the rate of effluent fluids are used to history match the flooding process. The capillary pressure
effect and the salt adsorption on rock surface effects are considered negligible.
Fig 4 represents the history matched oil recovery and the generated salt dependant relative permeability
curves used to match the injection and production data for the second test. From this simulation, around
7% incremental increase in oil recovery with low salinity waterflooding compared to the conventional sea
water injection.

SWCTTs
Single well tracer tests have been used to catch the low salinity effect and make sure of its positive impact
and that on field scale. The test is conducted in formation that are mainly watered out and includes cycles
of injection and production from the same tested well for a certain volume of fluids mixed with chemical
tracers. In the injection cycle, the reactive tracer - which is mainly esters – is partitioned among oil and water
phases. In the shut-in, the ester is hydrolysed into passive tracer and alcohol. During the production cycle,
the ester is delayed in its surface production compared to the alcohol and the difference in the produced
tracer peaks is related to the residual oil saturation.

Figure 5—Perforation interval, processed well log and petrophysical analysis

The interpretation of tracer data indicates a remarkable effect on residual oil saturation reduction after
injection of low salinity water. The saturation before injection of low sal is in the range of 0.23 with
uncertainty margin of ± 0.03, while the saturation after injection is in the range of 0.18 with an uncertainty
margin of 0.04
An alternative approach for interpretation which depends on the a two-layered approach indicates the
saturation before injection is 0.23 with an uncertainty range ± 0.03 and saturation after injection is 0.12
with uncertainty range of ± 0.03
Consequently, the two interpretations indicate a remarkable reduction residual oil saturation as a result
of low salinity injection within the range of 0.05 to 0.11 based on the interpretation approach adopted.
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Conclusions
The low salinity waterflooding technology has been proved as reliable EOR method working on the
microscopic scale in the aim of achieving of a significant reduction of residual oil saturation as a result of
different driving mechanisms.
The low salinity waterflooding is regarded as an efficient EOR technique as a result of its low operational
and capital costs making it highly favourable compared to the other more capital intensive EOR methods.
A comprehensive roadmap to evaluate, design and execute the low salinity waterflooding starting from
laboratory experiments, reservoir simulation and SWCTT has been implemented. The main conclusions
can be summarized as follow:
1. The experimental work done to quantify the effect of low salinity waterflooding has shown that an
estimated reduction in the residual oil saturation has been observed on the reange of 7%.
2. Two single well chemical tracer tests have been performed using sea water and low salinity water.
The results of these two tests have indicated that the LS has the potentiality of reducing the residual
oil saturation by the range of 5 to 11 su.
3. 3D reservoir simulation has shown that the incremental increase in oil recovery in the range of 7%
in 10-year forecast compared to sea water injection.
The good result produced in that comprehensive roadmap has paved the way for the full field
implementation of LS waterflooding which started with a pilot project.