ENHANCED

OIL
RECOVERY
BY :
UROOJ JAWWAD
ROLL NO: 15004
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TABLE OF CONTENTS

 Oil Recovery Methods

 Enhanced Oil Recovery
 Techniques Of EOR
 What’s New In EOR?
 Summary
 OIL RECOVERY METHODS

Oil can be extracted and recovered by three

methods:
• Primary Recovery
• Secondary Recovery
• Tertiary Recovery/ Enhanced Oil Recovery
• PRIMARY • SECONDARY
RECOVERY RECOVERY

The natural driving The methods involve in this

mechanisms of Primary recovery are:
recovery are outlined as
follows: • Water Flooding

 Water Drive • Gas Injection

 Gas Cap Drive

 Depletion Drive
 Gravity Drainage Drive
 Rock And Liquid Expansion
Drive
ENHANCED OIL
RECOVERY

• Enhanced oil recovery or tertiary

recovery refers to the recovery of
oil through the injection of fluids
and energy not normally present
in the reservoir.
• Enhanced oil recovery can extract
30% to 60% or more of a
reservoir oil compared to 20% to
40% using primary and secondary
recovery.
 TECHNIQUES OF EOR

There are three primary techniques of Enhanced Oil Recovery:

Gas Injection
Thermal Injection
Chemical Injection
GAS INJECTION

Gases used include CO2, natural

gas or N2. The fluid most
commonly used for miscible
displacement is CO2 because it
reduces the oil viscosity and is
less expensive than liquefied
petroleum gas.
 THERMAL INJECTION

The techniques involve in this method are:

 Steam Flooding
 Cyclic Steam Injection
 Fire Flooding
STEAM FLOODING

Steam flooding is one means of

introducing heat into the reservoir
by pumping steam into the well a
similar pattern to that of water
injection. When the steam enters
the reservoir, it heats up the oil
and reduces its viscosity
 CYCLIC STEAM
INJECTION
This method, also known as the Huff and Puff method.
It consists of 3 stages:
1) Injection 2) Soaking 3) Production
Steam is first injected into a well for a certain amount of
time to heat the oil in the surrounding reservoir to a
temperature at which it flows.
After it is decided enough steam has been injected, the
steam is usually left to "soak" for some time after
(typically not more than a few days).
Then oil is produced out of the same well, at first by
natural flow (since the steam injection will have increased
the reservoir pressure) and then by artificial lift.
Production will decrease as the oil cools down, and once
production reaches an economically determined level the
steps are repeated again.
 FIRE FLOODING OR
IN-SITU COMBUSTION
In-situ combustion or fire flooding is a process
in which an oxygen containing gas is injected
into a reservoir where it reacts with the oil
contained within the pore space. The heat
from the combustion thins out the oil around
it, causes gas to vaporize from it, and
vaporizes the water in the reservoir to steam.
Steam, hot water, and gas all act to drive oil in
front of the fire to production wells.
 CHEMICAL INJECTION

Techniques include in this method are:

• Polymer Flooding
• Liquid Carbon Dioxide Superfluid
 POLYMER FLOODING

Chemical injection uses polymers or

surfactants to improve oil flow and reduce
surface tension. Polymer flooding mixes
long-chain polymer molecules with water
to reduce oil viscosity
Surfactants may be used in conjunction
with polymers; They decrease the surface
tension between the oil and water
 LIQUID CARBON DIOXIDE
SUPERFLUID

(CO2) is particularly effective in reservoirs

deeper than 2,000 ft., where CO2 will be in
a supercritical state. In high pressure
applications with lighter oils, CO2 is
miscible with the oil, with resultant
swelling of the oil, and reduction in
viscosity, and possibly also with a reduction
in the surface tension with the reservoir
rock.
 WHAT’S NEW IN EOR?
• MICROBIAL ENHANCED OIL • PLASMA PULSE TECHNOLOGY
RECOVERY (MEOR)
Microbial Enhanced Oil Recovery (MEOR) relies on The newest technology, developed in Russia, is
microbes to ferment hydrocarbons and produce plasma pulse. The method involves bombarding oil
by-products such as biosurfactants and carbon fields with low-energy emissions, which lowers
dioxide that help to displace oil in a similar way viscosity much like the conventional EOR techniques.
than in conventional EOR processes. Bacterial One promising feature of plasma pulse is that it is less
growth occurs at exponential rates, therefore potentially harmful to the environment since it does
biosurfactants are rapidly produced. The activity not involve injecting gases, chemicals or heat into the
of biosurfactants compare favorably with the earth.
activity of chemically synthesized surfactants. The
injection of nutrients such as sugars, nitrates or
phosphates stimulates the growth of the microbes
and aid their performance. MEOR applications are
limited to moderate reservoir temperatures,
because high temperatures limit microbial life and
the availability of suitable nutrients
ENVIORNMENTAL
IMPACTS OF EOR
Enhanced oil recovery
wells typically produce
large quantities of brine
at the surface. The brine
may contain toxic metals
and radioactive
substances, as well as
being very salty. This can
be very damaging to
drinking water sources
and the environment
generally if not properly
controlled.
 SUMMARY
 EOR can make a much more
significant contribution to world oil
supply than is currently forecast
 EOR is a long-term business
 EOR provides a commercial use for
carbon dioxide, creating an incentive
for industries to develop technologies
to capture the greenhouse gas. EOR
is therefore seen as a catalyst for a
carbon market.