Enhanced Oil Recovery Methods | EOR

Introduction
Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) is a method of producing oil that changes the oil properties to
make it more mobile in the reservoir. Most of the studies show that the amount of oil that
can be extracted with primary methods is about 20 – 30% and by secondary recovery can
reach up to 40% but using (EOR) techniques, recovery can reach up to 60 – 65%
(Carter,2011).These techniques of (EOR) are essentially designed to recover oil the residual
oil. The oil that cannot be extracted by primary recovery as well as secondary recovery
techniques, this amount of recovery depends on the amount of oil produced from the
primary recovery. According to the Department of Energy U.S.A, the amount of oil
produced worldwide is only one third of the total oil available. So by using the EOR
techniques we will be able to produce more oil as the demand increase while we have a
shortage in the supply.

With the decline in oil discoveries during the last decades it is believed that EOR
technologies will play a key role to meet the energy demand in years to come ( Alvarado &
Manrique,2010).In 1998, a total of about 707,000 barrels of oil per day was produced in
the U.S using EOR methods (Carter 2010).

This report presents a comprehensive review of EOR status and opportunities to increase
final recovery factors in different type of reservoirs, ideas of development. Specifically, the
report discusses EOR status and opportunities organized by reservoir lithology. Advantages
and challenges of some of the EOR methods including growing trends in recent years such
as CO2 injection, Moreover a brief overview of EOR projects economics and the
implementation of EOR.

1 EOR definitions
" Enhanced oil recovery (EOR) processes include all methods that use external sources of
energy and/or materials to recover oil that cannot be produced, economically by
conventional means"(SPE).

The general mechanism of oil recovery is movement of hydrocarbons to production wells

due to a pressure difference between the reservoir and the production wells. The recovery
of oil reserves is divided into three main categories worldwide, figures 1,2,3 and 4 illustrate
these categories and the recovery stages.

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Tertiary recovery techniques (EOR)

Enhanced Oil Recovery Methods | EOR

Figure 1 General mechanism of oil recovery.

Primary recovery techniques (conventional recovery)

This implies the initial production stage, resulted from the displacement energy
naturally existing in a reservoir that come from fluid and rock expansion, solution gas
drive, gravity drainage, and the influx of water from aquifer.

Secondary recovery techniques (conventional recovery)

Normally utilized when the primary production declines. Traditionally these
techniques are water injection, pressure maintenance, and gas injection. The recovery

These techniques are referred to the ones used after the implementation of the
secondary recovery method. Usually these processes use miscible gases, chemicals,
and/or thermal energy to displace additional oil after the secondary recovery process
has become uneconomical.

Figure 2Recovery stages of a hydrocarbon reservoir through time (Adapted from Comparative study of different
EOR methods sultan et.al 2010)

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 Enhanced Oil Recovery Methods | EOR

2 Enhanced oil recovery techniques

2.1 Water-flooding
Water flooding is a secondary-recovery technique consists of injecting water into the
reservoir. It is the most widely used post-primary recovery method. Water is injected in

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 Enhanced Oil Recovery Methods | EOR

patterns of the reservoir. The objective of water injection is to maintain the reservoir
pressure and dispose of the brine producer with the oil also to increase the oil recovery.

Figure 3Water-flooding process

Water is injected for two reasons:

1- For pressure support of the reservoir.

2- To sweep or displace the oil from the reservoir, and push it towards an oil
production well.

Choosing this technique has some advantages such as :

The water is inexpensive and predictable to use.

Water flooding can recover 30 to 40% of the original oil in place.
The capital cost of water injection is lower than another any method.

Disadvantages :

Reaction of injected water with the formation water can cause formation damage.
Corrosion of surface and sub-surface equipment.

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2.2 Gas EOR

It is the oldest of the fluid injection processes. It was suggested as early as1864.Gas
injection is the most popular technique used worldwide, in United States alone around 50%
of the EOR production involves gas injection techniques and it has proven success in most
of the oil reservoir types. The aim of any gas injection technique is to restore reservoir
pressure, Increase oil production and Lower the operating cost. Carbon dioxide, Nitrogen
and the natural gas are the common gases that used in this technique, gas methods include
hydrocarbon miscible/immiscible and CO2 miscible and immiscible processes.

Figure 4 Gas injection process (Adapted from Barrufet,2008)

2.3 Chemical EOR

In chemical EOR, the primary goal is to recover more oil by either one or a combination of
the following processes:

1) Mobility control by adding polymers to reduce the mobility of the injected water.
2) Interfacial tension reduction by using surfactants, and/or alkalis.
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The only place where chemical EOR has been successful, especially polymer, is in
China. Surfactant injection has not produced any successes and remains challenging,
especially in a high salinity, high temperature environment. Nearly all of the polymer
floods have been implemented in sandstones, and carbonates remain a major
challenge. Chemical EOR faces significant challenges, especially in light oil reservoirs.
One of the reasons is the availability, or lack of compatible chemicals in high
temperature and high salinity environments.

2.4 Thermal EOR

Thermal EOR methods are generally applicable to heavy, viscous crudes, and involve the
introduction of thermal energy into the reservoir to raise the temperature of the oil and
reduce its viscosity.

Steam injection and in-situ combustion are the popular thermal recovery methods. Three
common methods involving steam injection are cyclic steam stimulation (huff and puff),
steam flooding and steam assisted gravity drainage (SAGD). In-situ combustion involves the
injection of air, where the oil is ignited, generates heat internally and also produces
combustion gases, which enhance recovery.

SAGD has been mostly popular in the oil sands and extra-heavy crudes. In-situ combustion
projects, not as popular as steam flooding, have been reported in Canada, India, Romania,
and the US. It has been applied mostly to heavy oil sandstone reservoirs.

The future of thermal methods is the brightest for the more difficult heavy oil and tar sands
resources.

3 EOR technology matrix

EOR processes are divided into four categories: thermal, gas, chemical, and other. Table 1
summarizes the main processes within each category.

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Table 1 EOR categories and processes (Adapted from Lake and Walsh 2008)

Choosing the suitable EOR technique depends on

Technical factors

1) The reservoir Characteristic: depth, structure (dip), homogeneity degree, petro

physical properties (permeability, capillary pressure, wettability).
2) Fluid viscosity.
3) Injection to production well location.
4) The location of the injectors depends on: reservoir geology (anticline – fault),
reservoir type (gas cap – water drive), volume of the hydrocarbon, bearing rock and
the economics.

Economic factors depends on the cost of :

1) Studies and laboratory work.

2) Drilling additional wells.
3) Converting producers into injectors.
4) Surface equipment: pumps, lines, tanks, filters, etc.
5) Injected material.
6) Oil price in the market.
4 Screening Criteria for EOR methods

Technical screening guides for matching EOR methods to different reservoirs have been
evaluated and presented, along with brief descriptions of each method. there is a choice of
EOR methods applicable to all cruds, from the very lightest to the heaviest oils or tar sands.

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The following (table 2).These are not intended to be firm cut-offs, but rather approximate
practical limitations :

Light oil with viscosities of less than 10cp may be recovered by hydrocarbon
miscible, nitrogen, flue gas, or carbon dioxide flooding if the reservoir is deep
enough and meets certain other criteria.

Intermediate range oil with relatively low viscosities can be recovered with the three
chemical methods: polymer, alkaline or surfactant flooding. These use water as the
main injection fluid, and permeability should be greater than 10 or 20 md; depth is
not usually a problem expect as it relates to temperature.

For heavy oil, with viscosities of more than 150-200cp, heat needs to be added to
the reservoir by in-situ combustion or steam drive.

The technical screening guides are only the first step for matching the best EOR method for
a given reservoir. The final decision will depend on the economic evaluation of each
individual reservoir situation.

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Table2 Screening Criteria for EOR methods based on north American projects

4.1 Depth limitation for EOR methods

This table illustrates the influence of reservoir depth on the technical feasibility of EOR
methods.

Figure depth limitation of EOR methods

4.2 Preferred oil viscosity ranges for EOR methods

This table illustrates the influence of oil viscosity on the technical feasibility of EOR
methods.

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 Enhanced Oil Recovery Methods | EOR

Figure oil viscosity incidence for different EOR methods

4.3 Permeability guide for EOR methods

This table illustrates the influence of rock permeability on the technical feasibility of EOR
methods.

Figure

reservoir permeability for different EOR methods

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4.4 EOR by Lithology

Reservoir lithology is one of the important screening considerations for EOR methods, often
limiting the applicability of specific EOR methods. Figure 3 shows that most EOR
applications have been in sandstone reservoirs, it is clear that EOR thermal and chemical
projects are the most frequently used in sandstone reservoirs compared to other lithologies
(e.g., carbonates and turbiditic formations).

5 Implementation of EOR techniques

The implementation of EOR is intimately tied to the price of oil and overall economics. EOR
is capital and resource intensive, and expensive, primarily due to high injectant costs. EOR
projects are also facilitated by stepwise implementation and integration of technology,
people, and commitment.
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One of the reasons to explain the increase in U.S. EOR gas injection methods is due to vast
sources of cheap sources of CO2 and a readily available CO2 pipeline system making CO2
EOR projects economically attractive at oil prices around $US 20 per barrel.

Figure:
EOR projects
and oil price

correlation

Figure 2 shows evolution of CO2 projects in the U.S. and average crude oil prices for
the last three decades

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6 Environmental concern of EOR

In recent years, a strong boost to EOR has come from environmental concerns. This is
especially true for CO2-EOR. CO2, a greenhouse gas, has been closely linked to global
climate change. There are incentives to sequester this CO2.It is also a very good solvent for
light crudes and is generally miscible with the oil at moderate reservoir pressures. The
number of projects injecting CO2 for EOR has been steadily rising and is anticipated to
increase further in the foreseeable future. In many ways, this is a win-win situation,
sequestering CO2 at the same time as producing incremental oil.

Gas injection, especially CO2, is applicable to light oil reservoirs, in both carbonates and
sandstones. Its popularity is expected to increase for two reasons, increased oil recovery
through miscibility and The disposal of a greenhouse gas.

Currently, there are over 100 commercial CO2-EOR projects in U.S. Their success has
partially been due to the availability of low-cost natural CO2 from nearby fields and
reservoirs. Many other CO2-EOR projects are on the drawing board as a result of
environmental reasons (sequestration).

Hydrocarbon gas is also an excellent solvent for light oil reservoirs, if available. Hydrocarbon
gas injection is mostly implemented where the gas supply cannot be monetized.(no local
market), it can be injected into an oil reservoir for EOR. Other gases, such as nitrogen have
lesser extent than CO2 and hydrocarbon gases.

The current challenges in gas injection as an EOR method are gravity segregation, and most
importantly, availability of a low-cost gas source. The future of gas injection lies primarily
with CO2. As the CO2 capture cost decreases, injection of CO2 may become widespread.

Another option to consider before EOR is ‘smart water flooding’. Here, the idea is to inject
water with an optimized composition (in terms of salinity and ionic composition) into the
reservoir instead of any available water that may currently planned to be injected. Recent
research has shown that salinity and/or ionic composition can play a significant role in oil
recovery during water flooding and may yield up to 10 per cent or higher additional oil
recoveries when compared to un-optimized water injection. This option has several
advantages compared to EOR:

• The use of water-flooding in the EOR techniques has an environmental advantages that
prevent the accumulation of the water pools on sites, which has a reverse impact on
the environment and the ground water.

• It can achieve higher ultimate oil recovery with minimal investment in current
operations (this assumes that a water-flooding infrastructure is already in place). The
advantage lies in avoiding extensive capital investment associated with conventional
EOR methods, such as expenditure on new infrastructure and plants needed for

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injectants, new injection facilities, production and monitoring wells, changes in tubing
and casing, for example.

• It can be applied during the early life cycle of the reservoir, unlike EOR.

• The payback is faster, even with small incremental oil recovery.

7 Conclusion
A various methods of Enhanced oil recovery techniques were discussed briefly in this
report. Specifically,the statues of EOR technology and its current use in the oil market
worldwide, water-flooding and CO2 gas injection were the two main topic in this report as
many co2-project are running currently, it is predicted that CO2 gas injection will take the
biggest part in EOR market. The implementation of this kind of technology depends on the
cost of oil and the variability injectant.

Enhanced oil recovery method EOR depends on different screening guides, there is a choice
of EOR methods applicable to all cruds depends on technical and economical factors.
sandstone reservoirs show the highest potential to implement EOR projects because most
of the technologies have been tested at pilot and commercial scale in this type of lithology.
CO2 injection and water-flooding are more popular methods which have shown some
positive environmental aspects. This beneficial use of CO2 can provide a means to slow the
accumulation of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere by Sequestration of carbon dioxide.
By using the EOR techniques we will be able to produce more oil with more than 50% of the
total recovery.

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