ENHANCED OIL RECOVERY

JM Voirin / V Alcobia
PEPD 2023-24

1
 LEARNING OBJECTIVES

1. Objectives
• Define Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR)
• Review the basic principles
• Give an idea of resources and production
• Do a quick screening
• Review the main processes

2. Duration
• 1 day

Enhanced Oil recovery 2

 SUMMARY

1. Objectives and content

2. Introduction to EOR processes
3. Reserves and Production associated with EOR
4. Screening, Design & Planning Best Practices of EOR processes
5. Chemical Processes
• Polymers
• Surfactants
• Combined ASP
6. Gas Injection Processes
• Miscible
• Immiscible

Enhanced Oil recovery 3

 SUMMARY

7. Heavy Oil and Bitumen Recovery

• Introduction to Heavy Oil / Bitumen
o Definitions & specificities
o Producing areas
• How do we make it flow?
• Cold production processes (not an EOR process) – reminder
• Steam based (Mechanisms and Field Data)
o Cyclic Steam Stimulation CSS
o Steamflooding
o Steam Assisted Gravity Drainage (SAGD) and related processes
• In Situ Combustion ISC (Mechanisms)
• Conclusions on HO & Bitumen Recovery Processes
8. Other processes and Conclusions

Enhanced Oil recovery 4

 INTRODUCTION TO EOR PROCESSES

5
Enhanced Oil recovery
 OIL RECOVERY METHODS

• Conventional methods
o Use of the reservoir natural energy as the main source of energy for the displacement of oil to
PRIMARY RECOVERY
the producing wells
– Rock and fluid expansion possibly combined with:
» Water drive
» Dissolved gas drive
» Gas-cap drive
» Gravity drainage (natural)
SECONDARY
Recovery (IOR)

o
Improved Oil

Supplement natural energy by injecting fluids to help sweep the oil and maintain or increase
reservoir pressure
» water injection (fresh water or formation water or both)
» gas injection (predominantly methane)

Note : The particular mechanism of lifting oil to the surface, once it is in the wellbore, is not a factor in the classification scheme.

Enhanced Oil recovery 6

 OIL RECOVERY METHODS – ENHANCED OIL RECOVERY

• Enhanced Oil Recovery Methods (EOR)

o The objective of Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) Methods is to produce economically part of the
oil left by conventional methods
o EOR processes involve the injection of fluids not normally present in reservoirs (excludes water
and methane in Oil & Gas)
– These fluids supplement the natural energy present in the reservoir
– These fluids usually interact with the reservoir rock/oil system to create
conditions favourable to oil recovery, for example:
» Lower interfacial tension (IFT)
» Oil swelling, oil viscosity reduction
» Rock wettability change
o EOR is not necessarily TERTIARY recovery: it implies a reduction in oil saturation below the
residual oil saturation which remains following:
– Either primary recovery when there is no secondary recovery possible (heavy
oil – tar sands)
– Or secondary (IOR) recovery (waterflood for example)
Enhanced Oil recovery 7
 OIL RECOVERY METHODS – IMPROVED OIL RECOVERY

Difference between Improved Oil Recovery (IOR) and Enhanced Oil Recovery(EOR)
• IOR implies improving oil recovery by a broad range of processes
o Reduction of reservoir uncertainties (improved reservoir description, surveillance, and management)
o Production enhancement methods, including EOR methods.

o Improved reservoir engineering / modeling techniques, common for EOR

o Operational strategies
– Well productivity improvement (reduction of formation damage / stimulation)

– Advanced drilling techniques (infill drilling, horizontal wells and multilaterals) , common for EOR

• EOR is more specific in concept: it can be considered as a subset of IOR, often associatedwith
other IOR processes

Enhanced Oil recovery 8

 IOR / EOR Methods - Applicability

Recovery Factor

Chemical Chemical / Thermal

80
RF = 70%
Miscible gas
60 CO2 N2 HCGas +15% to 40%
Surfactant / Polymers (SP, ASP)
+15% to 30%

40 40% to 50% +5% to 15% +20% to 40%

40% to 50% Thermal
Water Injection / Polymers only
Water
Gas Injection Injection +10 to 30%
20 P or ASP
20% to 30%
Water Injection 5% to 20% depletion
Water Injection

0.1 1 10 100 1000

50 + (775-) 30 (875) 20 (935) 15 (970) 10 - (1000+)
Oil viscosity (cP) / API (density kg/m3)

Enhanced Oil recovery 9

 TYPICAL OIL FIELD PERFORMANCE

• Weyburn oil field (Canada) - Development including IOR and EOR methods

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 TYPICAL OIL FIELD PERFORMANCE

• Typical oil field development and behavior including IOR and EOR methods

From K.Madaoui

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 TYPICAL FIELD PERFORMANCE – RECOVERY EFFICIENCY

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 OBJECTIVES / PRINCIPLES OF EOR

• Waterflood recovery is limited and mainly controlled by :

o volumetric sweep efficiency at the macroscopic level (how much of the pore volume is contacted by the
injected water)
o residual oil saturation inside of the waterflooded volume at the microscopic level (how much oil is left in
the flooded volume)
• The Recovery Efficiency is the product of
o The macroscopic (or volumetric) displacement (or sweep) efficiency
– influenced by the front stability controlled by fluid mobilities, permeability distribution, ratio of viscous
to gravity forces
o The microscopic (or pore scale) displacement efficiency
– Parameters affecting Kr and saturations at the pore scale: capillary effects, interfacial tension,
wettability, shape and size of pores
• The objectives of EOR methods are to modify these parameters
o Contact the reservoir areas not swept by increasing the volumetric sweep efficiency
o In areas swept by water, decrease the residual oil saturation by increasing the displacement efficiency

Enhanced Oil recovery 13

 OBJECTIVES / PRINCIPLES OF EOR

The Recovery Factor in a IOR / EOR* project is given by

– RF = Evol * Edispl = [Ea * Ev] * [(1–Swc –Sor)/(1–Swc)]
– Evol = Volumetric (macroscopic) Sweeping Efficiency = Ea * Ev
Ea = Pattern Areal Sweeping Efficiency
Ev = Vertical Sweeping Efficiency
– Edispl = Displacement (pore level) Efficiency = (1 – Swc – Sor) / (1 – Swc)

(*) IOR = Improved Oil Recovery, EOR = Enhanced Oil Recovery

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 OBJECTIVES / PRINCIPLES OF EOR
▪ Trapping in a regular waterflood pattern

Enhanced Oil recovery 15

 OBJECTIVES / PRINCIPLES OF EOR

• Multi-phase flow through porous media is governed by the interaction between capillary,
viscous and gravitational forces
o The overall flow is driven by viscous or gravitational forces,
o The flow paths at pore scale are controlled by capillary forces

• Dimensionless parameters have been defined to characterize multi-phase flow regime

o Mobility Ratio (M) : degree of potential channeling of the displacing fluid (frontal instabilities
initiated by heterogeneities in the porous medium) – the lower the better
o Capillary Number (Nc) : ratio of viscous to capillary forces at the pore scale, it is also a
measure of a liquid’s ability to flow through a tortuous path – the higher the better
o Bond Number (Nb) : ratio of gravity to capillary forces at the pore scale – the higher the
better

Enhanced Oil recovery 16

 OBJECTIVES / PRINCIPLES OF EOR

▪ End Point Mobility Ratio (Mep) krw (@ Sorw) /  w

M=
kro (@ Swc) /  o
• Ahead of the front oil alone is flowing at the end-point mobility λo = kkro/μo
• Behind the front, water is flowing at the end-point mobility λw = kkrw/μw
• Mobility ratio is a function of viscosities and relative permeabilities

▪ Capillary number (Nc or Nca)

o v Darcy velocity, Q/A

o μw displacing fluid viscosity
o σow interfacial tension IFT between the displaced and displacing fluids

Enhanced Oil recovery 17

 OBJECTIVES / PRINCIPLES OF EOR
▪ Mobility ratio influences the microscopic (pore level) and macroscopic (areal and vertical
sweep) displacement efficiencies
As M decreases, less displacing fluid is
needed to reach a given displacement
efficiency
or displacement efficiency is increased
when M decreases

M<= 1: “favorable” mobility ratio

M > 1: “unfavorable” the displacing fluid flows
more easily than the displaced fluid →
channeling, bypassing some of the oil

▪
Mobility ratio can be decreased by changing the viscosities
• of the displacing fluid (i.e adding polymers to the water)
Enhanced Oil• or displaced fluid (i.e decreasing oil viscosity by heating the crude)
recovery 18
 OBJECTIVES / PRINCIPLES OF EOR

Capillary number (Nca) at the end of a WF is typically 10-7

o to reduce ROS further, Nca will have to be significantly increased, a value of 10-3 /10-2 may be needed to displace
the trapped oil
o the only practical way of increasing Nca is by reducing σ (using a surfactant for example): with these curves, a
50% ROS reduction could be achieved if σ is decreased by 1000

End of WF

50% ROS

Capillary desaturation curves

Enhanced Oil recovery 19

 THE MAIN EOR PROCESSES

Chemicals
• involve a variety of processes or combinations of them to
o decrease the mobility of the aqueous phase - polymers
o modify the interfacial tension between oil and water - surfactants
o modify the wettability – alkaline agents
Gas injection
• Immiscible gases other than methane, basic EOR mechanism is gravity drainage
• Miscible (MGI): some gases (hydrocarbons, CO2, N2, etc…) are miscible with crude oil in
certain conditions and can be used to displace oil with no capillary resistance.
Thermal or Other Heavy Oil processes
• Heat (or solvent) is applied in the reservoir to increase the oil mobility by reducing its
viscosity
Other Methods
• Low salinity WF (BP Endicott field) - Microbial - Foam - Electrical heating

Enhanced Oil recovery 20

 BASIC ACTIONS OF THE MAIN EOR PROCESSES (AFTER MARLE C.M., 1991)

Increasing w Polymer flooding

Action on
sweep efficiency Cyclic steam, Steam drive
at the macroscopic scale Decreasing o
In-situ combustion
CO2 flooding
Using miscible Miscible hydrocarbon gas
displacing fluid flooding
Action on displacement
efficiency Reducing Surfactantflooding
at the pore scale interfacial tension
Alcaline flooding
By action on the rock
wettability

Well productivity Acidification, stimulation, reduction of

improvement formation damage
Optimized reservoir Horizontal wells, Multilaterals
Better drainage
management and
architecture
monitoring
Reduction of uncertainties Improved Reservoir engineering and
characterization, 4D seismic
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Enhanced Oil recovery
 SCREENING OF EOR PROJECTS

22
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 EOR PROCESSES SCREENING CRITERIA

• From: EOR Screening Criteria Revisited

o Part 1: Introduction to Screening Criteria and Enhanced Recovery Field Projects – SPE Paper
Number 35385-PA
o Part 2: Applications and Impact of Oil Prices – SPE Paper Number 39234-PA
• Authors J.J. Taber, F.D. Martin, R.S. Seright,
o New Mexico Petroleum Recovery Research Center
• SPE Reservoir Engineering Journal
o Volume 12, Number 3, August 1997

• Caution: these criteria may change as techniques and products improve (example:
polymer design for higher temperatures)

Enhanced Oil recovery 23

 EOR SCREENING CRITERIA AS DEFINED BY TABER, MARTIN, SERIGHT

GasInjection

Chemicals

Thermal

Enhanced Oil recovery 24

 EOR Processes Screening Criteria

Example of EOR screening

• based on SPE paper "EOR Screening Criteria Revisited" by Taber, Martin, Seright using data provided OGJ EOR
survey
Data selection:
• CO2 miscible, San Andres formation Texas USA,
Successful and profitable projects
Average San Andres properties for screening:
• Fluid properties : Gravity 33°API - Oil viscosity 1.8 cp
• Formation properties : Carbonates - depth 4908 ft - temperature 104 °F - porosity 10.8% - permeability 6
md - So (at start of EOR process) 49%
Screening
• Result: CO2 Miscible
Examples of EOR screening softwares
• EOR Screening of BeicipFranlab is a user friendly version of the above including additional selection
criteria
• SelectEOR™ 1.0 of Alberta Research Council enables users to rapidly screen 17 EOR processes, can
provide additional recovery
Enhanced Oil recovery 25
 EXAMPLE OF EOR SCREENING USING SCREENING SOFTWARE (BEICIP)

Enhanced Oil recovery 26

 EXAMPLE OF EOR SCREENING USING SCREENING SOFTWARE (EORGUI)

Enhanced Oil
An Integrated Approach recovery
for the Application of EOR - JPSR Vol.3 Issue 4, Oct.2014 27
 EOR Processes Screening Criteria

Enhanced Oil recovery 28

 EOR Processes Screening Criteria

Enhanced Oil recovery 29

SCREENING OF EOR PROJECTS
DESIGN & PLANNING BEST PRACTICES FOR EOR PROJECTS
 EOR DESIGN & PLANNING BEST PRACTICES
Design and implementation of an EOR project takes time and the production response does not occur
immediately
Evaluating whether an EOR process is applicable in a field depends on a number of factors, which
include:
• Remaining oil in place

• Fluid & Reservoir characteristics, depletion status

o oil viscosity, oil saturation, reservoir heterogeneity

o well spacing and flow rates, ability to sustain injectivity

o for the specific case of polymers: ability to propagate through the reservoir, compatibility with the reservoir rock and fluids

• Field selection

• Injected fluids:
o Availability, cost, preparation, QC of injected fluids, suitability (environment, safety)

• Process efficiency: additional reserves and production

• Economics: Capex, Opex, crude price

Enhanced Oil recovery 31
 EOR DESIGN & PLANNING BEST PRACTICES
• An EOR process evaluation and design requires a combination of

o Reservoir characterization

o Laboratory testing

o Reservoir simulation

o Facilities design

o Field testing

• Use of a staged process ensures that data collection, technical analysis, and project decision making are
coordinated and sequenced

• Such a process may take several years and should be coordinated with the overall field development plan and
concession terms

• The objective is to reduce reservoir uncertainties and economic risk

Enhanced Oil recovery 32

 EOR DESIGN & PLANNING BEST PRACTICES
The following articles are worth reading on this subject and have been used as a basis for the slides which
follow

• IPTC 11200 Guidelines for Polymer Flooding Evaluation and Development - 2007
o R.D. Kaminsky, SPE, R.C. Wattenbarger, SPE, R.C. Szafranski, SPE, and A.S. Coutee, SPE, ExxonMobil Upstream Research
Company

• SPE 118055 Enhanced Oil Recovery Pilot Testing Best Practices - 2008
o G.F. Teletzke, R.C_ Wattenbarger, and J.R. Wilkinson, SPE, ExxonMobil Upstream Research Company

• SPE 129768 Development of Improved Hydrocarbon Recovery Screening Methodologies - 2008

o J.L Dickson, A.Leahy-Dios, SPE, ExxonMobil Upstream Research Company, P.L Wylie, SPE, Mobil Producing Nigeria

• IPTC 13346 Staged design of an EOR pilot - 2009

o B. L. Adibhatla, SPE, and R. C. Wattenbarger, SPE, ExxonMobil Upstream Research Company

• Schlumberger Oil Field Review Winter 2010-11 Has the time come for EOR

Enhanced Oil recovery 33

 EOR DESIGN & PLANNING BEST PRACTICES

Feedback loop

Enhanced Oil recovery

adapted from Selamat, Teletzke et al. 2008, IPTC2805
34
 STAGED PROCESS FOR EOR PROJECT EVALUATION & DEVELOPMENT

Stage 1: Screen a range of candidate processes

• Oil and formation properties favorable?
• Sources of injectant available and adequate?
• Process implemented in analogous fields?
• High-level screening economics favorable?

Stage 2a: Preliminary Analysis

• Fluid and rock property data collection
• Preliminary laboratory screening (for polymer: brine compatibility, rheology)
• Develop initial, basic simulation
• Run screening economics (injectant sources, simulation results)
• Identify and analyze key uncertainties and economic implications

• Pass Criteria: strong potential indicated

Enhanced Oil recovery 35
 STAGED PROCESS FOR EOR PROJECT EVALUATION & DEVELOPMENT

Stage 2b: Detailed Analysis

• Detailed laboratory investigation (specialized fluid characterization and corefloods, aging tests for
polymers)

• Improved reservoir characterization - key geologic controls

• Detailed simulation models to determine the sensitivity of the process to design changes and
reservoir uncertainties

• Screening-level development / depletion / facilities plan

• Risk-weighted economic analysis

• Field test design

• Pass Criteria: Technical feasibility demonstrated - risk-weighted economic favorable

Enhanced Oil recovery 36
 STAGED PROCESS FOR EOR PROJECT EVALUATION & DEVELOPMENT

Stage 3a: Field Testing

• May be limited for well-established EOR methods

• Multiple field tests may be required for less established methods:

o focused to reduce one or two key uncertainties, such as injectivity or conformance

o Example for polymer : Injectivity test to verify sustained injection capacity and learn about in situ polymer
behavior

• Assess facility reliability / injectant preparation (large-scale polymer mixing for example)

• Assess pilot necessity and practicality

• Design pilot including diagnostic measures

• Pass Criteria: Probability of technical and commercial success justifies pilot

Enhanced Oil recovery 37

 STAGED PROCESS FOR EOR PROJECT EVALUATION & DEVELOPMENT

Stage 3b: Field Pilot

• Designed to more fully evaluate all aspects of an EOR technique and / or demonstrate its commercial viability

• A pilot needs
o well-defined objectives and success criteria tied to key uncertainties of the process

o well-coordinated implementation of field activities and comprehensive interpretation of results

• Conduct the field pilot: monitor technical / operational performance (facilities reliability and wellbore integrity
may be addressed)

• Interpret the pilot

o Improve reservoir description and simulation model

o Possibly cycle back to Stage 2 to revise modeling and laboratory work

• Update economic analysis

• Pass Criteria: technical milestones achieved; economics are favorable

Enhanced Oil recovery 38

 STAGED PROCESS FOR EOR PROJECT EVALUATION & DEVELOPMENT

Stage 4: Commercial Application

• Develop commercial project and surveillance plan

o Field-wide project design and costs

o Field-scale modeling

o Field-wide development/ depletion / facilities plan

• Implementation, Surveillance, and Operations

• Simulation updates to improve production operations

Enhanced Oil recovery 39

 CHEMICAL PROCESSES

40
Enhanced Oil recovery
 CHEMICAL OIL RECOVERY METHODS

Two Basic Mechanisms

• Decrease the Mobility Ratio M for better sweep

• Increase the Capillary Number Nc to mobilize residual oil

Enhanced Oil recovery 41 3

 CHEMICAL OIL RECOVERY METHODS
• Water soluble polymers
o increases the viscosity of the injected water (usually at concentrationsof 100 to 1000 ppm)
o Most common method, but moderate additional recovery
o Polymer gels also used for blocking or diverting flow (IOR)
• Surfactants
o lower the interfacial tension between the oil and water and change the wettability of the rock
o highest potential in terms of oilrecovery
o usually used with other chemicals to reduce losses by adsorption on the reservoir rock
o Can be used to generate foams or emulsions
• Alkaline chemicals such as sodium carbonate
o may react with crude oil to generate soap (depends on crude composition)
o increase pH → reduce adsorption and less expensive than surfactants
• Combinations of chemicals
o ASP (Alkali-Surfactant-Polymer) process

Enhanced Oil recovery 42 4

 MAIN LIMITATIONS OF CHEMICAL METHODS

• Main Limitations
o Cost and logistics of chemicals

o Excessive chemical loss: adsorption, reactions with clay and

brines, dilution

o Gravity segregation

o Lack of control in large well spacing

Enhanced Oil recovery 43 5

 LOGISTICS: EXAMPLE OF QUANTITIES OF POLYMER USED

Polymer use (metric tons / day)

Injection rate (m3/day)

Source SNFFLOERGER
Enhanced Oil recovery 44
 COST OF CHEMICALS

Source SNFFLOERGER
Enhanced Oil recovery 45
ENHANCED OIL RECOVERY
JM Voirin / V Alcobia
PEPD 2023-24

46
CHEMICAL PROCESSES
POLYMER FLOODING OVERVIEW
 POLYMER FLOODING

• Polymer flooding is a very mature method with 40 years of commercial applications

• It is a technique that improves the sweep efficiency to enhance the oil recovery or to
reduce the amount of injection fluid needed to recover a given amount of oil

• Polymer injection projects outnumber other chemical floods because of lower risk and a
wider range of reservoir conditions

• Largest current polymer flood is in the Daqing field with about 220,000 BOPD incremental
oil production from polymer flooding and 12% to 15% OOIP incremental recovery

• Applicable to light and medium gravity oils with viscosities up to at least 200 cp (Pilot
underway in the Pelican Lake heavy oil field - 2000 cp)

Enhanced Oil recovery 48 9

 POLYMER FLOODING - MOBILITY RATIO AND SWEEP EFFICIENCY

EOR Green WillhiteSPE1998

Enhanced Oil recovery 49
 POLYMER USED FOR EOR

• High molecular weight (up to 25 million Daltons)

• Long term stability under field conditions (temperature, salinity)

• Solubility in injection brines

• Stability in presence of electrolytes

• Resistant to mechanical degradation around injection wells

• Low cost

• Low adsorption

Enhanced Oil recovery 50

 POLYMERS USED FOR EOR

• Hydrolyzed polyacrylamide (HPAM) is the most commonly used polymer in the field
o Molecular weights up to 25 million Dalton (now available at the same cost as 8 million 30 years
ago-about $1/lb)
o Quality has improved, stable up to about 185 °F (85 °C) depending on the brine hardness
o Available in powder or emulsions

• Sulfonated PAM for temperatures up to 100°C

• Liquid xanthan gum (polysaccharide biopolymer produced by microbial action)

o high salinity brine up to 100°C , unsensitive to shear rates
o difficulty: factory to build close to the injection - microbial batch process requiring bactericide
and nutrients - more expensive

Enhanced Oil recovery 51

 POLYMER STRUCTURE

Polymer structure is important as it will explain most of its characteristics and behavior –
Polyacrylamide example
• PAM are characterized by their degree of hydrolysis* and molecular weight
PAM

Hydrolysis

For EOR, hydrolysis degree

Acrylamide varies between 15 to 40%
monomer

HPAM

Negative charges (*) chemical reaction in which a molecule of

x
Enhanced Oil recovery y water breaks one or more chemical bonds 52
 POLYMER SELECTION

Polymer selection begins early in the process

• Before beginning lab work, a range of polymer samples should be obtained:
o various molecular weights, various vendors
o for polyacrylamides, various degrees of hydrolysis
• Test several polymer samples, even similar in molecular weight and chemistry other
factors can lead to significant variations in performance (dissolution, plugging)
o manufacturing method,
o delivery form (e.g., powder or emulsion),
o and handling procedures
• Polymer performance can vary from one manufactured batch to another
o strict quality control procedures should be in place during the manufacturing, packaging, and
transport

Enhanced Oil recovery 53

 POLYMER VISCOSITY
Viscosity of Polymer solutions
• Viscosity is a function of polymer MW, concentration and shear rate
o viscosity increases as MW and concentration increase
o Polymer viscosities decreases as shear rate increases (shear thinning fluid)
→ solution viscosities must be measured as a function of shear rate

• Viscosity is a function of brine salinity

o Flexible polymer (HPAM)
– low salt concentration : expansion of molecule, high salt concentration:
contraction → high change in viscosity with salinity
– polymer concentration and hydrolysis degree is optimized for a given reservoir
salinity
o Rigid polymer (xanthan)

– high rigidity prevents viscosity decrease in presence of salts

Enhanced Oil recovery 54

 POLYMER VISCOSITY
Polymer solution viscosity as a function of concentration

(From NTNU - Simulation Study of Enhanced Oil Recovery by ASP Flooding for Norne Field C-segment Farid Abadli
Enhanced Oil recovery 55
 POLYMER DEGRADATION
Polymer degradation – Example of PAM or HPAM
• Mechanical degradation due to shear in surface facilities, cuts the polymer molecules , need to
minimize shear during injection (pump types, chokes, type of flowmeter, perforation density etc..)

• Chemical degradation,
o Chemical degradation is related to the formation of free radicals that can react with the polymer
backbone: drop of MW and associated lower viscosity
o The presence of chemicals or impurities in the water (iron, H2S), as well as oxygen, participates in the
formation of such radicals.

• Thermal degradation
o For HPAM the hydrolysis degree is between 15% and 40%, an increase in temperature will increase the
hydrolysis degree
o At high salinity, the negatively charged groups will be strongly associated with cations, and the
viscosity will decrease due to chain contraction (multivalent cations have a much stronger effect than
monovalent )
o depolymerization reactions can also occur
Enhanced Oil recovery 56
 POLYMER RETENTION
Polymer retention in reservoir rock can seriously reduce polymer flood
effectiveness
• Reduces polymer concentration in solution and retards its transport through the reservoir
• Is caused by a combination of polymer molecules
o adsorbed on rock surfaces (increases with salinity due to decrease of polymer repulsion)
o mechanically trapped by small pores or pore throats (worth in low k rocks)

• The retention behavior is dependent on polymer chemistry, concentration, rock composition,

pore geometry, brine salinity, and temperature
o in early stages static adsorption tests are performed on crushed rock samples for screen-out
o in later stages, coreflood tests accurately assess loss of polymer efficiency

• Is characterized by the reduction of mobility or resistance factor (RF) during polymer flood
(combined with the viscosity increase effect) and residual resistance factor (RRF) during the
water drive which follows

Enhanced Oil recovery 57

 POLYMER FLOODING – RESISTANCE FACTOR
RF & RRF are important factors to determine the concentration of polymer needed to perform
polymer flooding:
• The Resistance Factor (RF) is defined as the ratio of the brine mobility to the mobility of the
polymer solution. The mobility reduction of the polymer solution is caused by
o The increase in viscosity

o The permeability reduction of the formation caused by the polymer retention

• The Residual Resistance Factor (RRF) reflects the formation permeability reduction following the
polymer flooding due to retention
RF &
RRF

Inj ect e d P V
Enhanced Oil recovery 58
 SUCCESSFUL POLYMER FLOODING CHARACTERISTICS
• The most successful polymer flood field tests had the following characteristics in common
(G.Pope)
o Permeability and permeability contrasts: high

o Oil saturations: high

o Oil/water viscosity ratio: high (15 to 114)
o Concentration of polymer: high (1000 to 2000 ppm)
o Quantity of polymer injected: large
o Temperature:
low (30°C to 57°C)
• Preferable conditions are (SNF Floerger)
o Medium to high reservoirpermeability

o Light to medium-heavyoil

o Low temperature (below 100°C)

o Low salinity

Enhanced Oil recovery 59

 POLYMER FLOODING FAVORABLE CONDITIONS

Enhanced Oil recovery 60

 POLYMER FLOODING EXAMPLES

- Daqing Field, China

- Pelican Lake, Canada, polymer injection for heavy oil - to be
discussed in the Heavy Oil chapter
- Dalia offshore pilot, Angola - interesting due to the specific issues
associated with offshore
• SPE-116672 Polymer Injection in Deep Offshore Field
• SPE-135735 First Polymer Injection in Deep Offshore Field Angola

Enhanced Oil recovery 61

 POLYMER FLOODING IN DAQING FIELD, CHINA

References
• JPT 2006 DA series - Advances in Polymer Flooding and ASP Processes in China
• SPE-114342 - Practical experience of polymer flooding in Daqing

History
• 7 polymer pilot tests from 1972 to 1998
• Field wide commercial expansion in 1996
• 31 commercial scale polymer flooding projects in 2004
Field data (polymer flooding only)
• Area 274 km2 - STOOIP 3620 MBO
• 2400 producers - 2900 injectors in 2004
• Oil production
o Oil production stabilized at around 200 kbd since 2002 (at least
until 2011) – now at 160 kbd
o production attributed to polymer flooding represented 25% of
the field total (around 800 kbd) – now 35%
Enhanced Oil recovery 62
 POLYMER FLOODING IN DAQING FIELD, CHINA
Reservoir properties
• heterogeneous sandstone multi-layer oil field
• oil viscosity 6 to 9 cp
• temperature 45°C or 113°F
• brine salinity 3000 to 7000 ppm

Polymer injection
• concentration 1000ppm
• polymer solution viscosity 35 to 40 cp
• polymer requirements have doubled in last 10yrs from 200 to 400 metric tons per day
• slug size from 0.6 to 0.7 PV

Mobility ratio improvement by polymer injection from 9 to 0.3

Recovery expected to be more than 50% with 12 to 15% due to polymer flooding (13.3% average
based on 2013 CNPC figure – primary 7-8% - waterflood 35-45%) )
Enhanced Oil recovery 63
 POLYMER FLOODING IN DAQING FIELD, CHINA

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 POLYMER FLOODING IN DAQING FIELD, CHINA
Production results of different displacement modes in representative blocks

Polymer flood and waterflood in adjacent block - Field data until 2010 – numerical simulation after

SPE-164595 The Polymer Flooding Technique Applied at High Water Cut Stage in Daqing Oilfield_Daqing Oilfield Company
Enhanced Oil recovery 65
 CHEMICAL PROCESSES
SURFACTANT FLOODING OVERVIEW
 SURFACTANT FLOODING GENERAL
Generalities
• Understanding the chemical interactions with oil and rock material is fundamental in surfactant
processes
• Many surfactants reduce the interfacial tension, but the design of an appropriate formulation is a
case by case operation
• The limitation for the use of surfactants is the retention, then increasing surfactant cost
• Once a good surfactant formulation is designed from lab tests, then surfactant modelling requires
determination of the important simulation parameters
• Success of a surfactant flooding depends on many parameters: good reservoir description, suitable
surfactant formulation and monitoring
• Surfactant processes are complex EOR techniques. Cost is dominant
• Many technically successful pilots have been done, several small commercial projects have been
completed

Enhanced Oil recovery 67

 SURFACTANT FLOODING GENERAL

Favorable Characteristics for Surfactant Flooding

• High permeability and porosity
• High remaining oil saturation (>25%)
• Light oil less than 50 cp--but recent trend is to apply to viscous oils up to 200 cp or
even higher viscosity
• Short project life due to favorable combination of small well spacing and/or high
injectivity
• Good geological continuity
• Good source of high quality water
• Reservoir temperatures less than 300 °F (150°C) for surfactant but less than 220 °F
(105°C) as polymer is usually used for mobility control
Enhanced Oil recovery 68
 SURFACTANT FLOODING STRUCTURE

What is a surfactant ?
• Hydrophilic head : anionic , cationic, non ionic or a combination varying with pH

• Hydrophobic tail : long chain hydrocarbon radical , straight, branched, unsaturated

Enhanced Oil recovery 69

 SURFACTANT SOLUTIONS
Surfactant solutions
• Formation of a microemulsion phase of oil and water between
the oil and the water phases
• Decrease of the interfacial tension by adsorption
of monomers at the oil-water interface
• Can decrease IFT below 1.10-2 mN/m
(milli-Newton per meter = dyne/cm)

A surfactant is not used without other chemicals

• Each application is a particular case and requires the design of a
particular formulation

The selection of a surfactant depends on:

• oil composition, brine salinity, temperature

Enhanced Oil recovery 70

 SURFACTANT FORMULATION AND OPTIMIZATION

Surfactant formulation
• Mixture of chemical products in injection water:
o a surfactant: anionic surfactant (usually petroleum sulfonate - sulfonation of aromatics refinery
components) – sensitive to salinity

o a secondary surfactant (or co-surfactant) nonionic - sensitive to temperature

o a polymer to control surfactant slug mobility

o an alkaline in recent processes

• Optimization
o selection of a system giving a microemulsion by contact with the oil

o optimization for low IFT with oil

Enhanced Oil recovery 71

 SURFACTANT WINSOR TYPE EMULSION BEHAVIOR

When dissolving a surfactant in water and putting the solution in contact with oil, 3 main behaviors can be observed
depending on the oil, solution composition and water salinity
• Winsor Type I Behavior, oil-in-water microemulsion, surfactant in the aqueous phase
• Winsor Type II Behavior, water-in-oil microemulsion, surfactant in the oil phase
• Winsor Type III Behavior, separate microemulsion phase, ultra-low interfacial tensions ~ 0.001 dynes/cm, desirable for EOR

Enhanced Oil recovery 72

 SURFACTANT FORMULATION METHODOLOGY

Brine salinity increase

•dissolve chemicals in
separate microemulsion phase, Winsor III behavior brines of increasing salinity
•put in contact surfactant
solution with oil
• set the tubes at reservoir
temperature
•change the composition of
the formulation until the
Winsor III system occurs at
the injected brine salinity
•formulation and analysis
can be automated with a
robotic platform

73
Enhanced Oil recovery
Overview of Chemical EOR - Gary A. Pope - The University of Texas at Austin - EOR workshop 2007
 SURFACTANT RETENTION

• Is responsible for surfactant losses (main limitation to the efficiency of the process):
surfactant EOR is uneconomic if retention is not drastically reduced,

• Can be due to
o adsorption on the rock surface
– clays in sandstones (large surface, electrostatic adsorption)

– Limestone

o precipitation with formation water (divalents Ca 2+ )

o phase trapping into the oil

• Strategies exist to decrease retention: use of sacrificial agents, salinity gradient design
(decreasing salinity from reservoir brine to polymer slug) and alkaline chemicals,

→ Alkaline Surfactant Polymer

Enhanced Oil recovery 74
 CHEMICAL PROCESSES
ASP (ALKALINE SURFACTANT POLYMER)
 ASP FLOODING
• Alkaline agent reduces adsorption of surfactant (by 5)
o Lowers the concentration of surfactant required by >50%
o Alkali is inexpensive, so the potential for cost reduction is large
o Mobilizes residual oil, low interfacial tensions even with low surfactant concentration (0.1 to
0.5 %)

• Alkali used is powder sodium carbonate (also called soda ash) - best additive - or
liquid (50% active) sodium hydroxide or others

• Potential problems
o Corrosion
o Extra cost for water softening (calcium and magnesium precipitation with alkaline chemicals)
o Emulsion at the production well
o Polymer degradation in presence of alkali (temperature)

Enhanced Oil recovery 76

 ASP FLOODING PROCESS
• Alkali
o Can alter rock wettability
o Can react with oil to form in-situ surfactants: natural soap (NaphthenicAcid +Alkali), a hydrophobic
surfactant - not all crude oils are reactive with alkaline chemicals, oil must have acid components
o Increases pH which lowers surfactant retention
• Surfactant
o a hydrophilic surfactant, injected as the surfactant slug, reduces oil-water interfacial tension
• Polymer
o for mobility control
o Possible reaction with alkali must be taken into account

• Complex process to design

Enhanced Oil recovery 77

 ASP FLOODING PROCESS
• An ASP flood uses
o Alkaline preflush: not mandatory
o ASP slug: 0.2 – 0.5 PV
– Na2CO3: concentration range of 0.5 – 2%
– Surfactant: concentration range of 0.05 - 0.1%
– Polymer: 1000 ppm
o Polymer slug: generally without alkali - decreasing concentration

• Advantages:
o Low chemical concentrations → Low cost
o Low surfactantretention
• Drawbacks:
o Relatively low additional oil recovery compared to surfactant flooding
o Emulsion formation at production wells (damage).
Enhanced Oil recovery 78
 CHEMICAL PROCESSES
POLYMER AND ASP PROCESS EXAMPLE: MANGALA FIELD
(RAJASTHAN, NORTH WEST INDIA)

Enhanced Oil recovery 79

 MANGALA FIELD CHARACTERISTICS AND HISTORY

Mangala is a thick, multi-darcy fluvial sandstone reservoir containing relatively viscous (~15cp)
and paraffinic crude oil, discovered in 2004
Independent EOR screening studies began in the year of discovery, and confirmed chemical EOR
as the best choice for Mangala
Laboratory work began in 2005, immediately after screening studies
Reservoir simulations helped justify and design a pilot for field testing of chemical EOR processes
Polymer pilot conducted in 2010-12, soon after production start in 2009
Field scale polymer injection started in Nov 2014 through skid
Full field injection in 2015 through Central polymer facility (CPF) , largest centralized polymer
facility in the world
ASP Pilot conducted in 2014-15 simultaneously with full field polymer flood implementation.
Work ongoing for larger scale ASP expansion.

Cairn Oil & Gas - EOR application in Rajasthan Fields - 2017

Enhanced Oil recovery 80
 MANGALA ASP PILOT RESULTS

•8 Folds increase in Oil Rate in ASP Pilot, water cut down from 90% to 20%
•Incremental recovery over PF >20% of Pilot STOIIP

Enhanced Oil recovery

Cairn Oil & Gas - EOR application in Rajasthan Fields - 2017 81
 MANGALA ASP FULL FIELD 2017 STATUS AND ANTICIPATED RESULTS

Mangala Full field ASP status

•Facilities concept study
ongoing
•Staged expansion planned
•High Capex & Opex, oil price
challenge

ASP Flood Potential ~150

MMBBLS by 2030
EUR expected to exceed 50%
of STOIIP

Enhanced Oil recovery

Cairn Oil & Gas - EOR application in Rajasthan Fields - 2017 82
 KEY POINTS

divalents cations: Barium Ba2+, Calcium Ca2+, Iron Fe2+, Magnesium Mg2+ 83
Enhanced Oil recovery
Example
 KEY POINTS

84
Enhanced Oil recovery
ENHANCED OIL RECOVERY
JM Voirin / V Alcobia
PEPD 2023-24

85
 GAS INJECTION PROCESSES

86
Enhanced Oil recovery
 GAS INJECTION PROCESSES

What is the nature of the gases injected for EOR?

• Hydrocarbon

• Non Hydrocarbon

What governs the EOR mechanisms?

• Are the exchanges between phases important or not?

• Are there thermal effects or not (O2 Presence)?

When is the gas injected?

• Secondary or Tertiary Condition

Enhanced Oil recovery 87 3
 GAS INJECTION – DIFFERENT GASES
• Methane Ethane Propane Butane Pentane …..
C1 C2 C3 C4 C5+

LPG CONDENSATES
• LEAN GAS:
o lean in intermediate components
o low liquid content (LPG+CONDENSATES)
o C1>75%
• RICH GAS:
o rich in intermediate components
o fairly high liquid content (LPG+CONDENSATES)
o 60%<C1<75%
• OTHER GASES : CO2, Acid gas (mixture CO2, H2S), N2, Flue gas (mixture of N2, CO2, O2)

Enhanced Oil recovery 88 4

 GAS INJECTION RECOVERY MECHANISMS

• Pressure maintenance
• Gravity drainage will be more or less efficient depending on
o formation dip or thickness
o permeability and vertical barriers

• Miscibility
o at high pressure for lean gas or N2
o at lower pressure for enriched gas or CO2

• Thermal effects with O2 presence

Enhanced Oil recovery 89 5

 GAS INJECTION - MICROSCOPIC SCALE

• Good displacement efficiency is achieved when :

o Oil is swelling in presence of gas (especially with CO2)
o Phase Behavior effects are leading to miscible or near miscible displacements

• At pore scale residual oil saturation to gas injection Sorg is usually lower than
residual oil to water injection Sorw

• If strong compositional exchanges take place between injected gas and oil Sorg
tends to be extremely low

• Need for sophisticated lab experiments, equation of state (EOS) and compositional
modeling

Enhanced Oil recovery 90 6

 GAS INJECTION - SPECIFICITIES

• Density contrast between oil and gas is greater than between oil and water, gas gravity
drainage often exists and can be efficient
• Gas viscosity is low
o gas injectivity is better, less injectors are required
o mobility ratio with oil / water is unfavourable
– displacement can become unstable (frontal instability - fingering)
– gas injection is more sensitive to heterogeneities → enhanced understanding of
mechanisms, more detailed reservoir characterization required
• Good macroscopic displacement efficiency if
o gravity stable displacement
o mobility control improvement by water alternating gas process (WAG) or foams or a
combination (foam assisted WAG or FAWAG)

Enhanced Oil recovery 91 7

 GAS INJECTION - RECOVERY MECHANISMS

• Miscible or Near Miscible

o Thermodynamic Exchanges Dominant
o Rich Gas or CO2 at low or moderate pressure
o Lean Gas or N2 at high pressure
• Immiscible
o None or very limited compositional exchanges, crude swelling and viscosity
reduction if undersaturated
o Lean gas or N2 at high pressure (Cantarell giant field in Mexico)
o Gravity drainage is dominant
– The gravity force is the main mechanism - must be efficient within an economical
time scale

Enhanced Oil recovery 92 8

 GAS INJECTION - OIL DISPLACEMENT BY GAS

Enhanced Oil recovery 93 9

 MISCIBLE GAS INJECTION MECHANISMS

• Main mechanism
o The injected gas is miscible with crude oil and can displace oil with no capillary resistance:
– Continuous change from one phase to the other without interface
– oil phase viscosity reduction, oil swelling and Kro increase
o close to 100% recovery of oil in place at lab scale

• Miscibility dependson
o pressure and composition of injected fluid relative to in place fluid
o For miscibility to develop for a given composition: pressure must be higher than the MMP
(Minimum Miscibility Pressure)

• The displacement processes can be conveniently classified in:

o first-contact miscible (FCM)
o multiple-contact miscible (MCM)

Enhanced Oil recovery 94

 MISCIBLE GAS INJECTION (MGI) MECHANISMS

• First contact miscibility (FCM)

o Gas mixes directly with reservoir oil at first contact, whatever the respective proportions of gas
and oil
o LPGs are used as solvent slugs and are followed by a driving gas (methane)
• Multiple contact miscibility (MCM) or dynamic miscibility
o Vaporizing gas drive : intermediate components of the oil are extracted (vaporized) by the gas -
miscibility develops ahead of the gas front
o Condensing gas drive : mass transfer of intermediate components (C2, C3, C4) of the gas into
the oil – gas “condenses” into the oil
o Both mechanisms are often combined in MCM processes

Enhanced Oil recovery 95

 MGI - TERNARY DIAGRAM

Enhanced Oil recovery 96

 MGI - FIRST CONTACT MISCIBILITY
• This pseudoternary diagram illustrates phase
behavior for achieving first-contact miscibility at
Diagram at a both ends of an LPG slug
given P (and • LPG composition is represented by the lower
res. T)
right of the diagram
• For first-contact miscibility the straight line
connecting
o oil A and LPG
o drive-gas composition and LPG
must not pass through the multiphase region

From SPE Monograph vol.8 Stalkup

97
Enhanced Oil recovery
 MGI - VAPORIZING GAS PROCESS

• Reservoir oil A and inj. gas G are not initially miscible - inj.
gas initially displaces oil immiscibly, some oil remains
behind the gasfront

• Assume that the relative proportions of injection gas and

undisplaced oil after this first contact give the overall
M1
composition M1 with L1 and G1 in equilibrium

• Subsequent injection of gas pushes G1 into the reservoir,

where it contacts fresh oil, L1 is left behind as a residual
saturation.

• The process is repeated, gas composition at the displacing

front is altered progressively along the dew point curve
until it reaches the plait-point where it is directly miscible
with the oil A.

98
Enhanced Oil recovery
 MGI - CONDENSING GAS PROCESS

• Oil A and gas G are not miscible initially, because their

mixtures are within the two-phase region

• Suppose that, after the first contact of reservoir oil by gas

G, mixture M1 results with liquid L1 and gas G1 in
equilibrium

• Inj. of additional gas G pushes G1 ahead into the reservoir

leaving L1 in contact with gas G → new mixture M2 etc…

• Process repeats until the composition of liquid along the

bubble-point curve reaches the plait-point where it is
directly miscible with injection gas

Enhanced Oil recovery 99

 MGI - MISCIBILITY DIAGRAM

RICH GAS

LEAN GAS

Enhanced Oil recovery 100

 MGI

• Selecting an appropriate solvent for a given EOR process is based on:

o Availability and relative cost
o Physical properties and phase behavior data
o Miscibility conditions:
– Fixed solvent composition: lowest pressure at which the solvent can
develop miscibility with the reservoir oil called the Minimum
Miscibility Pressure (MMP)
– If solvent composition can vary: minimum content of intermediate
components in the solvent Minimum Miscibility Enrichment (MME)
o Reservoir characteristics

Enhanced Oil recovery 101

 MGI - MINIMUM MISCIBILITY PRESSURE (MMP)

• Methods for estimating the Minimum Miscibility Pressure

o Experimental methods
– Slim tube experiments (most common)
– Rising bubble method
– Vanishing interfacial tension (VIT)
o Calculation
– Mixing cell method (single and multi-cell)
– Simulated Slim tube test
o Several correlations also exist particularly for CO2

Enhanced Oil recovery 102

 MGI - MMP – SLIM TUBE TEST

Slim Tube experiment - Laboratory determination of MMP

The apparatus is a stainless steel tube placed in an oven:
ID : ¼ inch
20 to 60 ft length with 40 ft the most common (12m)
Packed with sands or glass beads of high k (2.5 Darcy)

Enhanced Oil recovery 103

 MGI - MMP – SLIM TUBE TEST

Slim Tube experiment - Process

• The slim tube is charged with the reservoir oil at reservoir T and operating P of the test
• Usually 1.2PV of gas are passed through and the volume of oil displaced by the gas is measured
• The test is repeated at 6 to 8 increasing pressures (reservoir temperature, constant gas composition)
• Recoveries are plotted versus pressure for the different tests
• When the injected fluid becomes miscible with the reservoir oil, an inflection in the curve is noticed, this is the MMP, above
this pressure recovery will not increase as much.

Enhanced Oil recovery 104

 MGI – MMP - ALWYN 1993 SLIM TUBE EXPERIMENTS RESULTS

From TOTAL - North Alwyn Well 3/9a-N11 Advanced PVT Study

Enhanced Oil37755-Alwyn
As referenced in SPE paper recovery North IOR Gas Injection Potential - A case study
105
 MGI - MMR OR MME: MINIMUM MISCIBILITY RICHNESS OR ENRICHMENT

Laboratory determination
• Slim tube experiments (42ft length)
• Actual reservoir temperature and actual gas (pressure is fixed in this case)
• 6 to 8 points for different gas compositions (different enrichments)

Enhanced Oil recovery 106

 MGI - FIELD PROCESSES
Miscibility type FCM M u l ti p l e C o n ta ct Miscibility

Process L P G Inje ction V a p o r i z i n g g a s drive Conde ns i n g g a s drive

Inj ected g a s LPG lean g a s (> 7 5 C1) g a s rich in i n t e r m e d i a t e

C2-C6 t r a n sf erre d f r o m oil C2 + t r a n s f er red f r o m g a s t o

Mechanism direct m i x i n g (Light Oil ~ 40° A P I , rich in oil (swelling, viscosity
i n t e r m e dia te ) t o g a s reduction)
6 0 t o 1 0 0 % H C P V (10-15 Years)
slug size 5 to 10% H CPV 10 to 20% H CPV
P r o d . g a s re-injected
lean g a s ( c o n t i n u o u s o r lean g a s ( c o n t i n u o u s o r
drive g a s a l t e r n at in g w i t h w a t e r - W A G ) none a l t e r n at in g w i t h w a t e r - W A G )
size 5 0 t o 6 0 % H C P V size: 4 0 t o 6 0 % H C P V
Operating
> 1200 > 3000 / 3500 1500 to 3000
Pressure (psi)
p r o j e c t s o f l a r g e scale o v e r a
Specific L P G expens ive, possible
l o n g p e r i o d, Hassi M e s s a o u d ,
comments s o l v e nt d i l u t ion
A l w y n N o r t h B r e n t East

Enhanced Oil recovery 107

 WATER ALTERNATING GAS (WAG) PROCESS
• The Water Alternating Gas (WAG) process is a method of injecting alternating cycles of gas
followed by water and repeating this process over a number of cycles
o WAG Improves sweep efficiency : regular patterns and balanced rates can measurably improve
areal sweep efficiency
o Reduces the injected gas requirement (ratio of gas to oil produced)

• Optimum process depends on many factors including

o Relative quantities of water and gas
o Level of heterogeneity
o gas water switchovers in the same wells may reduce injectivity

• Main WAG parameters

o WAG ratio (ratio of water to gas volumes injected in reservoir conditions)
o WAG cycle length (duration of a complete cycle water + gas)

• Possible water injectivity loss in WAG applications (20% on average?)

o Near wellbore effects : organic matter precipitation, emulsion blocking
o But not only: wettability changes, 3-phase Kr, mobility reduction of the oil bank
Enhanced Oil recovery 108
 WAG PROCESS PRINCIPLE AND VARIATIONS

Enhanced Oil recovery 109

 WAG PROCESS COMPARISONS (SIMULATIONS)

Enhanced Oil recovery 110

 HEAVY OIL / BITUMEN RECOVERY PROCESSES

111
Enhanced Oil recovery
 HO / BITUMEN - CLASSIFICATION OF HEAVY OILS
D class: oil shales (contain a large proportion of solid organic compounds, the kerogen) - out
viscosity > 10000 cp / 7° to 12° API of the scope of this talk

viscosity 100 to 10000 cp / 7° to 20° API

viscosity 10 to 100 cp / 18° to 25° API

MOBILE OIL

Source:TOTAL 112
Enhanced Oil recovery
 HO / BITUMEN - CLASSIFICATION OF HEAVY OILS – A&B CLASSES

• Heavy oils able to flow at reservoir temperature

o Example: Orinoco belt in Venezuela

o Can be produced economically, without additional viscosity-reduction techniques

– variants of conventional processes such as long horizontal wells, or
multilaterals

o Implementation of in situ viscosity reduction techniques to increase the recovery

factor

Enhanced Oil recovery 113

 HO / BITUMEN - CLASSIFICATION OF HEAVY OILS – C CLASS

• Extra-heavy oils and bitumen too viscous to flow at reservoir conditions

o Steam based production technologies needed to facilitate their flow from
reservoir to well head

• Mineable bitumen
o Mined from the surface
o Extracted bitumen to be upgraded or diluted with lighter hydrocarbons before
sale

Enhanced Oil recovery 114

 HO & BITUMEN - RESERVES AND RESOURCES

Enhanced Oil recovery 115

 HO & BITUMEN - RESERVES AND RESOURCES LOCATIONS

Heavy oil and bitumen resources

worldwide amount to around
10000 GBIP – or billion

Heavy oil resources are largely

concentrated in Canada,
Venezuela and Russia

Does Heavy Oil Recovery Need Steam? Johan van Dorp SPE DLP
Enhanced Oil recovery 116
 CANADA OIL SANDS RESOURCES
▪ Largest deposit of extra-heavy oil / bitumen Main Canadian oil-sands districts
▪ 2000 GB (2 trillion bbls) in place in Alberta
▪ Surface to 550m depth, res. Temp.10°C (50°F) @ 400m
▪ Viscosities can be over 1000000 (res. cond.) in Athabasca
▪ Production processes: mining (started in 1967), in-situ, below
75m (primary production in the 1970s and steam in the 1980s)
▪ Established reserves: 170 GB (billion bbls)

117
Enhanced Oil recovery
IEA - World Energy Outlook 2010 - GLOBAL ENERGY TRENDS
 CANADA OIL SANDS RESOURCES
• Oil sands composition(wt.%)
• 75%-80% inorganic materials (90% quartz plus
clay and minerals)
• 3%-5% water
• Bitumen content from 1% to about 18% (More
than 12% is considered rich, less than 6% is poor)
• Unconsolidated, crumbles in hands
• Bitumen: heavy, tar like crude oil
o Very low gravity and very high viscosity
o Challenging Chemistry: contains aromatics,
asphaltenes, sulfur, nitrogen, metals, corrosive
organic acids
o Must be diluted or upgraded for shipping

Enhanced Oil recovery 118

 VENEZUELA ORINOCO BELT
▪ Second-largest deposit of extra-heavy oil
▪ 1300 GB in place (PDVSA estimate) over 50000 km2
▪ 500 to 1000 m depth, temperature 55°C
▪ Viscosities between 1000 and 10000 cp, lower than Canadian oilsands
due to higher temperature
▪ Production processes: natural depletion (+ foamy oils ? + compaction ?)
▪ RF <5% (vertical wells) to 10/15% (horizontal wells), CSS (and SAGD?) for
higher recoveries
▪ Reserves: 100 to 300 Billion bls (8% to 20% recovery factor?) Significant
production started in the 2000s
▪ Production upgraded to synthetic crude oil (SCO)

USGSmap

Enhanced Oil recovery 119

 HO / BITUMEN - TECHNOLOGICAL CHALLENGES / DRAWBACKS

• Specific EOR processes (thermal, solvent …)

• Producing viscous oils up to the surface (artificial lift, pumps)

• Water treatment

• Heavy crude transportation

• Upgrading

• Environmental aspects, Green House Gases (next slide)

Enhanced Oil recovery 120

 HO / BITUMEN - TECHNOLOGICAL CHALLENGES / DRAWBACKS

• Environmental aspects, GHG:

o In Canada, 1 bbl of HO produced requires 30 m3 of gas for heat generation (steam) and 15 m3 for
upgrading - Production could become constrained by availability of natural gas

o HO production process uses more than 20% of the energy content of the produced hydrocarbons
versus 6% for conventional crude

o More energy and/or carbon efficient techniques have to be developed (production techniques
without steam - solvent, in situ combustion, geothermal, CO2 capture, etc..)

Enhanced Oil recovery 121

 HO / BITUMEN - HOW DO WE MAKE IT FLOW?

• Reduce the mobility contrast

o Heating (or diluting with solvents): oil viscosity decrease, oil expansion

• Generate large flow areas

o High well density / short spacing / dense pattern
o Horizontal wells & Multilateral wells (incl. fishbones, etc.)
• Increase the permeability
o Permeability can be increased by fracturing (to initiate some processes) or generation of
wormholes (efficient when associated with solution gas release in the reservoir)
• Modify the composition
o Vaporization
o Cracking of the molecules (limited to In-Situ Combustion ISC process)

Enhanced Oil recovery 122

 HO / BITUMEN - HOW DO WE MAKE IT FLOW?

Vi s c o s i t y
(mPa.s)
1 0 0 ,0 0 0 ,0 0 0
T
Tyyp
p ii c
caa ll C
Coo ll d
d R
Rees
see rr v
voo ii rr 1
100C
C
10,000,000
22 ,,8
8000
0 ,,0
0000
0
Orinoco Venezuela 57 C 1500-3000 cp
1 ,0 0 0 ,0 0 0
162,000
1 0 0 ,0 0 0
Athabasca
1 0 ,0 0 0 Cold Lake 0
M o b ile
0
1 ,0 0 0 oi l s
20 bars Steam: 212 C
7 ,,22 0 0
100
Typicalsteam
10 L ll o
oyyd
dmm ii n
nss tt e
e rr temperatures
L
1
0 50 100 150 200 250 300
Source: TOTAL
123
Enhanced Oil recovery
 HO / BITUMEN - RECOVERY TECHNIQUES

Surface extraction: Mining when depth is lower than 75m

In-situ methods
• Cold production, can be improved by high sand cut (not an EOR process) or polymer
flooding
• Injecting heat into the reservoir: hot fluid injection
o Hot water injection, not very efficient
o Steam injection
• Releasing heat in the reservoir: In-situ combustion ISC (wet or dry)
• Diluting : solvent (usually light HC) injection
• Combined methods
o Cyclic steam injection followed by steam drive or combustion
o Combined injection of steam and gases or solvent

Enhanced Oil recovery 124

 HO / BITUMEN - RECOVERY TECHNIQUES - COLD PRODUCTION

• Mobile heavy oils (viscosity < 10000 cp)

• Natural depletion, cheapest production process (needs only activation of the
producers)
• Optimized with horizontal or multilateral wells
• Recovery < 10%, fast production decline due to rapid depletion
• Recovery and production rate can be improved by allowing sand production (CHOPS -
Cold Heavy Oil Production with sands) or by polymer flooding

Enhanced Oil recovery 125

HEAVY OIL / BITUMEN RECOVERY PROCESSES
COLD PRODUCTION
 HO / BITUMEN - RECOVERY TECHNIQUES - COLD PRODUCTION - CHOPS
• Uses Progressive Cavity pumps (PCP = Moineau type )
• Integrated sand handling system and disposal technology
• >20% oil recovery in good reservoirs – rate multiplied by 10

Application in the Luseland Field, Saskatchewan

Z = 800 m, Φ = 30%, k = 2-4 D

API = 11.5-13 , μ = 1400 cP (liveoil)

PC pumps, 4% sand cut

Beam pumps, low sand in
content liquids
in oil (<0.5%)

Enhanced OilTechnologies
New Production recovery Maurice B. Dusseault SPE Distinguished Lecturer series 2003
127
 HO / BITUMEN - RECOVERY TECHNIQUES – COLD PRODUCTION - POLYMER
FLOODS
Canada Pelican Lake Area Upper Wabiscaw Sand Characteristics

• Depth of 300-425m TVD

• Net Pay Range 1 – 9m
• Porosity 28 – 32%
• Permeability 300 – 3000md
• Temperature 13-17 deg. C
• Water Saturation 30 – 40%
• Oil Viscosity (dead oil) 800 – 80,000cp @ 15 deg. C
• Initial Reservoir Pressure 1900 – 2600kpa

Annual Performance Presentation - In Situ Oil Sands Schemes - March 2018 - Canadian Natural
Enhanced Oil recovery
https://www.cnrl.com/operations/north-america-exploration-and-production/north-american-crude-oil-and-ngls/pelican-lake-crude-oil.html 128
 HO / BITUMEN - RECOVERY TECHNIQUES – COLD PRODUCTION - POLYMER
FLOODS
Wabiskaw Formation
Produced Oil
Viscosity Map

Enhanced Oil recovery 129

 HO / BITUMEN - RECOVERY TECHNIQUES – COLD PRODUCTION - POLYMER
FLOODS

Approval area 10147

contains the most mature
polymer flood patterns
including the original
CNRL pilot area which
began flooding in 2005
Oil viscosity ranges from
1,300 cp to 2,800 cP.

Enhanced Oil recovery Annual Performance Presentation - In Situ Oil Sands Schemes - March 2018 - Canadian Natural 130
 HO / BITUMEN - RECOVERY TECHNIQUES – COLD PRODUCTION - POLYMER
FLOODS
First Polymer Response in
April 2006 Pilot area.
Peak production at 650 m3/d
oil
Increased water cut was
observed in 2017 due to the
flood maturity
Water cut averaged roughly
69% during 2017.

Annual Performance Presentation - In Situ Oil Sands Schemes - March 2018 - Canadian Natural
Enhanced Oil recovery 131
 HO / BITUMEN - RECOVERY TECHNIQUES – COLD PRODUCTION - POLYMER
FLOODS
Good Performance – HTL1
(Approval 10147)

Annual Performance Presentation - In Situ Oil Sands Schemes - March 2018 - Canadian Natural
Enhanced Oil recovery 132
 HO / BITUMEN - RECOVERY TECHNIQUES – COLD PRODUCTION - POLYMER
FLOODS

Good/Average/Poor Areas

• Plot showing Recovery

Factor versus Pore Volume
Injected
• Indicates effectiveness and
performance of the flood.

Enhanced Oil recovery Annual Performance Presentation - In Situ Oil Sands Schemes - March 2018 - Canadian Natural 133
ENHANCED OIL RECOVERY
JM Voirin / V Alcobia
PEPD 2023-24

134
HEAVY OIL / BITUMEN RECOVERY PROCESSES
THERMAL PROCESSES
 HO / BITUMEN - RECOVERY TECHNIQUES – THERMAL PROCESSES

Objectives of the thermal processes

• Improve flow conditions
o Decrease mobility contrast
o Lower residual oil saturation
• Expand the oil volume
• Change wettability and surface properties
• Change the oil composition:
o Vaporization
o Chemical reactions (ISC)

Enhanced Oil recovery 136

 HO / BITUMEN - RECOVERY TECHNIQUES – THERMAL PROCESSES

Thermal Methods
• STEAM based processes
o Most common: Cyclic Steam Stimulation (CCS) and Steam Drive (or Steamflooding)
o More and more important over the last 10 years: Steam Assisted Gravity Drainage (SAGD) -
only current economic in-situ process for bitumen
– Steam generation (+CO2 emission) is the majorlimitation
o SAGD hybrid processes involving gas or solvent are emerging processes aimed at reducing
water consumption and CO2 emissions
– Most advanced process is Expanding-Solvent SAGD (ES-SAGD)
• In Situ Combustion (ISC) injection of air (O2) to burn a part of the crude
o difficult process with limited applications
o improved process by use of horizontal wells is being tested: Toe-to-Heel Air Injection process
(THAI)

Enhanced Oil recovery 137

THERMAL PROCESSES
CYCLE STEAM STIMULATION
 HO / BITUMEN - THERMAL PROCESSES - CYCLIC STEAM STIMULATION

CSS also called "huff and puff"

• First thermal technique to be implemented in the late 50’s
• Proven technology for mobile heavy oils / extra-heavy oils / bitumen with viscosities up to
more than 100000 cp
• Examples:
o Canada: Cold Lake
o Venezuela: Maracaibo area
o California: Kern River
• Much more expensive than cold production, since needs steam
• Drawbacks:
o Only stimulation around wellbore limits recovery (15-30%)
o Energy consumption and GHG emission

Enhanced Oil recovery 139

 HO / BITUMEN - THERMAL PROCESSES - CYCLIC STEAM STIMULATION

• The next charts on CSS have been established with information extracted from the
following documents:

o Cold Lake Field 2016 (and previous) Annual Performance Review to the AER (Alberta Energy
Regulator) by Imperial Oil

o 2016 (and previous) Primrose, Wolf Lake, and Burnt Lake Fields Annual Presentation to the AER by
Canadian Natural Resources Limited

Enhanced Oil recovery 140

 HO / BITUMEN - THERMAL PROCESSES - CYCLIC STEAM STIMULATION
▪ Cold Lake Project was developed by Imperial Oil Canada in the 1960’s

o 100% ownership, commercial start-up in 1985

o Production has been above 120 kbd for almost
15 years (between 145 and 160 kbd since 2011)
o ~ 4500 active wells
o Recoveries 20-25% of original bitumen in place

Enhanced Oil recovery 141

 THERMAL PROCESSES - CYCLIC STEAM STIMULATION – COLD LAKE (ALBERTA)

• Reservoirs
o Primary Clearwater Fm, @ 400m depth
o Secondary Grand Rapids, McMurray Formations

• Unconsolidated sands
o Porosity 27 - 35%
o Permeability 1 - 4 Darcies
o Net Pay average 30m

• Bitumen
o API Gravity 10.2
o Viscosity 100,000 cp @ 13 C, 8 cp @ 200°C
o Saturation Average 70%

Cold Lake Annual Performance Review - Imperial Oil

Enhanced Oil recovery 142
 THERMAL PROCESSES - CYCLIC STEAM STIMULATION – COLD LAKE (ALBERTA)

Characteristics
• Drive Mechanisms: Compaction,solution gas drive, gravity
drainage
• Wells Required: 1
• Well Type: deviated or horizontal
• Operating Pressure: above fracture pressure
Process
• Steam injection heats bitumen to reduce its viscosity (4 -
6 weeks) [pads steamed less frequently as they mature,
steaming suspended at an economic limit]
• Brief soak phase to confirm casing integrity and control
inter-well communication (3 days –several weeks)
• Production period from a few months in early cycles to
multiple years in last cycles
• Full well life 8-17 cycles and up to 50 years including Cold Lake Annual Performance Review - Imperial Oil

follow-up processes
Enhanced Oil recovery 143
 THERMAL PROCESSES - CYCLIC STEAM STIMULATION – COLD LAKE (ALBERTA)

Enhanced OilPerformance
Cold Lake Annual recovery Review - Imperial Oil 144
 THERMAL PROCESSES - CYCLIC STEAM STIMULATION – COLD LAKE (ALBERTA)

Wells drilled directionally from central lease

location
• Reduced environmental disturbance
• Improved developmenteconomics
• Increased operational efficiencies
Original pad design 20 wells on 4 acre spacing
Current pad designs
• Up to 35 wells on 4 or 8 acre spacing
• Mix of deviated and horizontalwells

Enhanced Oil recovery Cold Lake Annual Performance Review - Imperial Oil 145
 THERMAL PROCESSES - CYCLIC STEAM STIMULATION – COLD LAKE PRODUCTION

Enhanced Oil recovery Cold Lake Annual Performance Review - Imperial Oil 146
 THERMAL PROCESSES - CYCLIC STEAM STIMULATION – COLD LAKE RECOVERIES

Individual pad recovery expectations range from less than 10% to over 60% of
the original effective bitumen in place (overall 20 to 25%)
The variation in recovery level is fundamentally a function of bitumen saturation
and shale structure/distribution
Additional reservoir challenges include:
• Bottomwater
• Clearwater gascap
• Split pay
• Adjacent reservoir depletion
• Well Spacing

Enhanced Oil recovery 147

 THERMAL PROCESSES - CYCLIC STEAM STIMULATION - ALBERTA CSS PRODUCTION
350.0
Alberta CS S Projects
Production a n d Capacity since 2008 Peace River Primrose/ Wolf Lake Cold Lake
300.0

2 5 0 .0

200.0
Oil Production

150.0
kbd

100.0

5 0 .0

0.0
2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017

148
Enhanced Oil recovery
 THERMAL PROCESSES
CYCLE STEAM STIMULATION - FOLLOW-UP
PROCESSES
 THERMAL PROCESSES - CSS FOLLOW-UP PROCESSES - STEAM FLOODING

Late Life Steamflood approved for entire

Cold Lake Development Area

Currently ~123 infills on steamfloodinto 82

producing pads (~1,500 wells)

Continuous steam injection, at low rates

has the potential to:
> Lower operating costs
> Improve well operability
> Reduced casing stress

Continuous rather than cyclical steam

injection through dedicated injection-only
and production-only wells
Enhanced Oil recovery 150
 THERMAL PROCESSES - CSS FOLLOW-UP PROCESSES - LASER

Liquid Addition to Steam for Enhancing Recovery (LASER, specific to Cold Lake)
• Late-life technology follow-up process for CSS
• Implemented with 2-3 cyclic cycles remaining
• Alternative to purely thermal processes

Cyclic steam process with the addition of a C5+ condensate to the steam during
injection
• Enhances gravity drainage efficiency by reducing in-situ viscosity beyond
thermal limit
• Potentially increases the recovery by >5% of BIP

Enhanced Oil recovery 151

 THERMAL PROCESSES
STEAM FLOODING OR STEAM DRIVE PROCESS
 THERMAL PROCESSES – STEAMFLOODING OR STEAM DRIVE
High-temperature steam is continuously injected in dedicated wells using dense and regular
injector / producer well patterns. In dipped reservoirs steam is injected near the top (to
promote gravity drainage)
As the steam looses heat to the formation, it condenses into hot water
• Steam and hot water drive the oil to production wells.
• Condensed water forms a waterflood
As the formation heats, oil recovery is increased by:
• Viscosity reduction, swelling of the oil, vaporization of lighter fractions - these fractions move ahead
into the cooler formation where they condense and form a solvent or miscible bank
Up to 50% recovery can be achieved
Initial communication between injection and production wells can be obtained by fracturing or
preferably as a follow-up of CSS

Enhanced Oil recovery 153

 THERMAL PROCESSES - EXAMPLE OF FIELD ON STEAMFLOODING

Suitable for thick (>30ft), not too deep (<5000 ft) reservoirs, usually permeable
(>0.2D) and with high porosity (30%) and high oil saturation
Used in heavy-oil reservoirs with viscosity too high for primary production but
mobile with a viscosity < 10 000 cp (or higher following CSS)
• ex: Oman, Maracaibo (Venezuela), California - 20000 wells, Indonesia (Duri), Alberta (Cold
Lake, Peace River), Russia…
Viscous fingering (of condensed water) and gravity override are frequent
steamflooding issues

Enhanced Oil recovery 154

 THERMAL PROCESSES – STEAMFLOODING OR STEAM DRIVE

Enhanced Oil recovery 155

 THERMAL PROCESSES
STEAM ASSISTED GRAVITY DRAINAGE (SAGD)
 THERMAL PROCESSES - STEAM ASSISTED GRAVITY DRAINAGE (SAGD)

More recent thermal technologies have emerged associated with the short-distance vs long-distance
displacement concept and applications
Improved / new drilling or completion techniques (horizontal wells, multilaterals)

Enhanced Oil recovery 157

 THERMAL PROCESSES - STEAM ASSISTED GRAVITY DRAINAGE (SAGD)

The main and only commercial application of this concept is SAGD (Steam Assisted Gravity Drainage)
• Commercial today in the McMurray and Clearwater (2 projects low rate) formations
• Pilots in other formations like Grosmont carbonates, Grand Rapids

Other techniques are being developed but most of them are still at the pilot stage (it takes many years
before becoming commercial)
• Solvent-based (solvent = light HC) recovery processes Vapor Extraction Recovery (VAPEX)
• Hybrid thermal/solvent processes
o Steam Assisted Gas Push (SAGP)
o Expanding Solvent SAGD (ES-SAGD) or Solvent Aided Process (SAP)
o Tapered Steam Solvent SAGD(TSS-SAGD)

In-situ combustion Toe-To-Heel Air Injection (THAI) process

Enhanced Oil recovery 158

 THERMAL PROCESSES - STEAM ASSISTED GRAVITY DRAINAGE (SAGD)

For extra-heavy oils and bitumen (viscosity > 100 000 cp)
Invented by R. Butler (Calgary University) in the 80 ’s
• Commercial after 20 years and some 30 pilot projects
Only commercial technology for 80% of bitumen resources in Athabasca
Significantly reduced land disturbance
Higher recovery than CSS (up to 50-70% vs 15-30%)
Lower steam-oil ratios (SOR) than CSS (typically 3 versus 5) but more expensive
than cold production, since needs a lot of steam
Technology Issues
• Energy intense (natural gas for steam requirements) - GHG emissions
• Water disposal / recycling

Enhanced Oil recovery 159

 THERMAL PROCESSES - STEAM ASSISTED GRAVITY DRAINAGE (SAGD)

Steam Assisted Gravity Drainage sketch

Source: EnCana

Enhanced Oil recovery 160

 THERMAL PROCESSES - GRAVITY ASSISTED DRAINAGE (GAD)

Horizontal wells are essential

Requires good vertical permeability

Flow is driven by density differences

• Must keep Δp low for stability

• Wells are at the base of the reservoir

• Reservoirs must be relatively thick > 15-20 m

Recovery ratios can be very high

Enhanced Oil recovery 161

 THERMAL PROCESSES – SAGD PROCESS

Steam injector

5m
Oil & Water producer

From: New Production Technologies Maurice B. Dusseault SPE Distinguished Lecturer series 2003

Enhanced Oil recovery 162

 THERMAL PROCESSES - SAGD UNIQUE FEATURES
Low ΔP between the injector and the producer (use of gravity as primary motive force for
moving oil)
Large production rates obtainable with gravity using horizontal wells
Rapid oil production response
• Flow of the heated oil directly to the production well without having to displace uncontacted oil (short-
distance versus long-distance concept)
• Start-up process by circulating steam into both the injection and production wells to heat and mobilize
the bitumen between the two wells (0.5 to 3 months) then convert the lower well into a producer
Very low sensitivity to heterogeneities except extensive horizontal shale intervals
SAGD is predictable because
• steam front geometry is simple and stable
• gravity as the motive force is constant everywhere and always
Good agreement between analytical, physical and numerical models of the process

Enhanced Oil recovery 163

 THERMAL PROCESSES - SAGD - MCMURRAY FORMATION AND BITUMEN CHARACTERISTICS

Depth 100 – 450m TVD

Original Pressure 28 bars (400 psi) at 400m
Original Temperature 7-12°C (45-55°F)
Permeability
•horizontal 2 to 10 Darcies
•Vertical 1 to 8 Darcies
Pay Thickness 15 – 60m
Porosity >25%
Oil Saturation >50%
Oil viscosity >1000000 cp at reservoir conditions and reservoir temperature,
can go down to 10 cp at steam temperature

Enhanced Oil recovery 164

 THERMAL PROCESSES - SAGD - MCMURRAY FORMATION AND BITUMEN CHARACTERISTICS

McMurray formation thickness and SAGD patterns in Foster Creek Field

Formation thickness (meters) scale:

Cenovus Foster Creek in-situ oil sands presentation

Enhanced Oil recovery 165
 THERMAL PROCESSES - SAGD - MCMURRAY FORMATION AND BITUMEN CHARACTERISTICS

Foster Creek representative structural cross-section over central area

34m

Cenovus Foster Creek in-situ oil sands presentation

Enhanced Oil recovery 166
 THERMAL PROCESSES - SAGD - TYPICAL WELL PAIR (PRODUCER - INJECTOR)

Foster Creek – Example of SAGD well pair 1 in E16 pad

Enhanced
Cenovus Foster CreekOil
in-situ recovery
oil sands presentation
167
 THERMAL PROCESSES - SAGD - WELL PADS IN FOSTER CREEK

Enhanced Oil recovery 168

 THERMAL PROCESSES - SAGD - TYPICAL WELL RATE PERFORMANCE

Hangingstone demonstration project

Enhanced Oil recovery 169
 THERMAL PROCESSES - SAGD – FOSTER CREEK FIELD PERFORMANCE

Cenovus Foster Creek in-situ oil sands presentation

Enhanced Oil recovery 170
 THERMAL PROCESSES - SAGD – FOSTER CREEK FIELD RECOVERIES
Foster Creek – Recovery examples - cumulative percent SOIP
SOIP or SAGDable OIP = OIP in net SAGD pay: base to top of SAGD zone)

Enhanced OilFosterrecovery
Cenovus Creek in-situ oil sands presentation 171
 THERMAL PROCESSES – SAGD - MONITORING

SAGD Process Monitoring

• Temperature surveys in observation wells
• Logging techniques to monitor saturation (presence of steam)
• 4D (time-lapse) seismic techniques to detect areas of the reservoir
that have been influenced by steam injection

Enhanced Oil recovery 172

 THERMAL PROCESSES - SAGD - MONITORING
Foster Creek: temperature survey and 4D seismic

Enhanced Oiloilrecovery
Cenovus Foster Creek in-situ sands presentation 173
 THERMAL PROCESSES - SAGD - MONITORING

SAGD - Surface and Caprock Monitoring

• Surface Deformation Monitoring
o Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar Images - monthly data - data acquisition initiated after
first steam
• Caprock integrity Monitoring
o Key requirements to ensure caprock integrity:
– Adequate hydraulic seal - laterally continuous and low perm (kv and kh) to
ensure reservoir fluid containment
– The seal must remain mechanically intact - must have adequate strength to
withstand the pressure and deformations imposed by SAGD
• Monitoring
o microseismicity
o cap rock shear strength tests
o geomechanical caprock core testing

Enhanced Oil recovery 174

 THERMAL PROCESSES - SAGD - DEVELOPMENT CHALLENGES

High fuel consumption and costs (6-7 US $/bbl for gas)

• Cogeneration or combined heat and power (CHP) to generate steam and power
• Reduce SOR (Low pressure, solvent)
• Alternative Fuel (in the Nexen-CNOOC Long Lake Athabasca oilsands Project all steam and
electricity is generated from combustion of the asphaltene fraction of the SAGD-produced
bitumen)
Boiler Feedwater Sources
• Huge amount of water required > 3 bbl of water per bbl of oil
• 95% of the water is recycled and reused but still a lot per bbl of oil - Brackish water can also be
used
Environmental
• CO2 emission 12,000 t/d for 100,000 bopd - (27 kg/bbl of steam + upgrading)
• Sulphur and bitumen slurry (fluid tailings)

Enhanced Oil recovery 175

 THERMAL PROCESSES - SAGD - FINE-TUNING

Solvent co-injection (lab work / pilots in the last 10 years have demonstrated interest in
advancing towards commercialization)
Benefits :
• When caprock might not be able to handle higher pressures (close to the surface)
• Improves steam to oil ratios (SOR), decreasing water requirements and CO2 emissions.
• Boost productivity
SA (solvent added) or ES (expanding solvent) SAGD - A solvent is added to the injected
steam
• Will dissolve/disperse in the bitumen significantly lowering its viscosity (up to 5 fold)
• Accelerates recovery with less steam requirement per barrel of oil produced.
SC (Solvent-cyclic) - SAGD involves alternating injection cycles of steam and
hydrocarbons: projects exist in the Grand Rapids and Grosmont formations
Enhanced Oil recovery 176
 THERMAL PROCESSES - SAGD – ALBERTA SAGD PROJECTS
SAGD Projects – Production and capacity since 2008
1200

S éri e1 9
L in d b ergh
S unri se +18%
1000 Other
Ki rby S o u t h
STP McKay
L ei sm er
+ 1 10 %
H a n g in g sto ne
Ori on
800 + 12 46 %
%
Tuc k er
Great Di vi de/Al gar
Chri sti na l ak e
Production kbd

Chri sti na l ak e %
+18%
S u r m o nt
600
L o n g L ak e
J ac k fi sh
+32%
%
Bitumen

M a c K a y Ri ver
F i rebag
F oster Creek %
+22%
400
+35%

+30%

200

0
2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017
177
Enhanced Oil recovery
 THERMAL PROCESSES - SAGD – ALBERTA SAGD PROJECTS – PRODUCTION PER PROCESS

Ref: http://www.aer.ca/data-and-publications/statistical-reports/report-data
Enhanced Oil recovery 178
 THERMAL PROCESSES - SAGD – ALBERTA OILSANDS PRODUCTION TOTAL

Ref: http://www.aer.ca/data-and-publications/statistical-reports/report-data
Enhanced Oil recovery 179
 THERMAL PROCESSES
IN SITU COMBUSTION PROCESSES (ISC)
 THERMAL PROCESSES - IN-SITU COMBUSTION (ISC) - also called Fireflood / Air Injection

For heavy oils up to bitumen

Injection of air (O2) into the oil to create an advancing combustion front
Ignition is often started using an ignitor (gas burner) in an injection well - 10-15% of
the oil is burned
Water is sometimes injected simultaneously or alternately with air (wet combustion)
creating steam
• → better heat utilization and reduced air requirements
Common problems :
• Problems of gravity override (for vertical wells)
• Burning and casing shear in production wells
• Extinction of the combustion front
Also applied for light oils, but combustion occurs at lower temperatures
Enhanced Oil recovery 181
 THERMAL PROCESSES - IN-SITU COMBUSTION PROCESS
Injection of air (O2) to burn a part of the oil / bitumen
• heat reduces oil viscosity - steam drive by steam generated in-situ
• thermal cracking of the oil - gas drive
• heavy fractions left by the cracking act as fuels for the combustion

Enhanced Oil recovery 182

 THERMAL PROCESSES - IN-SITU COMBUSTION NOVEL PROCESSES
THAI (Toe to Heel Air Injection) - Petrobank Whitesands pilot (terminated - no commercial application yet)

• Most important feature : creation of a moving mobile oil zone ahead of the combustion front in which the oil is mobile

AIDROH - Air injection and displacement for recovery with oil horizontal - Cenovus pilot
• Air injection is heating a gas cap as well as the bitumen zone below by conduction
Enhanced Oil recovery 183
 THERMAL PROCESSES - ISC – TOE-TO-HEEL AIR INJECTION (THAI)

Avoids the flow of oil through the cold region

High sweep efficiency → up to 60%-70% OOIP recovery

Produces thermally upgraded, lighter oil (from 8 to 12 API increase)

High air injectivity maintains HTO (High Temperature Oxidation 400-600°C in

reservoir close to the injector)

Applicable to oil reservoirs with relatively low thickness (5-12 m)

Minimal use of natural gas and fresh water

Enhanced Oil recovery 184

 Aerial shot of Cenovus Foster Creek facility, and steam and emulsion lines

185
Enhanced Oil recovery
 ENHANCED OIL RECOVERY CONCLUSIONS

186
Enhanced Oil recovery
 EOR TODAY

Mature technologies:
• Thermal : CSS, Steamflooding, SAGD (limited to McMurray formation in Canada)
• CO2 miscible (USA mainly)
• Polymer (especially in China)
Technologies with unrealized potential:
• Chemical using surfactants (ASP) or polymers for heavy oil (Canada)
• Combustion (removes depth, pressure restrictions of steam)
o Applicable to light oils
o Commercial projects exist (Suplacu de Barcau, Romania, 1964)
o More controlled ISC (THAI) promising but no commercial application following pilot
Barriers:
• Long lead times
• Economics
• Politics
Enhanced Oil recovery 187
 EOR CHALLENGES

Technical
• Onshore: old wells, commingled wells, reservoir understanding
• Offshore: larger well spacing, logistics, reservoir understanding
Economical / Environmental
• High Costs
• Thermal
o Greenhouse gas emissions
o Water consumption
o Environmental considerations
o Combustion – lack of control: perceived high risk
• Chemical –Polymer
o Long lead times, long payout
• CO2 Miscible
o Access to CO2
Enhanced Oil recovery 188
 EOR OPPORTUNITIES

CCUS (Carbon Capture, Utilisation and Storage) initiatives

• May present an economic opportunity for increased recovery (Weyburn example)

Political
• Jointly shared technical, economic risk
• Revised concession terms to increase life-of-project for EOR

Enhanced Oil recovery 189

 EOR BASIC ACTIONS PER PROCESS SUMMARY

Physical effects of EOR methods and order of magnitude of incremental recovery

Has the time come for EOR - Schlumberger Oil Field Review_Winter 2010-11
Enhanced Oil recovery 190
THANK
YOU
ENHANCED OIL RECOVERY
NEXT SLIDES ARE FOR YOUR INFORMATION / FURTHER READING
PEPD 2023-24

192
Enhanced Oil recovery
 INTRODUCTION TO EOR PROCESSES
NEXT SLIDES ARE FOR YOUR INFORMATION

193
Enhanced Oil recovery
 DISPLACEMENT EFFICIENCY - TRAPPING AND MOBILIZATION

Trapping Mechanisms depend on

• The pore structure of the porous medium (pore shape and size)
• The fluid/rock interactions related to wettability
• The fluid/fluid interactions reflected in IFT and sometimes in flow
instabilities
• The rate of displacement (or pressure gradient), due to viscous forces

Trapping and mobilization are closely related and depend on the above factors in a
complex way
• a number of models partly describe the forces involved in phase trapping
and mobilization

Enhanced Oil recovery 194

 DISPLACEMENT EFFICIENCY - TRAPPING AND MOBILIZATION

Trapping Mechanisms - Simple Models

• Single Capillary – Jamin effect
• Snap-off model

Mobilization mechanisms
• Mobilization by Alteration of the Viscous/Capillary Force Ratio
• Mobilization - Role of Phase Behavior
• Formation of an Oil Bank
o oil drops “condense” into bigger drops and oil is “solubilized” into the bank, the bank becomes the mobilizingfluid and
grow involume
o no EOR oil production will occur until the oilbank arrives at the producers

Enhanced Oil recovery 195

 DISPLACEMENT EFFICIENCY - TRAPPING AND MOBILIZATION

Trapping in a Single Capillary - Jamin Effect - Examples

The pressure required to force a non wetting phase through a single capillary can be high, this
phenomenon is called the Jamin effect

• Estimate the pressure gradient in psi/ft between A and B

in this example with the following data:
o IFT between fluids σow is 25 dynes/cm
o Drop curvature radii
rA = 1,5*10-3 cm - rB = 6,2*10-4 cm
1/rA = 667 cm-1 - 1/rB = 1610 cm-1
o θA = θB = 0
o Drop length 0,01 cm
o 1 psi = 69000 dynes / cm2

Enhanced Oil recovery 196

 DISPLACEMENT EFFICIENCY - TRAPPING AND MOBILIZATION

Trapping in a Single Capillary - Jamin Effect - Examples

• If the oil drop is at this location then PA must be greater than PB

by the amount calculated with the formula
• If it is not the case then the drop will not go through the
constriction
• The Jamin effect illustrates that trapping forces are large
compared with typical viscous forces (0,5 – 1 psi/ft)

Enhanced Oil recovery 197

 DISPLACEMENT EFFICIENCY - PHASE TRAPPING AND MOBILIZATION

❑ Trapping simple models

• Phase trapping of the non-wetting phase due to snap-off (left) and bypassing (right) by the wetting phase.
• 80% of the trapped non-wetting phase occurs in snap-off geometries

Ref:Two phase flow in homogeneous porous media - The role of dynamic capillary pressure in modeling gravity driven fingering – David Kraus
Enhanced Oil recovery 198
 DISPLACEMENT EFFICIENCY - PHASE TRAPPING AND MOBILIZATION

In an actual reservoir
• pore constrictions are not in series acting as a single capillary
• alternative paths exist for fluid flow somewhat mitigating the effect of single-capillary
trapping

In spite of these limitations

• the single-capillary and snap-off models illustrate that trapping forces are large compared
with viscous forces

• The pore-doublet bypassing model illustrates the influence of capillary forces on the
movement of fluids in case of competing flows in reservoir rocks

Oil drops trapped as residual oil in a waterflood cannot be displaced by additional

waterflooding

Enhanced Oil recovery 199

 DISPLACEMENT EFFICIENCY - TRAPPING AND MOBILIZATION

Mobilization by Alteration of the Viscous/Capillary Force Ratio

• The only practical alternative to increase the displacement efficiency over WF are by
using
o surface-active agents, which reduce oil/water IFT or
o miscible processes, which eliminate interfaces entirely

• Alternatives like flow rate and/or viscosity increase will only slightly improve recovery in
practical applications
o in both cases, allowable pressure drop through the reservoir between injection and production
wells is the limiting factor

• Miscibility or low IFT should be maintained as long as possible during the process to
avoid trapping of mobilized oil

Enhanced Oil recovery 200

 DISPLACEMENT EFFICIENCY - PHASE TRAPPING AND MOBILIZATION

Mobilization - Role of Phase Behavior

• Mobilization can be accomplished due to favorable phase-behavior between the oil and the
displacing fluid
o Solubilization of a displacing fluid into the oil results in swelling of the oil → improved oil displacement and
recovery due to relative permeability changes
o Extraction of components from the oil phase into a displacing phase (solvent) can result in oil components
being remobilized
o Alteration of composition through repeated contacts between injected fluids and original reservoir oil can
lead to miscibility between displacing and displaced phases
o These different mechanisms are often associated in a given EOR process and can be combined with
viscous/capillary alteration mechanisms

Enhanced Oil recovery 201

 RESERVES AND PRODUCTION ASSOCIATED WITH
EOR
NEXT SLIDES ARE FOR YOUR INFORMATION

202
Enhanced Oil recovery
 OIL RESOURCES - TARGET OIL FOR ENHANCED OIL RECOVERY

Why EOR?
•Access to new exploration acreage LIGHT OIL
more and more difficult and Primary
expensive EOR 25%
•A significant share of OOIP in target
45%
discovered reservoirs will otherwise Secondary
not be recovered 30%

HEAVY OIL Primary TAR SANDS

5%
Secondary
5%

EOR target
100%
EOR
target
90%
203
Enhanced Oil recovery
 INTRODUCTION TO EOR PROCESSES - OIL RESOURCES

Why EOR?
•EOR can make an important contribution to world oil supply in the
long term
•EOR economics can be attractive

Enhanced Oil recovery

Resources to Reserves 2013 - ttp://www.iea.org/etp/resourcestoreserves 204
 EOR PRODUCTION SURVEYS
OGJ published its first EOR survey on May 3, 1971, and the survey has been
biennial since 1974 – latest in April 2014
• In 2016 a Pennwell publication is limited to 95 projects
The survey includes projects that involve injecting fluids, other thanwater or
methane, into a reservoir to enhance oil recovery
• The most common injectants include:
o Steam in heavy oil fields at shallower depths
o Air for in situ combustion projects
o Carbon dioxide in lighter oil fields
o Hydrocarbon miscible gas in lighter oil fields
o Chemicals and polymer in lighter oil fields
o Several projects also use acid gas (stream of hydrogen sulfide and carbon dioxide) or flue
gas (exhaust gas with more than 2/3 N2)
• Operators use the injectants either during initial production stage, or after primary
depletion or after secondary production (tertiary recovery)
An EOR Survey was published for China in 2018 in SPE-190286
• Adds a lot to the previous surveys especially relative to chemical activity

Enhanced Oil recovery 205

 EOR RESERVES & PRODUCTION

assumption : 300 for Cantarell N2

inj. (Mexico)

Enhanced Oil recovery 206

 EOR RESERVES & PRODUCTION

U S E O R P R O D U C T I O N ( O G J 2014 E O R Survey)

1000 100%
Gas
900 C h e m ic a l 90%
T hermal
T hermal share %
800 80%
Gas share %

700 70%

600 298 314 60%

299 329
108 131 191 289
441 471
297 318
500 50%
Rate

17 23 349
kbd

12 2 350 350
0
2 0 2
400 40%
0
0
0
300 0 0 0 0 30%
480 465 454 461
419 424 446 418
200 371
20%
346 323
304 294 292 307
100 10%

0 0%
1986 1988 1990 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012 2014 1 Q

Enhanced Oil recovery 207

 EOR RESERVES & PRODUCTION – ACTIVE EOR PROJECTS

Enhanced Oil recovery 208

 EOR Reserves & Production – Active US EOR Projects

A C T I V E U S E O R P R O J E C T S B Y M E T H O D (Based on OGJ 2014 E O R Survey)

400 80%
G as
C h e m ic a l
350 T her mal 70%
T h e r m a l s h ar e %
90
G a s s h ar e %
300 60%
C h e m i c a l s h ar e %

250 91 50%
projects

89
124
200 40%
50 79
# of

84
49 87
150 30%
30 74 136 134
12 123 123
100 11 78 83 97 20%
10
152 154
133 4 3 3 3
11 6 115 4 0 2
50 100 92 10%
65 56 55 58 60 61 62

0 0%
1988 1990 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012 2014
1Q

Enhanced Oil recovery 209

RESERVES AND PRODUCTION ASSOCIATED WITH
EOR
US CO2 PROJECTS AND ASSOCIATED PRODUCTION
NEXT SLIDES ARE FOR YOUR INFORMATION
 EOR RESERVES & PRODUCTION - US CO2 PROJECTS

Enhanced Oil recovery 211

 EOR RESERVES & PRODUCTION – US CO2 EOR GROWTH

Enhanced Oil recovery 212

 EOR RESERVES & PRODUCTION – PERMIAN BASIN CO2 EOR PHASES

Enhanced Oil recovery 213

 EOR RESERVES & PRODUCTION - US CO2 PROJECTS PROJECTED GROWTH

Enhanced Oil recovery 214

 EOR RESERVES & PRODUCTION - US CO2 UTILIZATION FOR EOR

Enhanced Oil recovery 215

RESERVES AND PRODUCTION ASSOCIATED WITH
EOR
CANADIAN OIL SANDS IN-SITU PROJECTS AND ASSOCIATED PRODUCTION

NEXT SLIDES ARE FOR YOUR INFORMATION

 Chronology of development and production of Canadian oil sands

Enhanced Oilcompany
Source: Geoscout, recovery
reports, Laricina Energy 217
 Alberta in situ oil sand production by recovery method

Ref: https://www.aer.ca/providing-information/data-and-reports/statistical-reports/report-data
Enhanced Oil recovery 218
 GAS INJECTION PROCESSES

NEXT SLIDES ARE FOR YOUR INFORMATION

219
Enhanced Oil recovery
GAS INJECTION PROCESSES
CLOSER LOOK AT CO2 INJECTION
NEXT SLIDES ARE FOR YOUR INFORMATION
 CO2 MGI - CO2 PROPERTIES

• Critical temperature 31°C or 88°F (most miscible floods

temperature are above)
• Critical pressure 74 bars or 1071 psia
• Density gets close to oil in res. conditions
• Gas-like viscosity, much lower than oil
• Partially soluble in water either formation water or injected
water (WAG process)

Temp.: 40 C or 105 F

Enhanced Oil recovery 221

 CO2 MGI – SPECIFICITIES

• Low pressure for achieving dynamic miscibility with CO2 as compared to natural gas, flue gas,
or nitrogen
• Reduction in crude oil viscosity
• Lower residual oil saturation because of swelling of oil and extraction of intermediate
hydrocarbon from the non-mobile oil
• Immiscible: swelling and viscosity reduction of oil benefit
• Availability of CO2
o natural sources in specific areas (USA)
o from industrial plants often associated with CO2 sequestration (GHG reduction)
• Integrating CO2 EOR and Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS)
• Cheaper solvent than liquid hydrocarbon, and safer to handle and pressurize than
hydrocarbon gases

Enhanced Oil recovery 222

 CO2 MGI – ISSUES

• Difficulty to correctly represent Oil - CO2 phase diagrams with

conventional EOS
• In case of asphaltenic oils, risks of asphaltene deposits need
absolutely to be evaluated
• High solubility in water has to be taken into account
• Interaction between CO2 and reservoir rock (carbonates) or brine
can affect injectivity and lead to corrosion problems

Enhanced Oil recovery 223

 CO2 MGI – PERFORMANCE LIMITATIONS
• Older CO2 floods used too little CO2
o Why: high CO2 costs and lack of process control
→ Improvement by injecting up to 1.5 HCPV of CO2
→ Improvement by use of instrumented observation wells, 4D seismic and pressure / zone-by-zone flow tests

• Injected CO2 achieved only limited contact with the reservoir

o Why: viscous fingering, gravity override, inability to target injected CO2 to high Sor areas
→ Improving mobility control (viscosity enhancers or foams)
→ Improving flood design and well placement by pattern modification enabling CO2 to contact residual oil from poorly
swept areas (i.e horizontal production wells and vertical CO2 injectionwells)

• CO2 EOR project often operated below MMP in parts of the reservoir
o Why: low well operating pressures, too few injection wells, failure to maintain the fluid balance
→ Improving flood design and well placement and better pattern balancing andcontrol
→ Lowering MMP with miscibility enhancers

(In: Maximizing Oil Recovery Efficiency And Sequestration Of CO2 With “Game Changer” CO2-EOR Technology by Vello A. Kuuskraa)
Enhanced Oil recovery 224
 CO2 MGI – EXAMPLE OF SEMINOLE FIELD (WEST TEXAS SAN ANDRES FORMATION)

Seminole field:
•Carbonate San Andres
Formation
•depth about 5,300 ft
(also includes a large Residual
Oil Zone – ROZ)
•Net thickness 130ft
•Porosity 12%
•Permeability 30 md
•Soi 85%
•Temp 105°F
•Oil: 35° API 1cp viscosity
•developed on a regular 9-
spot pattern spacing
225
Enhanced Oil recovery
 CO2 MGI – EXAMPLE OF SEMINOLE FIELD (WEST TEXAS SAN ANDRES FORMATION)

Enhanced Oil recovery 226

 CO2 MGI – EXAMPLE OF SEMINOLE FIELD (WEST TEXAS SAN ANDRES FORMATION)

Enhanced Oil recovery 227

 GAS INJECTION PROCESSES
MGI - FIELD EXAMPLE
HYDROCARBON MISCIBLE - PRUDHOE BAY FIELD ALASKA
(ALL SLIDES ARE FROM BP RGE16 PRESENTATION)
NEXT SLIDES ARE FOR YOUR INFORMATION

Enhanced Oil recovery 228

 PRUDHOE BAY FIELD

Enhanced Oil recovery 229

 PRUDHOE BAY FIELD

Enhanced Oil recovery 230

 WHY DO GAS EOR AT PRUDHOE BAY?

Enhanced Oil recovery 231

 PRUDHOE BAY DEVELOPMENT HISTORY

Enhanced Oil recovery 232

 PRUDHOE BAY MISCIBLE GAS PROJECT

Enhanced Oil recovery 233

 PRUDHOE BAY MISCIBLE GAS PROJECT

Enhanced Oil recovery 234

 SCREENING, LAB STUDIES & PILOT TEST

Enhanced Oil recovery 235

 EVIDENCE FOR SUCCESS - SUMMARY

Enhanced Oil recovery 236

 GAS INJECTION PROCESSES
CO2 MISCIBLE
WEYBURN PROJECT - CANADA (SASKATCHEWAN)
NEXT SLIDES ARE FOR YOUR INFORMATION

Enhanced Oil recovery 237

 WEYBURN CO2 INJECTION PROJECT: AN EXAMPLE OF INTEGRATION OF CCS AND EOR

WEYBURN FIELD

Enhanced Oil recovery 238

 WEYBURN CO2 INJECTION PROJECT: AN EXAMPLE OF INTEGRATION OF CCS AND EOR

• Largest CO2 EOR project in Canada

o 150 MBO incremental (OOIP 1.4 Billion Bbls)
o Outstanding EOR response

• World’s largest geological sequestration

project:
o 2.4 Mt / y - 23 Mt EOR - 55 Mt EOR &
Sequestration

• CO2 used in Weyburn is 96% of the waste

gas generated in Great Plains Synfuels Plant
near Beulah (North Dakota) - produces
methane (CH4) from coal

Source:Encana

Enhanced Oil recovery 239

 WEYBURN FIELD CHARACTERISTICS

• Formation: Midale carbonates

o Depth: 1450-1550 m
o Temperature 60°C
o Pay thickness 10m, porosity 15%, permeability 0.1-500 md (matrix)

• Oil properties
o 30° API
o 1 to 4 cp viscosity
o GOR 20 m3/m3
o Sat. P 25-30 bars

• Operating pressure 160 bars

• Pure CO2 MMP 128 bars (slim tube)

• Close to 300 injectors (160 water, 110 WAG, 20 CO2 only) and 700 wells (1/2 horizontal)

Enhanced Oil recovery 240

 WEYBURN UNIT PRODUCTION HISTORY

• Successful development
o Waterflood
o ≈ 1980’s vertical well infills
o Horizontalwells
o CO2 flooding
• Incremental recovery factor due to CO2
flooding 12-20% OOIP
• Total ultimate recovery >50%

Field Performance of the Weyburn CO2 Miscible Flood and Factors Affecting CO2 Performance (Naturally Fractured Reservoirs)- Cenovus Energy & McBurney and Baker - 2011
Enhanced Oil recovery 241
 WEYBURN UNIT CO2 STORAGE POTENTIAL

✓ Estimated total 30 MT CO2 storage potential in the Weyburn oilfield at the end of EOR operations
✓ Potential to hold an additional 25 MT of CO2 after the 30 MT injected at the end ofEOR
✓ The Midale field, not shown here, will hold an estimated additional 10 MT by the end of EOR

Enhanced Oil recovery

What Happens When CO2 is Stored Underground? Q&A from the IEAGHG Weyburn-Midale CO2 Monitoring and Storage Project - Petroleum Technology Research Centre (PTRC) 242
GAS INJECTION PROCESSES
IMMISCIBLE GAS INJECTION

NEXT SLIDES ARE FOR YOUR INFORMATION

 GAS INJECTION - RECOVERY MECHANISMS

• Miscible or Near Miscible

o Thermodynamic Exchanges Dominant
o Rich Gas or CO2 at low or moderate pressure
o Lean Gas or N2 at high pressure
• Immiscible
o None or very limited compositional exchanges, crude swelling and viscosity
reduction if undersaturated
o Lean gas or N2 at low pressure (Cantarell giant field in Mexico)
o Gravity drainage is dominant
– The gravity force is the main mechanism - must be efficient within an economical
time scale

Enhanced Oil recovery 244

 IMMISCIBLE GAS INJECTION - LEAN GAS INJECTION

• None or limited compositional exchanges at fairly low pressure

• Gravity drainage in the gas invaded zone may be very efficient

• Gravity drainage is a recovery process in which gravity is the driving force

o gravity forces overcome capillary forces
o due to the differences of densities between gas and oil
o the injected gas can be: lean, rich, N2, CO2, air, flue gas

• Gravity drainage must be efficient within an economical time scale

Enhanced Oil recovery 245

 IMMISCIBLE GAS INJECTION - LEAN GAS INJECTION

• Vertical piston like displacement achieved between gas injectors and

producers
o Gas is injected in crestal position, generally in a gas cap
o Immiscible displacement is achieved
o Density difference between gas and oil stabilizes the gas front

• In case of tertiary application oil targets are:

o Mobile oil by-passed by injected water
o Re-mobilization of capillary trappedoil

Enhanced Oil recovery 246

 IMMISCIBLE GAS INJECTION - LEAN GAS INJECTION

• Important reservoir factors for this process:

o Preferably water-wet rock
o For thin formations :
– High dip (> 5°)
– Thick oil column (> 100 m)
– Good permeability (> 100 mD)
o For thick formations
– Good permeability (> 100 mD)
– Lack of stratification

Enhanced Oil recovery 247

 IMMISCIBLE GAS INJECTION - GRAVITY DRAINAGE MECHANISM

• Gas is injected high in the reservoir to move

the oil interface downward
• Top down displacement process,
gravitationally assisted and density stabilized
• Importance of film flow behavior
o needs to be effective
o depends on the fluid-fluid interaction in the
reservoirs)

In: New Production Technologies Maurice B. Dusseault SPE Distinguished Lecture Series – 2002-2003

Enhanced Oil recovery 248

 GRAVITY DRAINAGE MECHANISM - DOUBLE DISPLACEMENT PROCESS

The process of gas displacement of a water invaded oil column is called Double Displacement Process
Process consists of injecting gas updip and producing oil down dip
efficient gravity drainage of oil with high gas saturation
oil displaces water and gas displaces oil down structure

Enhanced Oil recovery 249

 GRAVITY DRAINAGE MECHANISM - DOUBLE DISPLACEMENT PROCESS
The process of gas displacement of a water invaded oil column is called Double Displacement Process
•Process consists of injecting gas updip and producing oil down dip
•efficient gravity drainage of oil with high gas saturation
•oil displaces water and gas displaces oil down structure
Hawkins Field Example

Enhanced Oil recovery 250

 IMMISCIBLE GAS INJECTION - GRAVITY DRAINAGE MECHANISM

In: New Production Technologies Maurice B. Dusseault SPE Distinguished Lecture Series – 2002-2003
Enhanced Oil recovery 251
 IMMISCIBLE GAS INJECTION - GRAVITY DRAINAGE MECHANISM

Enhanced Oil recovery 252

 ENHANCED OIL RECOVERY OTHER PROCESSES
OF INTEREST

NEXT SLIDES ARE FOR YOUR INFORMATION

253
Enhanced Oil recovery
 LOW SALINITY WATERFLOODING (LSW OR LOSAL)
LSW flooding involves injecting brine with a low salt content as a secondary
or tertiary process
– typically below 7,000 / 8000 ppm of total dissolved solids (TDS) – for comparison:
seawater 35,000 ppm

Mechanisms are complex and still under investigation

• solution and surface chemistry, rock/fluid interactions play important roles
• BP: oil adhering to rock chemically detached
Enhanced Oil recovery 254
 LOW SALINITY WATERFLOODING (LSW OR LOSAL)
BP Endicott Field pilot
– Single well tests in 4 areas, salinity of the water between 1500 and 3000 ppm
– Increased oil recovery between 8 and 19% of OOIP (average ROS down from 41%
to 27%)
– Interwell pilot in 2008-2009

The first field-scale project has been sanctioned in the North Sea (BP Clair Ridge)

Enhanced Oil recovery 255

 OTHER EOR PROCESSES OF INTEREST

Microbial (MEOR)
• Techniques that utilize microorganisms and their metabolic products
• Beneficial effects include the selective degradation of large oil molecules (reduction in viscosity),
production of biosurfactants (reducing interfacial tension) and gas (providing an additional pressure driving
force)
• Detrimental effects of microbial activity in petroleum reservoirs include corrosion of well-bore casings (by
products such as H2S), and the consumption of the hydrocarbons by the bacteria

Foam
• Controling mobility and improving sweep efficiency in the application of gas injection (steam, CO2, HC),
water-alternating-gas (WAG) injection or surfactant processes.
• Foam increases the effective viscosity and decreases the relative permeability of the injected fluids
• Field example: Snorre field (Norway) pilots for mobility control (WAG) and gas shut-off
• (Other non EOR application of foam: gas shut off to reduce the gas/oil ratio (GOR) at the production wells)

Electrical heating (for bitumen)

• Array of down hole electrical heaters installed in horizontal wells to heat the reservoir via thermal
conduction.
• The bitumen reservoir is heated to approximately 140-160 °C producing a viscosity similar to that of
medium crude oil

Enhanced Oil recovery 256

HEAVY OIL / BITUMEN RECOVERY PROCESSES
HEAVY OIL SUMMARY AND REFERENCES
NEXT SLIDES ARE FOR YOUR INFORMATION
 HO / BITUMEN RECOVERY PROCESSES - CONCLUSIONS
Apart from mobile heavy oils for which standard cold production techniques may be
implemented, specific EOR processes are required with potential for large recoveries
In addition to cold production (improved by CHOPS or polymer flooding for moderate viscosity
oil), most common processes remain thermal, CSS and steamflooding in particular
Over the last 20 years SAGD has become more and more important but remains limited to the
McMurray formation of the Canadian oil sands
• SAGD is the only current economic in-situ process for the huge McMurray bitumen resources
• Steam generation (+CO2 emission) is the major limitation
SAGD hybrid processes involving solvent are emerging processes aimed at reducing SOR (lower
water consumption and lower CO2 emissions)
In situ combustion is an interesting but difficult process with limited applications
• Improved process by use of horizontal wells has been tested but not commercial to date

Enhanced Oil recovery 258

 HO / BITUMEN RECOVERY PROCESSES - ALBERTA OILSANDS REFERENCES

Energy Resources Conservation Board ERCB

• https://www.aer.ca/providing-information/data-and-reports/activity-and-data
• https://www.aer.ca/providing-information/data-and-reports/statistical-reports

• The Alberta Energy Regulator ensures the safe, efficient, orderly, and environmentally responsible
development of hydrocarbon resources over their entire life cycle. AER is the single regulator of energy
development in Alberta—from application and exploration, to construction and development, to
abandonment, reclamation, and remediation.

JWN Oil&Gas News

• https://www.jwnenergy.com/magazine/osid/

Enhanced Oil recovery 259