Water-Plus-Gas Injection on a Bakken Well Pad May Solve Problems That Stymied Shale EOR
Authors: Rassenfoss Stephen 
Published: November 2022

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After years of enhanced oil recovery (EOR) tests in the Bakken, one method finally appears to have added to a well’s ultimate production.

The Liberty Resources well “is perhaps the first one that had clear, indisputable evidence of incremental oil. I do firmly believe we are on the right track for cracking the code for Bakken EOR,” said Jim Sorensen, director of subsurface R&D for the University of North Dakota Energy and Environmental Research Center (EERC) which provided technical support and funding.

The gain predicted after the treatment with water alternating with gas injection (WAG) is not huge. A paper on the test, which was limited to a single 30-day injection cycle, estimated it added 7,000 bbl to the ultimate production, based on decline curve analysis (URTeC 3722974). An updated analysis from EERC is expected in early 2023.

While there are endless arguments over the accuracy of decline curve analysis, Gordon Pospisil, development advisor for Liberty, said incremental oil estimates look solid: “The oil rate response to water alternating gas injection was clearly measurable at over 7,000 bbls over the baseline trend.”

The bigger news may be an injection method that can overcome two barriers to EOR in the Bakken and elsewhere. One is finding a way to keep the injected gas around the wellbore, and the other is significantly lowering the cost, primarily by slashing the volume of gas required.

“Overall, we were pleased with the project outcome to date as we were able to build pressure, contain the injection within the DSU (drilling spacing unit), and make incremental oil,” Pospisil said.

For the test, Liberty used a novel, computer-controlled injection system from a startup company, EOR ETC. This system can rapidly switch from gas to water injection based on the control system the company developed. This reduces the surface injection pressure required to significantly increase the downhole pressure level and helps contain the gas in the target zone.

“I have never seen anything like that. It performed as advertised,” Sorensen said.

The estimated long-term gain looks small compared to the 800,000 bbl of oil prior to the test. But Brian Schwanitz, president of EOR ETC, said the income from those barrels covered what they billed for pumping the job, which was a discounted rate reflecting Liberty’s willingness to be the first operator to use the device.

What it accomplished stands out compared to the futility of past Bakken tests where far more gas was injected with little impact on the downhole pressure because so much of it leaked off through the fractured formation.

The Bakken Debacle

For a decade, companies in the Bakken, often in partnership with the EERC, have searched for ways to get more oil out of the play where the ultimate recoveries are usually below 10% of the oil in place, which is in line with other unconventional oil plays.

Gas-injection EOR tests in oil-producing shale plays have been hit or miss, with most of the results in the Bakken in the miss column. The problem has been that much of the gas escapes from the target zone, making it impossible in some cases to achieve the pressure levels needed for effective EOR and it increases the volume of gas needed to uneconomic levels for gas-only projects to achieve improved ultimate recoveries.