The Future of Solutions: Technologies for Increased Oil Recovery (IOR)

Monday 30th April, 08:00 10:30 AM Monarch Room (24th floor), The Westin Galleria Houston,

Research Perspectives:
Maximizing Oil Recovery by
IOR/EOR
Arne Skauge
Managing Director
CIPR Centre for Integrated Petroleum Research
Uni Research and University of Bergen

Facts about CIPR

CIPR is the Norwegian Centre of Excellence focusing on
maximizing oil recovery
CIPR conducts applied research into increased oil recovery and
energy efficient utilization of CO2
Key research areas are:
Improved Oil Recovery / Enhanced Oil Recovery
Reservoir Simulation
Geoscience

70 researchers (many with extensive industry experience)

30 PhD students
40 master students
CIPR is a cooperation between the University of Bergen and Uni Research

Vision
Develop new exploration and
increased recovery
technology to make NCS a
leading technology driven
petroleum province in 2020.

Goal
Develop new technology
to add 7.7 billion bbl o.e.

Maximizing oil recovery for

offshore oil and gas fields
Challenges
Identify undrained area
Well distance
Well placement
Logistics

Maximizing oil recovery for

offshore oil and gas fields
Challenges

Actions

Identify undrained area

4D seismic and EM

Well distance

drill cheep/fast new wells

Well placement

sidetrack injectors into the oil zone

Logistics

minimize the amount of chemicals

for EOR

Oil Production Rate

Contributions to closing the production gap

Incremental
Oil Recovery

Time

Reservoir description
Best reservoir model
Reservoir communication
Simulation methods
Better predictions
Enhanced oil recovery methods
Move trapped oil
Sweep improvement
Monitoring
Find best drilling targets

Surfactant

Polymer

Water

Surfactant
Polymer
Alkaline
Foam
Oil

Dynamic Reservoir Characterization

3D & 4D SEISMIC

PRODUCTION DATA

Obtain Vp, Vs and

Obtain

model

Obtain reservoir
parameters

Understand production
effects on seismics

Real Time Reservoir

Management
Mathematical modelling
Numerical modelling

GEO
MODELLING

Inverse Problems
Optimization

Nt

Lc (q, u, ) Lnc ( q, u n , )
Nt

n 1

f (u n , q ) T e(u n , q) 12 c e(u n , q )
n 1

Find best well target

Average 1,68

SomeselectedEnhancedOilRecoverytechnologies
Status

Mechanisms

Technology

Prognosis

Prediction

Upscaling

Mechanisms

Technology

Prognosis

Prediction

Upscaling

WAG
Foam
Surfactant flooding
Microbial IOR
Low salinity polymers

Goal
WAG
Foam
Surfactant flooding
Microbial IOR
High salinity polymers
Proven technology

Progress needed

Unsolved

FAWAG Foam Assisted WAG

Snorre field
6 000

P-39 Production Performance

Oil production (Sm3/d)

5 000

4 000

start FAWAG
3 000

2 000

WAG

WAG+FAWAG

1000

0
jul-9 6

jan-9 7

jul-9 7

jan-9 8

jul-9 8

jan-9 9

jul-9 9

jan-0 0

jul-0 0

jan-0 1

Q oil

Ref: Skauge, A., Aarra, M.G., Surguchev, L., Martinsen, H.A., Rasmussen, L.,
SPE 75157, Foam-Assisted WAG: Experience from the Snorre Field, 2002

Conventional Chemical Methods for

Enhanced Oil Recovery
Surfactants to lower the interfacial tension
between the oil and water or change the
wettability of the rock
Water soluble polymers to increase the viscosity
of the water
Polymer gels for blocking or diverting flow
Combinations of chemicals and methods

International status of EOR

Polymer (Daqing, Dahlia, Marmoul, Captain, ..)
(possible on Mariner, Rassey, Grane, etc.)
ASP, SP (Daqing, 20+ pilots)
New processes (10+ pilots)

Daqing Polymer
Injection

Project Description:
Over 2000 wells now injecting
polymer at Daqing
Typical slug size is 0.6 PV
Most well patterns are 5-spot
about 30-50% of injected
polymer is produced
maximum produced polymer
conc. is approx. 2/3 of injected

Lessons Learned:

Higher initial water cut results in

lower incremental gains in
recovery (see figure to left)

The total cost of polymer

flooding ($6.60/bbl inc. oil) is
actually less than for
waterflooding ($7.85/bbl inc. oil)
due to decreased water
production and increased oil
production.

More heterogeneous reservoir:

larger increase in sweep
efficiency
shorter response time to
polymer flooding
strongest influence on
recovery is connectivity of
pay zones

To obtain higher recovery with

polymer flooding:
lower producer WHP
stimulate producers
increase polymer
concentration
increase polymer molecular
weight

New trends hybrid EOR

Example of hybrid EOR methods

WAG
FAWAG (Foam Assisted WAG)
SAGD (Steam Assisted Gravity Drainage)
Low salinity - surfactant
Low salinity - polymers
Low tension gas

New combination of EOR

methods

Low salinity waterflood may give only modest improved oil

recovery for many sandstone reservoirs
Cost of reducing water salinity may be a show stopper
Recent research has made a combined low salinity and
surfactant flooding a way of boosting oil recovery and
improve the economy of this EOR process

Source:
Alagic and Skauge (CIPR): Change to Low Salinity Brine Injection in Combination with
Surfactant Flooding, presented at 15th European Symposium on Improved Oil Recovery
Paris, France, 27 29 April 2009

Combined low salinity and surfactant injection

LSS

LS

Skauge, A., Kallevik, G., Ghorbani, Z., and Delshad, M., Simulation of Combined Low Salinity Brine and Surfactant Flooding
paper the EAGE IOR Symposium 12th 14th April 2011 in Cambridge, UK.

Example of game changer

Polymer flooding
Traditionally polymer is injected for sweep improvement
Old rules of tumbs
Poor injectivity (a lot of positive results on injectivity arre now
available)
Little effect after extensive waterflooding (new results disprove
this statement)
Have to modify the viscosity ratio extensively (new results
disprove this statement)
Additional news
Effect on microscopic displacement (lower Sor)
(viscoelastic effects, etc)

Water- and polymer flood of viscous oils

Skauge, A., Ormehaug, P:A., Gurholt, T., Vik, B., Bondino, I., and Hamon, G., 2-D Visualisation of Unstable Waterflood
and Polymer Flood for Displacement of Heavy Oil, SPE 154292, paper prepared for presentation at the
Eighteenth SPE Improved Oil Recovery Symp. Tulsa, 2012

Waterflooding at adverse mobility ratio

Mohanty et al 2012

Skauge, A., Ormehaug, P:A., Gurholt, T., Vik, B., Bondino, I., and Hamon, G., 2-D Visualisation of Unstable Waterflood
and Polymer Flood for Displacement of Heavy Oil, SPE 154292, paper prepared for presentation at the
Eighteenth SPE Improved Oil Recovery Symp. Tulsa, 2012

Oil mobilization during polymer flood

Red: increased oil saturation

Light blue: increased water saturation

Skauge, A., Ormehaug, P:A., Gurholt, T., Vik, B., Bondino, I., and Hamon, G., 2-D Visualisation of Unstable Waterflood
and Polymer Flood for Displacement of Heavy Oil, SPE 154292, paper prepared for presentation at the
Eighteenth SPE Improved Oil Recovery Symp. Tulsa, 2012

Low salinity polymer

2012

Low salinity polymer

Source: Behruz Shaker and Arne Skauge, 2012

Prediction for the coming years

We will see more advanced flood sequences
Polymer - new development and possibilities (Yes)
Low salinity (?)
Classical surfactant flooding (?)
Hybrid EOR YES
LSS LSP LSASP - LSLTG
Foam-Polymer Nano stabilized foam- Low Tension Gas
WAG Foam Assisted WAG (FAWAG) and more..

Thank you