SPE 139765

CO2 EOR From Representative North Sea Oil Reservoirs

I. Akervoll, P. Eirik Bergmo, Sintef

Copyright 2010, Society of Petroleum Engineers

This paper was prepared for presentation at the SPE International Conference on CO2 Capture, Storage, and Utilization held in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA, 10–12 November 2010.

This paper was selected for presentation by an SPE program committee following review of information contained in an abstract submitted by the author(s). Contents of the paper have not been
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Abstract Representative petrophysical properties and fluid

Estimating the EOR potential in producing oil fields is an
important input to decision making if large scale CO2-
EOR is going to be employed in the North Sea. This paper
describes the results from simulations of CO2 injection
into conceptual reservoir models representative of water
flooded oil fields in the North Sea.
compositions have been used in the models in order to
schematically account for heterogeneities and phase
behavior of the different reservoir types. Different
injection schemes including CO2 injection with and
without recirculation of CO2 breakthrough gas and CO2-
WAG have been evaluated.

Enhanced oil recovery (EOR) by CO2 injection is an Introduction

attractive option because it has the potential to increase
the oil, gas and condensate recovery of producing fields.
In the North Sea a majority of the oil reservoirs have been
subject to massive strategic and efficient water flooding
resulting in high recoveries for most of the cases.
However, more advanced tertiary recovery methods are
sought to increase the recovery. Using CO2 as injection
fluid has several advantages. Most oil compositions in the
North Sea are miscible with CO2 at reservoir conditions
something that will enable miscible displacement of the
oil targeting residual (capillary trapped) oil after water
flooding. The density of CO2 at reservoir conditions is in
most cases lesser than the injected water and it may
therefore reach other parts of the reservoir and
consequently improve the sweep efficiency.
The North Sea shows a great variation in type of oil
reservoirs and traps ranging in geological age from the
Late Paleozoic to the Cenozoic. To cover the range of
different geological classes, traps and recovery strategies
a large number of scenarios has been simulated on
conceptual sector models. Conceptual live reservoir oil is
composed to represent fluid properties of a selection of 55
water flooded oil reservoirs in the North Sea that are
considered potential candidates for CO2 injection. The
selected reservoirs comprise 30 reservoirs in the UK
sector, 20 in the Norwegian sector and 5 reservoirs in the
Danish sector. The conceptual fluid model is composed
and tuned to reflect the hydrocarbon pore volume (HCPV)
weighted average properties of these 55 oil reservoirs.
Continuous CO2 injection and CO2 water-alternating-gas
(WAG) injection have gained increasing interest due to
the combined benifit of higher recovery efficiency in
many types of petroleum reservoirs and reduction of
greenhouse gas emissions by storage of CO2 in depleted
petroleum reservoirs. Underground storage of CO2 in
petroleum reservoirs and aquifers has a large capacity and
EOR is a large-scale use where CO2 has a value. Gas and
oil reservoirs are considered as safe storage sites due to
their historic record of trapping buoyant fluids for
millions of years. On a long term the deposition capacity
in oil reservoirs is limited, but petroleum reservoirs
represent significant sinks for CO2 early in a deposition
era (Holt, Lindeberg and Taber 2000).
To estimate the total CO2 EOR potential in the UK and
Norwegian sector of the North Sea a techno-economical
model for CO2 injection into oil reservoirs and aquifers
was presented and used in a scenario were many of the
most feasible prospective water flooded fields are
included. The project lifetime in the scenario is 40 years
where CO2 is injected and stored. The CO2 is delivered
through a main pipeline infrastructure that transports CO2
from industrial sources in EU. An EOR module for
miscible CO2-WAG (water alternating gas) injection was
developed and preliminary calculations using this module
indicated that the oil recovery potential for CO2-WAG is
comparable to continuous CO2 injection. More water and
less CO2 are produced during WAG injection, however
(Holt et al. 2008).
2 SPE 139765

This paper describes further the results from simulations is chosen which can represent part of the flank of an
of CO2 injection into conceptual reservoir models that are anticline, part of a fault block or part of the side of a salt
constructed to represent water flooded oil fields in the diapir by changing the dip of the model. Different
North Sea. The majority of North Sea oil reservoirs have conceptual models are realised by changing the
been subject to massive strategic and efficient water petrophysical properties of the model. The two main
flooding resulting in high recoveries for most of the cases. geologies of shallow marine deposit and fluvial deposits
Still residual oil is left after this either as bypassed oil are considered. Definition of base case North Sea
sones or as capillary trapped residual oil after water conceptual EOR model properties for the three main types
flooding leaving tertiary recovery methods as future of geology are based on the hydrocarbon pore volume
options to to increase the recovery. The reservior oil in (HCPV) weighted average values for field data in the
many candidate reservoirs in the North Sea, will obtain North Sea taken from SINTEF’s database (Holt and
misciblity with CO2 at reservoir conditions that will Lindeberg 2003). The HCPV weighted average values for
enable efficient displacement of capillary trapped oil after field data including reservoir fluid properties of the
water flooding. The density of CO2 at reservoir conditions conceptual model are presented in TABLE 1.
is in most cases lesser than the injected water and may
therefore reach other parts of the reservoir and TABLE 1 - Average values for field data in the North Sea
consequently improve the sweep efficiency. (from SINTEF’s database)
Average Values, Weighted
In order to cover the range of different geological classes, on HCPV
traps and recovery strategies for the great variation in type Norwegian All North
of North Sea oil reservoirs, a large number of scenarios Field/Input data Units Fields Sea Fields
have been simulated on conceptual sector models. PV Rm3 4.82E+08 2.73E+08
Conceptual live reservoir oil is composed to represent HCPV Sm3 2.48E+08 1.65E+08
fluid properties of a selection of 55 water flooded oil Reservoir °C 104 101
reservoirs (30 reservoirs in the UK sector, 20 in the temperature
Norwegian sector and 5 in the Danish sector) that are Reservoir bar 306 317
considered potential candidates for CO2 injection in the pressure
North Sea. The conceptual fluid model is composed and Depth m 2456 2462
tuned to reflect the hydrocarbon pore volume (HCPV) Oil viscosity cp 0.438 0.545
weighted average properties of these 55 oil reservoirs. Water viscosity cp 0.343 0.365
Density of STO Kg/Sm3 820 816
Reservoir simulation results are presented for GOR 197 145
representative petrophysical properties and fluid
Bo 1.58 1.39
compositions of North Sea oil reservoir in order to
Gas density kg/Sm3 0.99 0.99
schematically account for heterogeneities and phase
behavior of the different reservoir types. Conceptual
North Sea oil reservoir models in this context means Geometry and grid resolution of the North Sea
reservoir simulation models build to represent a selection conceptual models
of North Sea oil reservoirs candidates for CO2 injection The geometry of the North Sea conceptual reservoir
where the geological, fluid, static and dynamic properties models, the grid, the depth and the well positions are
of the fields are preserved in making the reservoir shown in Fig. 1. The area extent of the model is 1450 m
simulation models by average weighting of the properties. in length and 790 m in width. The thickness of the
reservoir model is 46 ± 1.2 m. The reservoir model is
Definition of base case North Sea representative penetrated by two wells, one injector (I1, water and gas)
conceptual model and one producer (P1). One well is located down-flank
Conceptual North Sea reservoir models representing the below the oil-water-contact (OWC), the other well at the
productive upper Brent-type sandstone oil reservoir have crest or top of the model. The distance between the wells
been constructed. The selected Brent sands represent is 1000 m. Both wells can be used as injector or producer
shallow marine deposition from Jurassic age (Johannessen and can be connected to the grid either in the entire height
and Nøttvedt 2008). The upper sequence is the Tarbert of the well or in selected layers of the grid. The depth of
Formation which is the final event of the Brent delta the reservoir model extends from 2940 m to 3040 m in
system and shows large variations in the different fields. true vertical depth sub surface (TVDSS). The average tilt
The Ness Formation represents the fluvial deposition of the model is varied between 2 and 10 degrees.
environment of the delta (Nystuen, Mørk, Müller, and
Nøttvedt 2008). The porosity and permeability fields for The model is initialized for reservoir simulation with
the two Brent sequences are taken from the 10th SPE under-saturated oil (no gas-cap) and enclosed aquifer with
comparative solution project (Christie and Blunt 2001). the OWC at 2990 m TVDSS as illustrated in Fig. 1.
Reservoir simulation grids with 2, 5 and 10° dip with 46
In order to construct conceptual sector models by 48 metre grid blocks and 30 layers are made and
representative of North Sea oil fields, one simulation grid illustrated in Fig. 2. The resolution of the simulation grid
SPE 139765
has been varied from a very fine mesh with grid block
size in horizontal direction equal to 10 m to a coarser
mesh with grid block size up to 50 m and grid cell hight
from 1.0 m in the top layers and gradually increasing cell
hights towards deeper layers in the simulation grid.
Fig. 1 - Geometry, grid, depth and well positions of the
conceptual model for investigating CO2-EOR in North
Sea. Colours indicate depth. Tilt of the model is 5° and
the model is exaggerated in z direction by a factor 5.
Fig. 2 - Reservoir simulation grids with 2, 5 and 10°
dip.
The well distances offshore in the North Sea is often
around 1 km. Due to this fact it is likely to believe that
such a wide well spacing will give less volumetric CO2
sweep efficiency than a narrow well spacing in well
defined 5-spot pattern on-shore would do in a horizontal
reservoir with otherwise comparable reservoir properties.
When the well distance gets longer, the segregation of
CO2 towards the top sealing of the reservoir will reduce
the CO2 sweep efficiency. Likewise will the injected brine
tends to slump or segregate to the bottom of the reservoir.
With this in mind it is of utmost importance to look at the
EOR mechanisms between wells (fixed well distance) and
3
try to improve the CO2 sweep efficiency with 1 km wide
well spacing. If the reservoir is strongly tilted, it would be
interesting to study different injection strategies like
injection down flank or up flank. Horizontal well versus
vertical well is another issue.
The resolution of the simulation grid has been varied from
a very fine mesh with grid block size in horizontal
direction equal to 10 m to a coarser mesh with grid block
size up to 50 m, the last for most of the simulation runs.
Type of geology
Definition of the shallow marine North Sea conceptual
EOR model is based on the geology of the Tarbert
Formation. The horizontal permeability for the shallow
marine conceptual model is illustrated on the fine scale
sector model in Fig. 3. The reservoir properties represent
a relatively homogenous shallow marine Brent deposit
with a high sand content, generally good reservoir
characteristics and a kv/kh ratio in the range of 10-3 to 1.0.
Fig. 3 - Distribution of horizontal permeability in the
shallow marine North Sea conceptual model.
The porosity of the shallow marine North Sea conceptual
model is illustrated in Fig. 4. The horizontal resolution of
the model is 46 by 48 meter.
Fig. 4 - Porosity of the shallow marine North Sea
conceptual model.
The construction of the fluvial deposit conceptual model
is based on the formation properties of the Ness formation
4 SPE 139765
containing highly conductive sand channels in a
background of low permeability mud stones. Challenges
for CO2-EOR in this setting are to target bypassed oil in
the low permeability zones. The porosity and permeability
in the model has been stochastically generated and the
distribution of permeability is shown in Fig. 5.
Fig. 5 - Permeability distribution in the conceptual
sector model representing fluvial deposits.
The bimodal frequency plots of permeabilities and
porosities in the Ness formation model are shown in Fig.
6 and Fig. 7. Observe the high permeability contrast
between the sand channels and the background with mean
value between 100 and 1000 mD for the sand and around
0.1 mD for the background. This can also be seen in the
porosities with mean value around 23% in the channel
sands and around 7.5% in the background.
Fig. 6 - Frequency distribution of permeability in the
Ness formation model.
Fig. 7 - Frequency distribution of the porosity in the
Ness formation model.
Fluid properties including miscibility conditions
The conceptual live reservoir oil is composed to represent
the fluid properties of a selection of 55 water flooded oil
reservoirs that are considered potential candidates for CO2
injection in the North Sea. The selected reservoirs
comprise 30 reservoirs in the UK sector, 20 in the
Norwegian sector and 5 in the Danish sector. The
conceptual fluid model is composed and tuned to reflect
the HCPV weighted average value of these 55 oil
reservoirs. The molecular weight and the mol fraction of
the plus-fraction (heaviest component) are tuned to obtain
density, viscosity, saturation pressure, minimum
miscibility pressure (MMP), etc. to resemble the
requested properties of the conceptual fluid. The oil
viscosity (one of the most important reservoir fluid
properties) of the selected North Sea oil reservoirs are
plotted in Fig. 8. The density of CO2 and reservoir live oil
at corresponding reservoir temperature and pressure of
selected North Sea oil reservoirs are plotted in Fig. 9.
Fig. 8 - Oil viscisity (live oil) of selected North Sea
reservoirs.
SPE 139765 5

TABLE 3 - Fluid properties of the conceptual model oil.

Pressure (bara) Density (g/cm3) Viscosity (cP)
250 0.6936 0.5619
287 0.6994 0.5911
325 0.7046 0.6205
362 0.7095 0.6500
400 0.7140 0.6796

Fig. 9 - Density of CO2 and reservoir live oil at
reservoir temeprature and pressure of selected North
Sea oil reservoirs.
The composition, the mol-fraction and the molecular
weight (MW) of each component, and the density of the
liquid components of the conceptual live reservoir oil are
presented in TABLE 2.
Flow parameters
The relative permeability functions are derived by use of
Corey relative permeability correlations. The oil, water
and gas relative permeability curves with hystersis in non-
wetting and wetting phases are presented in Fig. 10.
Simulation runs have been performed using a commercial
black oil simulator (Eclipse 2009) with hysteresis options
and Todd-Langstaff miscibility options available in the
software package.
1.0

0.9
krw imb
Krow
TABLE 2 - Composition, mol-fraction and molecular weight 0.8

Relative permeability, fraction

krg imb
of each component, and density of liquid components. 0.7
krw
Molecular Liquid 0.6
Krow imb
Component Mol-fraction weight density 0.5
krg
(g/mol) (g/cm3) 0.4

N2 0,490 28,014 0.3

0.2
CO2 0.311 44,010
0.1
C1 44,013 16,043
0.0
C2 3,843 30,070 0.00 0.10 0.20 0.30 0.40 0.50 0.60 0.70 0.80 0.90 1.00

C3 1,118 44,097 Water saturation, Sw

iC4 0.606 58,124 Fig. 10 - Hysteresis in oil, water and gas relative
nC4 0,717 58,124 permeability curves for the North Sea conceptual
iC5 0,687 72,151 reservoir model.
nC5 0,349 72,151
C6 1,037 86,178 0,6640
Overview of reservoir simulation cases
A total of 1134 cases have been simulated for each of the
C7 2,365 96,000 0,7380
two geological types. The parameter sensitivity matrix for
C8 4,489 107,000 0,7650
the CO2-WAG injections is listed in TABLE 4 resulting
C9 3,514 121,000 0,7810 in a total of 648 cases. The CO2 injection cases counts
C10+ 36,461 246,300 0,8280 half of the WAG cases (no WAG-cycle parameter) and
the water injection cases counts to half of that again (no
The minimum miscibility pressure (MMP) between the onset parameter). Changing the gas-oil ratio effectively
conceptual live reservoir oil and CO2 was calculated by changes the density and viscosity of the oil to account for
PVTsim (Calsep 2010) by use of available methods. The the main variation in the field data.
parameters for combined condensing and vaporizing drive
MMP calculation are used. The result of the slim-tube TABLE 4 - Overview of reservoir simulation cases with
simulations for calculation of MMP showed that MMP parameter sensitivities
between the conceptual live reservoir oil and CO2 is far Parameter Values Units # of cases
below all the resevoir pressure regimes relevant for all the Model dip 2, 5, 10 degrees 3
reservoir simulation runs. Injection rate 300, 600, 1200 Rm3/day 9
Stauration
The density and viscosity of the conceptual live reservoir end point
0.1, 0.2, 0.3 27
oil as a function of increasing pressure are presented in
kv/kh 0.1, 1.0 Fraction 54
TABLE 3 -. The density, viscosity and surface tension at
Gas-oil ratio 40, 120, 150 Sm3/Sm3 162
1.01 bara pressure and 15.0 °C are 0.8161 g/cm³, 17.1 cP
and 20.6 mN/m, respectively. Onset of
0.6, 1.2 PV injected 324
CO2
WAG cycle
3, 12 Months 648
length
6 SPE 139765

Oil recovery efficiency by water injection Frequency plot of EOR by CO2 injection in shallow
The oil recovery profiles from the water injection runs on marine and fluvial deposits are presented in Fig. 15.
the conseptual North Sea shallow marine and fluvial
deposite reservoir models are presented in Fig. 11and Fig. 0,2

12 as a fraction of cumulative produced oil expressed as 0,18

Average

fraction of HCPV versus injected water volumes as a 0,16

Max

fraction of total HCPV. The initial stock tank oil in place 0,14
Min

in the model is 5.78·106 Sm3. The HCPV is 7.87·106 Rm3

EOR, fraction of HCPV
Average ‐
0,12 STDEV
with an oil formation volume factor, Bo = 1.36. Average +
STDEV
0,1

0,6 0,08

0,06
Oil recovery, fraction of HCPV

0,5
0,04

0,02
0,4
0
0 0,5 1 1,5 2 2,5
0,3 Injected volume, fraction of HCPV

Fig. 13 - EOR by CO2 injection in North Sea shallow

0,2
marine deposits beyond water flooding.
0,1

0
0 0,5 1 1,5 2 2,5
Injected water volume, fraction of HCPV

Fig. 11 - Oil recovery by water injection in North Sea

shallow marine deposits.

0,45

0,4

0,35
Oil recovery, fraction of HCPV

0,3

0,25
Fig. 14 - EOR by CO2 injection in North Sea fluvial
0,2 deposits beyond water flooding.
0,15
16
EOR frequency, Fluvial
0,1 14
0,05 12
Frequency, %

EOR frequency, Shallow
0
10 Marine
0 0,5 1 1,5 2 2,5
8
Injected water volume, fraction of HCPV
6
Fig. 12 - Oil recovery by water injection in North Sea 4
fluvial deposits.
2

Oil recovery efficiency by CO2 injection 0

0,01
0,02
0,03
0,04
0,05
0,06
0,07
0,08
0,09
0,1
0,11
0,12
0,13
0,14
0,15
0,16
0,17
0,18
0,19
0,2

The EOR profiles of continuous CO2 injection beyond

water flooding in conseptual North Sea shallow marine EOR % of HCPV, (1% intervals)
and fluvial deposite are presented in Fig. 13 and Fig. 14
as a fraction of cumulative produced oil expressed as Fig. 15-Frequency plot of EOR by CO2 injection in
fraction of HCPV versus injected CO2 as a fraction of shallow marine and fluvial deposits.
total HCPV. The EOR profiles are the average profile,
maximum profile, minimum profile, average profile Oil recovery efficiency by CO2-WAG injection
minus standard deviation of all profiles and average The EOR profiles of continuous CO2-WAG injection
profile pluss standard deviation of all profiles for all beyond water flooding in conseptual North Sea shallow
simulation CO2 injection cases with on-set of CO2 marine and fluvial deposite are presented in Fig. 16 and
injection at 0.6 HCPV of water injection. Fig. 17 as a fraction of cumulative produced oil expressed
as fraction of HCPV versus injected CO2 as a fraction of
total HCPV. The EOR profiles are the average profile,
SPE 139765 7

maximum profile, minimum profile, average profile 14

minus standard deviation of all profiles and average 12
Fluvial
profile pluss standard deviation of all profiles for all Shallow Marine

Frequency, %
10
simulation CO2 injection cases with on-set of CO2
injection at 0.6 HCPV of water injection. 8

0,25
6

4
0,2
Average
2
Max
EOR, fraction of HCPV

Min 0

0,5
1,5
2,5
3,5
4,5
5,5
6,5
7,5
8,5
9,5
10,5
11,5
12,5
13,5
14,5
15,5
16,5
17,5
18,5
19,5
20,5
21,5
22,5
0,15
Average ‐
EOR % of HCPV, (1% intervals)
0,1

Fig. 18 - Frequency plot of EOR by CO2 WAG

0,05
injection in shallow marine and fluvial deposits.

0
0 0,5 1 1,5 2 2,5
Injected volume, fraction of HCPV Effect of injection of recirculated hydrocarbon
Fig. 16 - EOR by CO2-WAG injection in North Sea gas topped with CO2 on oil recovery efficiency
shallow marine deposits beyond water flooding. Associated gas contaminated with increasing amounts of
CO2 after CO2 break-through into production wells may
0,25
be re-circulated through the reservoir without further
processing. This will result in an injection gas with other
0,2
Average
properties compared to pure CO2 and this may affect the
Max oil recovery efficiency. Such potential impact is addressed
EOR, fraction of HCPV

0,15
Min by use of compositional reservoir simulations on
Average ‐ conceptual North Sea oil reservoir models.
0,1
The oil recovery profiles by water injection followed by
continuous CO2 injection and mixture of associated gas
0,05 topped with CO2 are shown in Fig. 19. The results are
from compositional reservoir simulation runs of
0 continuous CO2 injection after waterinjection and
0 0,5 1 1,5
Injected volume, fraction of HCPV
2 2,5
injection of CO2/hydrocarbon gas mixtures (CO2 break-
through gas) as make-up gas in a recirculatio process in
Fig. 17 - EOR by CO2-WAG injection in North Sea
the oil reservoir. The breakthrough gas is re-circulated
fluvial deposits beyond water flooding.
without further processing. The cases shown are runs on
the conceptual North Sea shallow marine reservoir model
Frequency plot of EOR by CO2 WAG injection in shallow
with onset of CO2 injection after about ten years of water
marine and fluvial deposits are presented in Fig. 18.
injection and with the residual oil saturaion after water
flooding set to Sorw = 0.3.
8 SPE 139765
0,70
0,60
0,50
Oil recovery, fraction
0,40
0,30
Oil recovery efficiency; CO2 injected
continuously after water injection
0,20
Oil recovery efficiency; CO2 injected
continuously after water injection
0,10
until CO2 breakthrough, then
breakthrough gas topped with CO2
0,00
0 10 20 30 40
Years
Fig. 19 - Oil recovery by water injection followed by
continuous CO2 injection and mixture of associated
gas topped with CO2.
Discussions
The performance of the continuous water injection in the
conceptual North Sea shallow marine and fluvial deposite
reservoir models as presented in Fig. 11and Fig. 12 as a
fraction of cumulative produced oil expressed as fraction
of HCPV versus injected water volumes as a fraction of
HCPV until injection 2.5 HCPV in total. The initial stock
tank oil in place in the model is 5.78·106 Sm3. The HCPV
is 7.87·106 Rm3 with an oil formation volume factor, Bo =
1.36. The oil recovery profiles are within a range of
0.325– 0.514 fraction of HCPV and in a range of 0.258–
0.417 fraction of HCPV for shallow marine and fluvial
deposits, respectively.
The better performance with respect to the oil recovery
profiles for the North Sea shallow marine deposits
compared to fluvial deposits under otherwise comparable
fluid properties and dynamic flow properties is
anticipated to be caused by the better volumetric sweep of
CO2 of the shallow marine deposit compared to fluvial
deposit, please refer to the river flow channel system in
fluvial deposits shown in Fig. 5.
The EOR profiles presented are the average profile,
maximum profile, minimum profile, average profile
minus standard deviation of all profiles and average
profile plus standard deviation of all profiles for all
simulation. The onset of CO2 injection is at 0.5 HCPV of
water injection applies for all cases of both CO2 injection
and CO2 WAG injection. The EOR is within a range of
0.038– 0.174 fraction of HCPV and in a range of 0.264–
0.160 fraction of HCPV after injection of 2.5 HCPV for
shallow marine and fluvial depostis, respectively.
The CO2 WAG EOR profiles are even more promising
compared to above. The CO2 WAG EOR is within a
range of 0.069– 0.238 fraction of HCPV and in a range of
0.068–0.207 fraction of HCPV after injection of 2.5
HCPV for shallow marine and fluvial depostis,
respectively. The better EOR performance of the North
Sea shallow marine deposits compared to fluvial deposits
under otherwise comparable fluid properties and dynamic
flow properties is again anticipated to be caused by the
better volumetric sweep of CO2 and CO2 WAG of the
shallow marine deposit compared to fluvial deposit.
Associated gas contaminated with increasing amounts of
CO2 after CO2 break-through into production wells may
be re-circulated through the reservoir without further
processing. This will result in an injection gas with other
properties compared to pure CO2 and this may affect the
oil recovery efficiency. Such potential impact is addressed
by use of compositional reservoir simulations on
50
conceptual North Sea oil reservoir models.
Results from compositional reservoir simulation runs of
injection of CO2/hydrocarbon gas mixtures (CO2 break-
through gas) as make-up gas in a recirculation mode in oil
reservoirs after about ten years of water injection revealed
that the EOR contribution was very similar or compareble
to the cases run without recirculation for the first 20 years
of recirculation. Beyond 20 years the EOR contribution
from continuous injection is somewhat higher and reaches
1.9% of HCPV at 50 years of injection (water and CO2
injection in total).
The compositional reservoir simulation runs incorporate
recirculation of a mixture of breakthrough gas
contaminated with increasing amounts of CO2 after CO2
breakthrough. The breakthrough gas is re-circulated
without further processing which will result in an
injection gas with other properties compared to pure CO2
and this may affect the oil recovery. After breakthrough
of CO2 into the production well, the mole fraction of CO2
in the separator gas phase will increase. This separator gas
will be re-circulated and topped with CO2 and will
constitute the always changing mixture of CO2 and
hydrocarbon gas for re-circulation. With a relative low
GOR of the reservoir oil this gas mixture will after years
of recirculation not deviate enough from CO2 itself to
influence the oil recovery efficiency markedly.
Conclusions
The conclusions are as follows:
• The CO2 EOR from North Sea shallow marine
conceptual reservoir models is in the range of
3.75– 17.4 % with average of 10.0% of HCPV
after continuous injection of 2.5 HCPV of CO2.
• The CO2 EOR from North Sea fluvial deposits
conceptual reservoir models is in the range of
2.64– 16 % of HCPV with an average of 9.0%
after injection of 2.5 HCPV of CO2.
• The CO2 WAG EOR from North Sea shallow
marine conceptual reservoir models is in the
range of 6.9– 23.8 % with an average of 16.6%
of HCPV after injection of 2.5 HCPV of CO2
WAG.
SPE 139765 9

• The CO2 WAG EOR from North Sea fluvial
deposits conceptual reservoir models is in the
range of 6.8– 20.7 with average of 13.4% of
HCPV after injection of 2.5 HCPV of CO2
WAG.
• The EOR contribution from CO2/hydrocarbon
mixture injection with recirculation of
breakthrough gas contaminated with CO2 beyond
that of water injection, is very similar or
comparable to the cases run without
recirculation.
Johannessen, J.P. and Nøttvedt, A., 2008: Norway
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Bryhni, I., Nøttvedt, A. and Rangnes, K. (eds.) 2008, The
Making of a Land – Geology of Norway, Trondheim,
Norsk Geologisk Forening, pp. 356–383.
Nystuen, J.P., Mørk, A., Müller, R. and Nøttvedt, A.,
2008: From desert to alluvial plain – from land to sea. In:
Ramberg, I.B., Bryhni, I., Nøttvedt, A. and Rangnes, K.
(eds.) 2008, The Making of a Land – Geology of Norway,
Trondheim, Norsk Geologisk Forening, pp. 330–355.

Nomenclature Christie M.A. and Blunt, M.J., 2001: Tenth SPE

Bo = Oil formation volume factor Comparative Solution Project: A Comparison of
EOR = Enhanced oil recovery Upscaling Techniques. SPE Reservoir Evaluation &
GOR = Gas-to-oil ratio Engineering, 2001. Volume 4(4): pp. 308–317.
HCPV = Hydrocarbon porevolume
kh = Horizontal permeability Holt, T. and Lindeberg, E., 2003: A techno-economical
krg = Relative permeability to gas model for large scale deposition of CO2 in oil reservoirs
krg imb = Relative permeability to gas during imbibition and aquifers, Report 54.5255.00/03/03 SINTEF
krow imb = Relative permeability to oil during imbibition Petroleum Research, 45 p., Restricted.
of water
krow = Relative permeability to oil during PVTsim; PVT Simulation Package, recent version
waterflooding released 2010, Calsep, Denmark (www.calsep.com)
krw imb = Relative permeability to water during
imbibition Eclipse Reservoir Simulation Software v. 2009.2,
krw = Relative permeability to water www.slb.com
kv = Vertical permeability
MMP = Minimum miscibility pressure
MW = Molecular weight
PV = Porevolume
Sorw = residual oil after water flooding
STO = Stock-tank oil
WAG = Water-alternating-gas injection

Subscripts
h, v = horizontal, vertical
g, o, w = gas, oil, water
r imb = relative permeability during imbibition

Acknowledgments
We acknowledge the ECCO–European Value Chain for
CO2 project for the financial support for this research
work. ECCO is a European research project funded by the
European Commission under the 7th framework
programme for research (7FP) and by industial companies
within power generation and oil and gas production
(http://www.sintef.no/Projectweb/ecco/).

References
Holt, T., Lindeberg, E. and Taber, J.J., 2000:
Technologies and possibilities for large scale CO2
separation and underground storage, paper SPE 63103
presented at the SPE Annual Technical Conference and
Exhibition, Dallas, Tx., 1–4 Oct.

Holt, T., Lindeberg, E. and Wessel-Berg, D., 2008: EOR

and CO2 disposal – Economic and capacity potential in
the North Sea, Energy Procedia, vol 1, pp. 4159–4166,
available online at www.sciencedirect.com.