bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Longitudinal Fracturing in a Mature Permian Waterflood: A Case Study
Authors: Wagia-Alla Ahmed , Roach Riley , El-Azzi Joseph
Published: March 2018

Horizontal drilling was successfully applied in a mature waterflood at Occidental's North Wasson Clearfork Unit (NWCFU) as the first waterflooded longitudinal fractured horizontal in the Permian Basin Leonardian Series. The field is located on the northwestern shelf of the Permian Basin, where the Middle Clearfork (MCF) reservoir had been developed with 20-acre vertical well spacing. Recent geological models revealed a series of relatively thin, discontinuous lenticular extensions of "pay" quality porosity in areas of poor areal sweep efficiency. Although horizontal development is typically used for greenfield tight unconventional resources, this concept was evaluated as an alternative to traditional vertical infill drilling in this conventional, heterogeneous, waterflooded reservoir.

Because the widely accepted practice of maximizing stimulated rock volume with closely spaced, transverse fractures would jeopardize the waterflood sweep efficiency, the horizontal well was drilled parallel to the in-situ maximum horizontal stress (SHmax), rather than perpendicular.

A horizontal pilot well was drilled with the following objectives: 1) to prove the effectiveness of multistage, longitudinal fractures to increase oil production from a heterogeneous reservoir, thereby improving recovery efficiency in a mature waterflood, and 2) to investigate the ability to manage the well's decline with waterflood support from offset vertical injection wells.

Initial results have shown that the pilot was successful in meeting both objectives. Furthermore, this horizontal well, which cost five times as much as a vertical well, had an initial peak rate that was seven times as much as a typical vertical well in the field, and in the first year, it produced about seven times as much as a typical vertical well. In this paper, we will discuss the successes and challenges of the pilot project and share the lessons learned.
Foam Generation by Capillary Snap-Off in Flow Across a Sharp Permeability Transition
Authors: Shah Swej Y. , Wolf Karl-Heinz , Pilus Rashidah M. , Rossen William R.
Published: March 2018

Foam reduces gas mobility and can improve sweep efficiency in an enhanced-oil-recovery process. Previous studies show that foam can be generated in porous media by exceeding a critical velocity or pressure gradient. Such pressure gradients are typically encountered only near a well and therefore, it is uncertain whether foam can propagate far from wells. Theoretical studies show that foam can be generated independent of pressure gradient during flow across an abrupt increase in permeability. In subsurface flow, such sharp permeability changes occur across different length scales. Laminations and cross-laminations, for example, are commonly found small-scale features, whereas unconformities, including layer boundaries and erosional surfaces, are field-scale features that are associated with sharp permeability contrasts across them. In this study, we validate theoretical predictions of foam generation through a variety of experimental evidence. We perform coreflood experiments involving simultaneous injection of gas and surfactant solution at field-like velocities into a model consolidated porous medium made of sintered glass. The core has a well-characterized, sharp permeability transition achieved by sintering glass of different grain sizes. Pressure gradient is measured across several sections of the core to identify foam-generation events and the subsequent propagation of foam. X-ray computerized tomography (CT) provides dynamic images of the coreflood in the form of phase saturations as they develop through the experiment. We investigate the effects of the magnitude of the permeability change and injected gas fractional flow on foam generation and mobilization.
Creation of Insitu EOR Foams by the Injection of Surfactant in Gas Dispersions - Lab Confirmation and Field Application
Authors: Ocampo Alonso , Restrepo Alejandro , Lopera Sergio H. , Mejia Juan M.
Published: March 2018

This work presents the conceptual development and experimental evaluation for a new technique to create blocking foams in matrix rock systems by the injection of the foaming agent dispersed in the hydrocarbon gas stream. This new technique aims at simplifying the operation and reducing costs for the deployment of EOR foams in gas injection based projects, and overcoming the disadvantage of limited reservoir volume of influence obtained in the SAG technique.

A systematic experimental work is implemented to investigate the effect of the dispersed chemical (surfactant) concentration and the gas velocity on the ability to create blocking foams at high pressure and temperature, and using representative consolidated porous medium and fluids coming from the Piedemonte fields in Colombia. The concept behind this new technique is the transfer of chemical foamer from the gas dispersion into the connate or residual waters present in the hydrocarbon reservoirs under exploitation, due mainly to the chemical potential derived from the contrast in chemical concentration between the dispersed phase and the in-situ water.

Results herein confirm that it is possible to create blocking foam by this technique in a consolidated sandstone core at residual oil and water conditions, after being submitted to a gas flooding displacement. This condition is obtained as far as the gas velocity is above a minimum threshold, and the concentration of the active chemical is above certain limit (138 ppm for this case). Successful experiments with foams created by gas dispersed surfactant showed much longer stability periods when compared with results from foams created by the SAG technique at much higher chemical concentration (2,000 ppm). Application of this foams technique was done in a field pilot. About 600 Bbls of foaming solution were dispersed in the hydrocarbon gas stream in one gas injector of a Piedemonte field (Colombia, South America). Gas injectivity in the well was impaired after two weeks of injection, and the oil production well influenced by this injector changed its performance showing incremental oil production and flattening of the gas oil ratio (GOR) shortly after the dispersed chemical injection period. This innovative foams technique could also be extended to other non-condensable gases at field operating conditions like CO2, Nitrogen, Air, and Flue Gas.
Bakken IOR Model for a Pilot Injection Project
Authors: Hoffman B. Todd
Published: March 2018

Over the last decade, unconventional resources like the Bakken formation have revolutionized the petroleum industry, but they have only produced by primary mechanisms, and recovery factors have remained low. The need for IOR processes is clear, but there has only been minor work in this area and no commercial field applications. Flow simulation models can be used to test different methods without interrupting field operations, but models have had a poor track record for unconventional IOR, partly because there is little field injection information to validate the models. In this work, we history matched the model to an IOR injection pilot location in Mountrail County, North Dakota that included both water and gas injection tests.

A county sized geologic model was previously constructed based upon available core, log and geologic information. The model allows for easy extraction of smaller segments for flow simulation. For the current study, a segment around the pilot injection area was isolated. The injection well and two offset producing wells were included in the model. Fluids were added into the model based on a nearby PVT report, and the hydraulic fracturing was captured with a dual permeability grid. The model was matched to the historical production and injection data. At the offset wells, breakthrough times, water cuts and gas oil ratios were also reproduced by changing the fracture and matrix properties.

By matching the injection data, the interwell connectivity is reproduced, which should improve predictions from the model. Various situations were then tested with the model including both gas and water injection scenarios. In the actual field pilot, gas was only injected for two months in the injection well, and there was only a minor response. In one scenario, therefore, we injected into all three wells in a huff-n-puff manner for ten years, and the results showed significant additional oil recovered – 30% more than the primary recovery. In other scenarios, water was injected in both a continuous and huff-n-puff manner. The continuous case had early breakthrough and poor sweep, but the huff-n-puff injection case indicated that oil rates would increase almost as much as the best gas injection cases.

This work shows that by reproducing the field injection data in unconventional reservoirs, more realistic models are created. We evaluated a large number of scenarios, and some of them did not show any increase in oil production, but the models that did show an increase helped us identify IOR techniques that have a better chance of success in the Bakken, which will improve designing the much needed next generation of field pilot tests.
X-Ray Micro-Focus Monitoring of Water Alternating Gas Injection in Heterogeneous Formations
Authors: Luo J. S. , Chen X. , Espinoza D. N. , Nguyen Q. P.
Published: March 2018

Water alternating gas (WAG) injection is a common technique in enhanced oil recovery. However, gas injection often associates with fingering due to high gas mobility, which leaves a large portion of the reservoir unswept. This study addresses gas mobility control observations through novel X-ray microfocus visualization of core-flood experiments and interpretation aided by numerical simulation. We use foam as our primary mobility control agent for improving conformance.

The experimental setup utilizes an automated fluid injection system monitored by an X-ray microfocus scanner to quantify displacement patterns and saturations during WAG core-flood experiments. The core-flood device – placed within an X-ray shielded cabinet – is wirelessly operated through a computer. The resolution of the images permits observation of not only core scale fingering but also pore-scale displacement. We use a metastable foam with surfactant dissolved in the liquid phase to stabilize the gas diffusion in the liquid and to decrease the permeability and/or lower the apparent gas viscosity.

Results show that saturation patterns and displacement front during WAG injection are highly influenced by bedding orientation and rock heterogeneity. Without gas mobility control during WAG injection, fingering and early breakthrough occur in those cases in which bedding orientation facilitates gas to flow through high permeability layers. In these cases, sweep efficiency is low during early time injection of nitrogen and only improves after injection is prolonged. With gas mobility control, the displacement efficiency is significantly improved. Also, dynamic processes like phase trapping, which could severely impair permeability and overall sweep efficiency, is more clearly visualized with the microfocus technique. Simulation work matches experimental data well and replicates saturation patterns measured experimentally in laminated Berea sandstone samples.

The novel visualization technique presented here provides new pore-scale experimental insight to quantifying WAG displacement in heterogeneous media, a resolution one order of magnitude higher than with medical X-ray CT or other core-scale visualization techniques. The findings are useful for understanding flow regimes in structurally complex and heterogeneous formations.
An Experimental Study of Emulsion Flow in Alkaline Solvent Coinjection with Steam for Heavy-Oil/Bitumen Recovery
Authors: Sheng Kai , Argüelles-Vivas Francisco J. , Baek Kwang Hoon , Okuno Ryosuke
Published: March 2018

Water is the dominant component in steam injection processes, such as steam-assisted gravity drainage (SAGD). The central hypothesis in this research is that in-situ oil transport can be enhanced by generating oil-in-water emulsion, where the water-continuous phase acts as an effective oil carrier. As part of the research project, this paper presents an experimental study of how oil-in-water emulsion can improve oil transport in porous media at elevated temperatures from 373 K to 443 K.

Diethyl amine (DEA) was selected as the organic alkali to form oil-in-water emulsions with Athabasca bitumen and NaCl brine at 1000 ppm salinity and 0.5 wt% alkali concentration. This composition had been confirmed to be optimal in terms of oil solubility in the water-external emulsion phase at a wide range of temperatures. Then, flow experiments with a glass-beads pack were conducted to measure effective viscosities for emulsion samples at shear rates from 5 to 29 sec−1.

Results show that the oil-in-water emulsions were more than 18 times less viscous than the original bitumen at 373 and 403 K. At an estimated shear rate of 5 sec−1, for example, the emulsion viscosity was 12 cp at 373 K, at which the bitumen viscosity was 273 cp. The efficiency of in-situ bitumen transport was evaluated by calculating bitumen molar flow rate under gravity drainage with the new experimental data. Results show that oil-in-water emulsion can enhance in-situ molar flow of bitumen by a factor of 64 at 403 K and 95 at 373 K, in comparison with the gravity drainage of oil-water two phases in conventional SAGD. This is mainly because the mobility of the bitumen-containing phase is enhanced by the reduced viscosity and increased effective permeability. A marked difference between alkaline solvents and conventional hydrocarbon solvents is that only a small amount of alkaline solvent enables to enhance in-situ transport of bitumen.
Design, History Matching and Utility of a Simulation Model for a Polymer Pilot
Authors: Thompson A. R. , Martino L. A. , Gandi S. , Barros P.
Published: March 2018

A polymer injection pilot started in 2015 in the Rayoso Formation, Desfiladero Bayo field (Neuquen Basin, Argentina) A detailed monitoring of the pilot was planned and the amount of data anticipated led to the construction of a reservoir model with a high level of detail in order to compare the results to prognosis and to reduce the uncertainty to the business case forecast.

A specific complication was that the Rayoso Fm. had been produced to date in a commingled way with no exclusive production data before the pilot. Subsequently other data was needed to constrain the simulation model. Clearly, when the pilot started, the Rayoso Fm. was not in a virgin state (after ten years of waterflooding), so RFT data, saturation logs of infill wells, injection logs, tracer and geochemical data were used instead, adding production and injection exclusively from the Rayoso Fm. in the new wells and workovers subsequent to the pilot starting.

The history match of the water injection stage of the pilot showed things that were not initially obvious; one was that the production of one of the pilot producer wells was not consistent with the log response and core data. It was subsequently established that errors were occurring in the production tests of this well in the field that were then corrected.

Breakthrough times for water were consequently history matched and it was established that even after polymer injection started, water cut was expected to initially rise, this being key for expectation management.

As the pilot has progressed, the tracer dosed with the polymer was seen before polymer, this suggesting either the presence of a thief zone or as a methodology for estimating the polymer retention. Additionally the mismatch of tracers between the simulation and actual data was used to estimate the real injection rates into the Rayoso Fm. of commingled injectors lying near the pilot area.

In this paper we discuss how a detailed pilot simulation model can be constructed and constrained when production data specific to the formation is absent. Subsequently, when field results are different to expectation, simulation can be used as tool to establish the probable cause of the deviation from prognosis and hence identify remedial action if required. Finally, the simulation model was key to manage expectations; unrealistic expectations are one of the leading causes of pilots failing.
Oil Recovery by Alkaline-Surfactant-Foam ASF Flooding: Effect of Drive Foam Quality on Oil Bank Propagation
Authors: Janssen Martijn T. , Zitha Pacelli L. , Pilus Rashidah M.
Published: March 2018

Alkaline-Surfactant-Foam flooding is a novel enhanced oil recovery process which increases oil recovery over water flooding by combining lowering of the oil-water interfacial tension by two to three orders of magnitude and foaming. We report an experimental study of the formation of the oil bank and its displacement by foam drives of varying qualities. Experiments include: (a) bulk phase behaviour and foam testing studies using n-hexadecane and a single internal olefin sulfonate surfactant which was found to lower the oil-water interfacial tension by at least two orders of magnitude and (b) series of CT scanned core-floods using Bentheimer sandstone cores. A major goal of this study was to investigate the effect of drive foam quality on oil bank displacement. Core-flood results, performed at under-optimum salinity conditions yielding an oil-water interfacial tension in the order of 10−1 mN/m, showed similar ultimate oil recovery factors for the range of drive foam qualities studied. Although the total oil recovery is not affected by drive foam quality, results indicate a more frontal oil bank displacement at lower foam qualities. The findings in this study suggest that a) a lower drive foam quality favours oil bank displacement and b) the amount of clean oil produced by the oil bank is not effected by drive foam quality.
Effect of Salinity on Crude Oil/Brine/Rock Interfaces: A Cryo-BIB-SEM Approach to Carbonates Wettability
Authors: Gmira A. , Cha D. K. , Al-Enezi S. M. , Yousef A. A.
Published: March 2018

Smart water and low salinity waterflooding has been established as an effective recovery method in carbonate reservoirs by demonstrating a significant incremental oil recoveries in secondary and tertiary modes compared to seawater injection. Therefore, understanding of multiphase flow phenomena in reservoir rocks is critical to optimize injected water formulations for substantial increase in oil recovery. Characterization of fluid-fluid and fluid-rock interactions have been extensively conducted at micro- and macroscopic scale, attempting to reveal the underlying mechanisms responsible for wettability alteration. Indeed, routine methods for assessing macro-wettability of fluids on rock surfaces (contact angle) include the sessile drop and captive bubble techniques. However, these two techniques can provide different contact angle depending on rock surface heterogeneities, roughness and drop size. Thus, contact angle measured at macroscale can only be used to characterize the average wettability and a direct visualization at nanoscale is needed to identify oil and brine distribution in the carbonate matrix and wettability state at the pore scale. The application of ion-beam milling techniques allows investigation of the porosity at the nanometer scale using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Imaging of carbonate porosity by SEM of surfaces prepared by broad ion beam (BIB) and under cryogenic conditions allow to investigate preserved fluids inside the rock porosity and, combined with energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) identify crude oil and brine distributions and quantify carbonate-oil interfaces and wettability state. The experiments have been conducted on carbonate rock samples aged in crude oil and saturated with brines at high and reduced ionic strength. This study established an experimental protocol using Cryogenic high resolution broad ion beam (Cryo-BIB SEM) equipped with energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS). The results show that ion-BIB milling provides a smooth surface area with large cross-section of few mm2. High resolution imaging analysis allowed identification of the different phases, chemical mapping and distribution of oil, brine within the porous matrix. Segmentation of rock-oil-brine interface allowed an estimation of the in-situ contact angle and showed the effect of injected salinity brine on the 2D contact angle and more accurate description of the carbonate wettability at nanoscale.
Experimental and Theoretical Study of Operating Pressure and Capillary Pressure on Vapor Oil Gravity Drainage VOGD in Fractured Reservoirs
Authors: Tang B. , Anand N. , Nguyen B. , Sie C. , Verlaan M. , Díaz O. Castellanos , Nguyen Q. P.
Published: March 2018

The Vapor-Oil Gravity Drainage (VOGD) is a low temperature, solvent-enhanced gas-oil gravity drainage (GOGD) process targeting naturally fractured viscous reservoirs. The experimental set up and corresponding acquired data was previously introduced by the authors (Anand et al., 2017) in which the effects of temperature, solvent injection rate, and solvent type (n-Butane and dichloromethane (DCM)) were investigated. Results from Anand et al. work indicated encouraging high oil rates and ultimate recoveries; results also demonstrated that the oil rates and recovery were impacted by diffusion and dispersion (in the form of intrinsic gas rate), asphaltene precipitation, and capillary pressure. The intent of this work is to further study the mechanisms behind VOGD; in particular those related to operating pressure and solvent vapor-oil capillary pressure. The results from this work show that the ultimate recovery and oil rate are positively correlated to the operating pressure; experiments conducted at 50% and 75% saturation pressure (Psat) yielded lower ultimate oil recoveries, ranging from 33% to 68% of original oil in place (OOIP), when compared to the experiments conducted at 90% Psat (70% of OOIP). Moreover, n-butane performed better than DCM and lesser asphaltene precipitation was seen at lower Psat. The main drivers for these observations were found to be lower solvent solubility and larger capillary pressure values at lower values of Psat.
Solvent Leakoff During Gel Placement in Fractures: Extension to Oil-Saturated Porous Media
Authors: Brattekås B. , Ersland G. , Seright R. S.
Published: March 2018

Crosslinked polymers extrude through fractures during placement of many conformance improvement treatments, as well as during hydraulic fracturing. Dehydration of polymer gel during extrusion through fractures has often been observed, and was extensively investigated during the last decades. Injection of highly-viscous gel increases the pressure in a fracture, which promotes gel dehydration by solvent leakoff into the adjacent matrix. The present comprehension of gel behavior dictates that the rate of solvent leakoff will be controlled by the gel and fracture properties, and to a less extent impacted by the properties of an adjacent porous medium. However; several experimental results, presented in this work, indicate that solvent leakoff deviates from expected behavior when oil is present in the fracture-adjacent matrix. We investigated solvent leakoff from Cr(III)-Acetate-HPAM gels during extrusion through oil-saturated, fractured core plugs. The matrix properties were varied to evaluate the impact of pore size, permeability and heterogeneity on gel dehydration and solvent leakoff rate. A deviating leakoff behavior during gel propagation through fractured, oil-saturated core plugs was observed, associated with the formation of a capillary driven displacement front in the matrix. Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) was used to image water leakoff in a fractured, oil-saturated carbonate core plug and verified the position and existence of a stable displacement front. The use of MRI also identified the presence of wormholes in the gel, during and after gel placement, which supports gel behavior similar to the previously proposed Seright filter-cake model. An explanation is offered for when the matrix impacts gel dehydration and supported by imaging. Our results show that the properties of a reservoir rock may impact gel dehydration; which, in turn, strongly impacts the depth of gel penetration into a fracture network, and the gel strength during chase floods.
Performance of Conformance Gels Under Harsh Conditions
Authors: Unomah Michael , Thach Sophany , Shong Robert , App Jeff , Zhang Tiantian , Kim Do Hoon , Malik Taimur , Dwarakanath Varadarajan
Published: March 2018

Permeability reduction provided by conventional polymer gels is affected by harsh reservoir conditions. Harsh conditions are defined by high temperature (> 75°C), high salinity, high divalent ions and the presence of H2S. Polymer gels undergo syneresis when exposed to high salinity and hardness reservoir brines. We evaluated conventional polyacrylamide-based polymer (HPAM)-gels and other modified HPAM-gels with molecular weights between 2-20MM Daltons for gelation time and long-term gel stability under harsh conditions. In addition to polymer degradation, the cross-linkers are also sensitive to harsh reservoir conditions. Specifically, H2S can consume cross-linkers and inhibit gelation. The cross-linkers tested were Chromium (III) Acetate and Chevron Unogel formulation consisting of a combination of hexamethylenetetramine (HMTA) and hydroquinone (HQ). High performing gels were tested for sensitivity to high salinity brines and H2S in a limited number of experiments. The gels were observed for gel strength, and syneresis with time. The goal of our work was to identify a combination of polymer and cross-linker that would provide effective conformance under harsh conditions.

Sulfonated polyacrylamide (ATBS) polymers were found to provide better resistance to high salinity/hardness brines than partially hydrolyzed polyacrylamides in high temperature conditions. The addition of hydrophobic groups to the sulfonated-acrylamide backbone does not increase the hardness tolerance of the polymer. Higher concentration, low molecular weight sulfonated polymers are recommended for use at high temperature and salinity. Polymer gels made with 2MM Dalton polymer show less syneresis with time compared to higher molecular weight polymer at the same polymer concentration. HMTA/HQ ATBS polymer gels are preferable to chromium (III) ATBS polymer gel for high temperature and salinity conditions. Chromium (III) ATBS polymer gels show more susceptibility to syneresis compared to organic crosslinked gels at same polymer concentration. HMTA/HQ crosslinker is ineffective in the presence of hydrogen sulfide. Gelants consisting of HMTA/HQ do not mature into rigid gels after 14 days of exposure to sour gas. Preformed HMTA/HQ gels lose strength upon exposure to sour crude. This is mostly due to HMTA ability as a sour gas/crude sweetener. Chromium (III) gels form weak gels in the presence of sour gas. Chromium competes with sulfide ions to produce insoluble chromium sulfide leading to consumption of crosslinker and poor gelation. Malonate and tartrate are effective gel retardants for chromium (III) polymer gels. Malonate is better at extending onset of gelation for longer periods of time. Tartrate is more effective for shorter gelation time at lower concentrations.
Co-Current Spontaneous Imbibition in Porous Media with the Dynamics of Viscous Coupling and Capillary Back Pressure
Authors: Andersen Pål Østebø , Qiao Yangyang , Standnes Dag Chun , Evje Steinar
Published: March 2018

This paper presents a numerical study of water displacing oil by combined co-current / counter-current spontaneous imbibition (SI) of water displacing oil from a water-wet matrix block exposed to water at one side and oil at the other. Counter-current flows can induce a stronger viscous coupling than during co-current flows leading to deceleration of the phases. Even as water displaces oil co-currently the saturation gradient in the block induces counter-current capillary diffusion. The extent of counter-current flow may dominate the domain of the matrix block near the water-exposed surfaces, while co-current imbibition may dominate the domain near the oil-exposed surfaces implying that one unique effective relative permeability curve for each phase does not adequately represent the system. As relative permeabilities are routinely measured co-currently it is an open question whether the imbibition rates in the reservoir (depending on a variety of flow regimes and parameters) will in fact be correctly predicted. We present a generalized two phase flow model based on momentum equations from mixture theory that can account dynamically for viscous coupling between the phases and the porous media due to fluid-rock interaction (friction) and fluid-fluid interaction (drag). These momentum equations effectively replace and generalize Darcy's law. The model is parameterized using experimental data from the literature.

We consider a water-wet matrix block in 1D that is exposed to oil on one side and water on the other side. This setup favors co-current SI. We also account for the fact that oil produced counter-currently into water must overcome the socalled capillary back pressure, which represents a resistance for oil to be produced as droplets. This parameter can thus influence the extent of counter-current production and hence, viscous coupling. This complex mixture of flow regimes implies that it is not straightforward to model the system by a single set of relative permeabilities, but rather relies on a generalized momentum equation model that couples the two phases. In particular, directly applying co-currently measured relative permeability curves gives significantly different predictions than the generalized model. It is seen that at high water-to-oil mobility ratios, viscous coupling can lower the imbibition rate and shift the production from less counter-current to more co-current as compared to conventional modelling. Although the viscous coupling effects are triggered by counter-current flow, reducing or eliminating counter-current production via the capillary back pressure does not eliminate the effects of viscous coupling that take place inside the core, which effectively lower the mobility of the system. It was further seen that viscous coupling can increase the remaining oil saturation in standard co-current imbibition setups.
ASP Flood After a Polymer Flood vs. ASP Flood After a Water Flood
Authors: Aitkulov Almas , Dao Eric , Mohanty Kishore K.
Published: March 2018

Alkaline-surfactant-polymer (ASP) flooding is an effective technique to improve oil recovery. It has been applied typically after a water flood. Recently, there has been a successful field test where an ASP flood was conducted after a polymer flood. Is the ASP flood after a polymer flood more effective than an ASP flood after a water flood? It is difficult to conduct this experiment in exactly the same location in a field. The goal of this study is to answer this question in a laboratory heterogeneous quarter 5-spot model. A heterogeneous quarter 5-spot sand pack of size 10″ × 10″ × 1″ was constructed. Two sands with a permeability contrast of 10:1 were packed into a 2D square steel cell. An alkali-surfactant formulation was identified that produced ultra-low interfacial tension with the reservoir oil (27 cp). In one experiment (WF-ASP), waterflood was conducted first followed by the ASP flood. In a second experiment (PF-ASP), polymer flood was conducted first followed by the ASP flood. The ASP formulation and slug size were kept the same. Secondary water flood of the heterogeneous quarter 5-spot recovered 22% OOIP. Post-waterflood ASP flood recovered 32% OOIP additional oil with a cumulative (WF-ASP) oil recovery of 54%. Secondary polymer flood of the same heterogeneous quarter 5-spot yielded 50% OOIP. Post-polymerflood ASP flood recovered 32% OOIP additional oil with a cumulative (PF-ASP) oil recovery of 82% OOIP. The water flood and the subsequent ASP flood swept a large part of the high permeability region and a small part of the low permeability region. The polymer flood swept all of the high permeability region and most of the low permeability region. The subsequent ASP flood swept the polymer-swept regions. These experiments demonstrate that the polymer flood - ASP flood combination is more effective than the water flood - ASP flood combination.
The Analysis of Compositional Effects on Global Flow Regimes in CO2 Near-Miscible Displacements in Heterogeneous Systems
Authors: Wang G. , Pickup G. E. , Sorbie K. S. , Mackay E. J.
Published: March 2018

This study investigates how compositional effects interact with the flow behavior during near miscible (and immiscible) CO2-oil displacements in heterogeneous systems. A series of numerical simulations modeling 1D slim-tube and 2D areal systems were performed using a fully compositional simulator. With negligible numerical dispersion, the fine-scale (Δx=0.005m) slim-tube simulations were performed to provide the "truth case" in terms of the compositional effects and oil/component recovery. A number of grid resolutions were tested to examine cell-size effects on the simulation accuracy. It was found that coarse cell size not only leads to spreading of the displacing front, but also lowers the displacement efficiency by reducing the component stripping effects, as noted by Orr (2007). The corresponding 2D cases are based on a small heterogeneous sector model of dimensions 50m × 10m, in order that the finest scale displacement physics can be modelled accurately. We investigated various flow regimes ranging from viscous fingering to channeling displacements within heterogeneous random correlated fields. CO2 dissolves in oil at near-miscible conditions and improves the mobility of the oil, but leads to earlier breakthrough of CO2 in both fingering and channeling flow. It was also found that the instability of fingering flow could introduce considerable variation in the composition paths during oil displacement by CO2, compared with the slim-tube simulations, particularly in the later stages of the flood. For this reason, heavier component recovery is more likely to be affected and reduced by viscous instability. In the case of channeling flow, compositional effects were less important since the permeability channel dominated the displacement. Both the ultimate oil recovery and component recovery are significantly and about equally reduced, when the underlying heterogeneity is of dominant influence.

To summarize, compositional effects can have a very significant impact on the prediction of near-miscible CO2 EOR projects. Issues such as front stability, local displacement efficiency and formation of fingering/channeling during CO2 near-miscible displacement can lead to behavior that is significantly different from immiscible flooding in these systems. The process of mass transfer between CO2 and oil can be hampered to a certain degree by unstable flow depending on the level of heterogeneity. This leads to a further reduction in component recovery, particularly of the heavier components. Lastly, the appropriate upscaling methods considering mass transfer still require further investigation for CO2 near-miscible displacement in field-scale applications. The complete dataset and results of this study are available online as a model case example for testing out potential upscaling techniques for compositional flows in heterogeneous systems (Wang et al. 2019).
Modeling and Simulation of Smart Gels for Conformance Improvement in Waterflooding
Authors: Temizel Cenk , Putra Dike , Alklih Mohamad Y. , Najy Anas Khaled , Jia Bao , Yang Gang
Published: March 2018

Recent studies have shown that enhanced oil recovery will be the focal point for approximately 50% of the global oil production in the upcoming two-three decades. According to the several ballpark studies conducted on EOR techniques, results show that for reservoirs with oil viscosities ranging from 10 to 150 m Pa.s., polymer flooding seems to be an ideal development strategy. However, when the oil viscosities exceed 150 m Pa.s., polymer injectivity and pumping efficiencies can turn out to be major inhibiting factors, thereby limiting the range of oil viscosities for which polymer flooding can be utilized. The core reason for this is that the values of viscosity for the injected water containing polymer, calculated for the beneficial mobility ratio, can lead to the inhibiting factor stated above.

Previously conducted lab studies have shown that supramolecular systems are very resistant in high temperature - high salinity systems. To be able to achieve the easier injection, the injected supramolecular viscosity will be kept at lower values and then increased to the levels right before or upon contacting the oil in the reservoir.

The core difference between conventional polymer systems and supramolecular polymer systems is that the latter disassemble and re-assemble as opposed to degradation when exposed to extreme shear stress and temperatures. It can therefore be said that supramolecular polymer systems are self-healing in nature. The phenomenon has been observed in cases where polymers with high molecular weight are forced through narrow flow channels. Though molecular division takes place, supramolecular systems have shown a tendency of reassembly later on. Therefore, adaptability of these systems to bounded or restricted environments can be established.

This study will add the modeling and simulation components of supramolecular systems which can be effectively utilized in high temperature-high salinity conditions through adjustments to viscosities and interfacial properties of these assemblies. This will help compare the displacement efficiency of supramolecular systems which efficiently perform in a wide range of reservoirs such as thin zones, and reservoirs within permafrost conditions. This can significantly benefit the oil and gas companies worldwide in preparing a technically feasible, but also, a cost effective EOR development strategy, whenever polymer injection is of consideration.
An Investigation on the Feasibility of Combined Refracturing of Horizontal Wells and Huff and Puff Gas Injection for Improving Oil Recovery from Shale Petroleum Reservoirs
Authors: Fragoso Alfonso , Selvan Karthik , Aguilera Roberto
Published: March 2018

Huff and Puff gas injection through horizontal wells in shale petroleum reservoirs is moving cautiously from being a promising theoretical possibility, to becoming a reality for increasing oil recovery. This study investigates how oil recoveries from shales can be increased by (1) a combination of refracturing and huff and puff gas injection, and (2) huff and puff gas injection when the length of the gas injection and production cycles are increased over time.

The possibility of improving oil recoveries from shales by a combination of refracturing and huff and puff gas injection is investigated using a compositional simulation approach. Previous studies published in the literature, have considered the implementation of regular constant-time cycles throughout the huff and puff process. This may not be the optimum strategy. In this work, the use of cycles with increasing time-lengths is investigated with a view to maximize the oil recovery by huff and puff gas injection.

The combination of (1) huff and puff gas injection followed by (2) refracturing and (3) stopping gas injection is found to be a good option to increase oil recovery from shale petroleum reservoirs when the initial hydraulic fracturing (IHF) has been successful. The benefits of this approach are demonstrated through a comparison made when refracturing is carried out without previous huff and puff injection. If the IHF has not been implemented properly, the huff and puff gas injection does not provide attractive recoveries. In this case, a refracturing job followed by huff and puff gas injection is shown to improve recoveries significantly. A comparison of the different scenarios considered in this paper shows that proper design of the injection and production schedule is very important in the development of a huff and puff gas injection. Optimizing the schedule by using the appropriate cycles with variable increasing-time spans can lead to improving the huff and puff performance.

This study investigates how to increase oil recovery from shale petroleum reservoirs by (1) the combined use of refracturing and huff and puff gas injection, and (2) the use of cycles of variable length as opposed to the regular-length constant-time cycles considered in previous publications. To the best of our knowledge, the two cases considered in this paper are novel and have not been published previously in the literature.
Laboratory Studies of Ternary Surfactant Formulation for EOR in Oil-Wet, High-Temperature Carbonate Formations
Authors: Puerto Maura C. , Lopez-Salinas Jose Luis , Jian Guoqing , Hirasaki George J. , Miller Clarence A.
Published: March 2018

The objective of this research was to develop a surfactant formulation for EOR in an oil-wet, high-salinity, fractured dolomite reservoir at ~100°C. A key requirement was achievement of interfacial tension (IFT) sufficiently low to spontaneously displace oil from the matrix by buoyancy. The formulation developed to do so was a blend of lauryl betaine and C15-18 internal olefin sulfonate, supplemented by a smaller amount of i-C13 ethoxylated carboxylate, all thermally stable and commercially available surfactants although the carboxylate not in quantities required for largescale EOR processes. Proportions of the three surfactants for injection in hard sea water were selected using equilibrium phase behavior results and estimates of IFT obtained by a novel technique based on the manner in which oil exits a small, vertically-oriented, rectangular oil-wet capillary cell as it is displaced upward in the cell by surfactant solution. The ability to recover oil from an oil-wet dolomite core was confirmed by an Amott imbibition cell experiment in which 50% recovery was observed for a core initially fully saturated with oil. The formulation's ability to generate strong foam in porous media was presented earlier in SPE-181732-MS. Research at Rice for three additional projects having carbonate reservoirs but different crude oils, brines, and temperatures of at least 60°C demonstrated formulation versatility by showing good oil recovery by core floods with modestly adjusted proportions of the same three surfactants (SPE-184569-MS, 2017; SPE-190259-MS 2018, US Patent 9,856,412). In the first two of these cited studies, the foamed formulation was injected to recover crude oils from a novel model fracture-matrix system.
Surfactant Flooding in Offshore Environments
Authors: Southwick J. G. , Pol E. van , Rijn C. H. , Batenburg D. W. , Manap Arif Azhan , Mastan Ahmad Anis , Zulkifli Nazliah Nazma
Published: March 2018

A low complexity chemical flooding formulation has been developed for application in offshore environments. The formulation uses seawater with no additional water treatment beyond that which is normally performed for water flooding (filtration, de-oxygenation, etc.). The formulation is a mixture of an alkyl propoxy sulfate (APS) and an alkyl ethoxy sulfate (AES) with no cosolvent. With seawater only (no salinity gradient) the blend of APS and AES gives substantially higher oil recovery than a blend of APS and internal olefin sulfonate (IOS) in outcrop sandstone.

It is shown that the highest oil recovery is obtained with surfactant blends that produce formulations that are underoptimum (Winsor Type 1 phase behavior) with reservoir crude oil. Also, these underoptimum formulations avoid high injection pressures seen with optimum formulations in low permeability outcrop rock. The formulation recovers a similar amount of oil in reservoir rock in the swept zone. Overall recovery in reservoir rock is lower than outcrop sandstone due to greater heterogeneity, which causes bypassing of crude oil.
An Integrated Flow-Geomechanical Analysis of Flue Gas Injection in Cranfield
Authors: Lu Xueying , Lotfollahi Mohammad , Ganis Benjamin , Min Baehyun , Wheeler Mary F.
Published: March 2018

CO2 capture and sequestration in subsurface reserves are expensive processes. Therefore flue gas can be directly injected into the oil and gas reservoirs to eliminate the cost of CO2 separation from power plant emissions and simultaneously enhance hydrocarbon production that may offset the cost of gas compression. However, gas injection in subsurface resources is often subject to poor volumetric sweep efficiency caused by low viscosity and low density of the injection fluid and formation heterogeneity. This paper aims to study gas mobility control techniques of water alternating gas (WAG) and foam in Cranfield via field-scale simulations. A coupled compositional flow and geomechanics simulator, IPARS, is used to accurately simulate the underlying physical processes. A hysteretic relative permeability model enables modeling local capillary trapping. Foam mobility control technique is examined to investigate the eminent level of CO2 capillary trapping by an implicit texture foam model. The coupled flow-geomechanics model can detect the effect of the plausible interaction of geomechanics and fluid flow on CO2 plume extension by analyzing the critical pressure that could induce hydraulic fracturing. Field-scale simulations indicate that during WAG and foam processes, the oil recovery increased 1.35 times and 1.6 times; and CO2 storage increased by 13.6% and 38.7% of total gas injection during the injection period compared to continuous gas flooding, respectively. During SAG process, coupling geomechanics will significantly increase the predicted gas storage volume, as a result of reservoir pore volume increase. Furthermore, analysis of the pressure margin for inducing hydraulic fracturing ensured the safety of SAG operation.