bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Theorising Improvisation as a form of Critical Pedagogy in Ontario Public School Music Curricula
Authors: Giacomelli Megan Leigh
Published: March 2016

This paper uses critical pedagogy as a framework to critique existing music curricula in the Ontario public education system, proposing an alternative model of music pedagogy that incorporates improvisation and so-called ‘extended techniques’ in the classroom with a view of encouraging students to develop their own forms of creative expression through individual discovery of sound and environment. It investigates pedagogical tools utilized in the teaching of extended technique for instruments, the use of ‘found objects’ as musical instruments, and the creative implications of improvisatory techniques in the music classroom. Critical pedagogy is used to examine hegemonic processes within existing forms of music education, processes that work to naturalize particular systems of musical logic and models of social behaviour.
Improvocracy, or Improvising the Civil Rights Movement in Wadada Leo Smith’s Ten Freedom Summers
Authors: Fischlin Daniel
Published: March 2016

Improvising trumpeter and composer Wadada Leo Smith has consistently attended to the linkages between musical improvisation and social justice issues in his work over a long and remarkably productive career marked by a prodigious output of independently-minded music. Having recently celebrated his seventieth birthday by performing with six groups over two nights at Roulette in New York, he has also just released a milestone achievement—Ten Freedom Summers (Cuneiform Records, 2012)—dedicated to exploring through improvised and composed musicking the resonances of the American Civil Rights Movement from 1954 to 1964. This four-CD set of nineteen pieces, totaling some four and half hours of music, is also a three-night performance event that uses videography (but no spoken word interjections) organized around three sections that oscillate between composition and improvisation. Smith’s searing, incendiary, clarion-clear trumpet provides a narrative line that sustains throughout.
Fuzzy Frontiers: A Performative Materialization of Intentionality
Authors: Aguilar Gaelyn , Aguilar Gustavo
Published: March 2016

"Borders, Corridors, and Lines of Desire: Outposts of Improvisation on the Unmarked" is a large-scale, interdisciplinary, performative research project that aims to bring together our involvement with improvisation and our interest in ethnographically addressing the forces that expand and constrain culturally inflected ways of being throughout the borderlands of South Texas (USA). Borders and borderlands have long captured the attention of scholars and critically informed artists who rightfully regard these interstatial environs as frontiers of identity, where states are at "the extremity of their power" to shape the quotidian lives of the people who actually inhabit these fuzzy frontiers. In this project, we are interested in investigating, contemplating, processing, and communicating how individuals (either acting alone or collectively) are able to exercise their agency in responding to and challenging global flows, and how improvisation (as both a critical musicking practice and a fieldwork methodology) might move and illuminate this agency. Several key questions that are carrying us into our research project include: Does improvisation engender strong, flexible identities in individuals? Or do individuals with strong, flexible identities gravitate toward improvisation? To what extent does improvisation already play a part in the circulation of ethical dialogue and action throughout South Texas? How can one claim all of one's personal histories without locking oneself into fixed models that placate to the contours of iconic images? Could our research provide a critical localized and humanized perspective of what Appadurai has called "globalization from below"?
Humans, Heroes and Artists: (Re)Creating the Unexpected Situation
Authors: Coessens Kathleen
Published: March 2016

Life is difficult, never the same, always challenging acquired patterns of behavior and expectation, urging the human being to improvise. Improvisatory acts in everyday life are the result of unexpected situations, where the encounter between self and environment suddenly disrupts the banal rituals of life. Over time, experience and knowledge enhance ways to cope with unexpectedness, and to 'improvise' better, or even 'less.'

In music, improvisation is often a situation of choice. The unexpected situation is created, set up, purposively leading to an improvisatory encounter between body and environment. The musician knows he/she will 'improvise' the next hour. But it can also resemble life, by way of sudden unexpected moments which the musician still did not 'set up.' Experience and expertise enhance the fluidity of improvisational acts in the arts.

This paper seeks to explore these tensions between improvisation in everyday life and in arts: between 'urgent action' and 'play,' between determined and created situations. It will be argued that the shift is not radical, and the tensions but a matter of degree. The 'artification' of improvisation originates in everyday life by play, tactics (de Certeau) and experience (Dewey) and reaches an aesthetic and ethic level of kairos (Aristotle) in art, exploring actions of choice and risking failure by (re)creating unexpectedness. The artist, like the human being in life, but now from his/her own free choice, is challenged to leave security and encounter the unexpected. But isn't that also the quest of the hero?
Certainty, Contingency, and Improvisation
Authors: Peters Gary
Published: March 2016

The certainty Kant associates with this 'felt' sensation of pleasure and, thus, the certitude (albeit contested) of the aesthetic judgement that it underpins is a hallmark of his aesthetics. Conversely, Hegel begins his Phenomenology with 'sense certainty,' the contingency of which he is keen to expose from the philosopher's perspective of Absolute knowledge.

Having established the above dialectic of sense-certainty and contingency, the paper will proceed by claiming that both of these accounts of the aesthetic (one positive, one negative) have much to offer the study of improvisation. The following is indicative content:

• A shift away from a concept of improvisation understood as a response to or celebration of uncertainty and the unforeseeable. Replaced by a situation where the improviser knows what is going to happen while also being hyper-aware of its contingency.

• An emphasis on the singular certainty of improvisation, which (in demanding consensus) initiates a collective reflective process of contestation: improvisation par excellence.

• A recognition that the contingency of this 'this' and this 'now', far from undermining, actually intensifies the commitment to what is 'there and available', an intensity that is responsible for the infinite unconcealment of the given.

• A challenge to the linear model of improvisation in the name of a perspective that emphasises the simultaneity of contingent com-possible worlds, where agility and ironic knowingness replace innovation and novelty as guiding principles.
'Improvisation' in Corporations and Creative Music: What Are We Really Talking About?
Authors: Thomson Scott
Published: March 2016

This piece is a reflection on the December 2012 ICASP conference, Making the Changes: Ethics and the Improvising Business, by a member of the conference's musicians' panel.
Jamming the Blues: The Grateful Dead's Development of Models for Rock Improvisation
Authors: Kaler Michael John
Published: March 2016

In this article, I analyze the approach to playing blues- or soul-related material that the Grateful Dead developed to permit them to integrate their desire to engage in open improvisation with their responsibilities as a working rock band. The importance of blues-related styles for the development of rock improvisation, and the Grateful Dead's status as one of the forerunners of improvised rock performance, makes their work in this regard particularly important for our understanding of the development of the rock improvisational tradition.
Productive Ambiguity: Fleshing out the Bones in Yolŋu Manikay "Song" Performance, and the Australian Art Orchestra’s "Crossing Roper Bar"
Authors: Curkpatrick Samuel
Published: March 2016

This paper examines the place of creativity amid orthodox musical elements in the manikay (public song) tradition of the Yolŋu people of Northern Australia, particularly the song repertoire belonging to the Wägilak clan from Ŋilipidji. Beginning with the Yolŋu metaphor of raki (string) as it describes an individual’s historical constitution, an examination of productive ambiguities built into the rhythmic (bilma) and intervallic (dämbu) forms of manikay underpins the assertion that tradition speaks with living relevance through performed realisation and improvisation. The Australian Art Orchestra’s collaboration with Wägilak songmen, "Crossing Roper Bar," is introduced as a dramatic example of the manikay tradition working in and through contemporary expressions and contexts. This project sustains the ancestral bones of manikay, dutifully curated through the generations as an integral, orthodox framework with complex social, legal, and religious significances. Here, discursive musical conversation is central to a non-appropriative engagement with cultural difference and musical forms from the past.
Improvisation's Ebb and Flow
Authors: Arroyas Frederique
Published: March 2016

Editor Frederique Arroyas presents the editorial for Issue 9.2 with her thoughts on the issue's submissions and topics.
Life Expectancy and Cause of Death in Popular Musicians: Is the Popular Musician Lifestyle the Road to Ruin?
Authors: Kenny Dianna T , Asher Anthony
Published: March 2016

Does a combination of lifestyle pressures and personality, as reflected in genre, lead to the early death of popular musicians? We explored overall mortality, cause of death, and changes in patterns of death over time and by music genre membership in popular musicians who died between
1950 and 2014. The death records of 13,195 popular musicians were coded for age and year of death, cause of death, gender, and music genre. Musician death statistics were compared with age-matched deaths in the US population using actuarial methods. Although the common perception is of a glamorous,
free-wheeling lifestyle for this occupational group, the figures tell a very different story. Results showed that popular musicians have shortened life expectancy compared with comparable general populations. Results showed excess mortality from violent deaths (suicide, homicide, accidental
death, including vehicular deaths and drug overdoses) and liver disease for each age group studied compared with population mortality patterns. These excess deaths were highest for the under-25-year age group and reduced chronologically thereafter. Overall mortality rates were twice as high
compared with the population when averaged over the whole age range. Mortality impacts differed by music genre. In particular, excess suicides and liver-related disease were observed in country, metal, and rock musicians; excess homicides were observed in 6 of the 14 genres, in particular
hip hop and rap musicians. For accidental death, actual deaths significantly exceeded expected deaths for country, folk, jazz, metal, pop, punk, and rock.
The Use of PPCA in Scale-Inhibitor Precipitation Squeezes: Solubility, Inhibition Efficiency, and Molecular-Weight Effects
Authors: Farooqui N. M. , Sorbie K. S.
Published: March 2016

Phosphino polycarboxylic acid (PPCA) is an industry standard polymeric scale inhibitor (SI) that is often applied as a precipitation-squeeze treatment. In this phase-separated process, PPCA forms a sparingly soluble complex with calcium ions. We show that the solubility of the precipitated complex is rather different than the stock (“as supplied”) PPCA. We examined important properties such as its inhibition efficiency (IE) and its response in assay [by inductively coupled plasma (ICP) spectroscopy or wet-chemical methods], which are all understood in terms of the molecular-weight distributions (MWDs) of the various species involved in the precipitation squeeze.

Our findings on the MWD effects have relevance not just in determining the concentration of the polymer in the return curve (PPCA), but also in its ability to prevent scale formation (i.e., its IE in the PPCA return curve), and they have implications for how the process should be modeled correctly. We study the MWDs of PPCA in great detail along with the solubility behavior of the PPCA_Ca complex, which plays an important role in precipitation-squeeze treatments. We describe several novel findings on the solubility of the (PPCA_Ca) complex system. Specifically, the precipitated complex was isolated and its solubility was determined experimentally in various brine compositions and as a function of temperature. MWDs were determined for the various fractions of PPCA. The solubility of the precipitated PPCA_Ca complex becomes lower as it is exposed to successive fresh supernatant brine, and the behavior is very unlike that expected from a “solubility product” model. However, by being able to carry out MWD experiments on the various PPCA species, a fairly complete understanding is being generated. This has led to the proposal of the “stripping” model of dissolution for the precipitated complex of PPCA.

We believe that these results are the most detailed to be published in the literature on the PPCA system and that they are of particular significance and application for all polymeric SI precipitation-squeeze treatments. The relevance of these results for field precipitation-squeeze treatments is also discussed.
A Comprehensive Study for Completion Plan for the Steam Flood Pilots
Authors: Alali Y. , Sanyal T. , Kyanpour M. , Bagheri M. , Salter T.
Published: March 2016

The first phase of development of the viscous oil resources of Kuwait is planned to be delivered through cyclic steam and steam flood technology. A pilot plan to ensure optimum utilization of the injected heat and maximizing recovery from this resource is under implementation. The reservoir is layered and the level of communication between the zones is not fully understood. Careful planning in completion is needed in this complex reservoir, to obtain meaningful information for interpretation of the pilot results. The present study summarizes the methodology used to address this challenge.

The complex layered nature of the reservoir along with possible free gas pockets poses serious challenge for the completion strategy. In this study, simulation history matching of the dynamic test data from the ongoing thermal and non-thermal pilots was used to interrogate the preliminary static description. The process resulted in an improved and reliable dynamic model, which was then used in the prediction mode, for deciding on an optimum completion strategy for the later steam flood phase.

The study recommended Vertical Expansion Steaming and simultaneous steaming strategies to be used in different pilot areas. The nature of the "baffle" zones between the oil bearing zones and their flow property under steam flood is considered an unknown factor, which needs careful evaluation in the pilots. The proposed well completion scheme is designed to address this subject.

The study summarizes how the planned completion study would be used to interpret and utilize the pilot performance data, for optimizing cost and reserves of the commercial project. The different completion options that were evaluated in the study and their results should provide valuable knowledge for application in similar EOR projects.
Alkali-Surfactant-Polymer Pilot Implementation in South Oman: Establishing Waterflood Baseline
Authors: Al-Shuaili K. , Guntupalli S. , Al-Amri M. , Nurzaman Z. , Al-Hinai G. , Svec Y.
Published: March 2016

A field in Southern Oman has been identified as a potential target for Alkali-Surfactant-Polymer (ASP) flooding. Experimental investigations showed that ASP flood recovers more than 90% of waterflood remaining oil saturation. Simulation study showed that ASP increases the field recovery factor by more than 20% over waterflood or 12% over polymer flood. The potential size of the prize by ASP in this field alone is significant.

The successful ASP single well chemical tracer test (SWCCT) and micro-pilot in this field validated the lab experimental results and demonstrated the significant desaturation by ASP and the extremely low oil residual after ASP. The ASP pilot was designed and initiated to de-risk and underpin the financial investment decision for a full-field implementation.

The ASP pilot is designed as a small 1.4 acres (75m × 75m) inverted 5-spot pattern. It ensures completion of the field trial within one year of ASP flood. The pilot was commissioned in Q1 2014 with water pre-flush and the first ASP injection is anticipated for Q1 2016. A dynamic model was constructed and simulation was carried out.

A comprehensive surveillance program was included in the pilot design and is being executed successfully. Surveillance data provide critical information to understand pattern communication, fluid flow path and reservoir characteristics. This paper will describe the results and analysis of some waterflood surveillance data and the integrated workflow of history matching. During the ASP pilot drilling campaign in 2013, an unexpected fault was encountered crossing the well pattern. This introduced an element of uncertainty regarding pattern communication. Pressure data and a passive tracer test confirmed the connectivity between the injector to 4 producers and that the fault is non-sealing. Initially the sector model was built with one fault across the pilot area, but the fluid communication in the pattern revealed by analysis of tracer suggested possible different geological realizations than the initial model. Therefore several static geological models were generated to reduce the uncertainties on history match. Well conformances were determined by PLT and DTS/DAS and were incorporated in the dynamic model. The time-lapse NMR log in the observation well provides insights on sweep, desaturation and micro displacement efficiency. Establishing and building a waterflood baseline is the foundation for the next phase of ASP implementation. This paper will share the analysis, learnings and practical implications of the pilot to date.
An Experimental Investigation of Steam Induced Permeability Changes in Clay Bearing Formation of North Kuwait
Authors: Jain Anil Kumar , Ahmed Khalid , Ferdous Hasan , Mishra Prasanta , Al-Matrook Mohammad , Al-Ali Yaqoup , Al-Khamees Waleed , Piwowar Mike , Rick Bujnowicz
Published: March 2016

The Neogene of North Kuwait comprises of unconsolidated sandstone reservoir having viscous crude. The field is to be developed by way of injecting steam into the reservoir. The XRD and SEM studies revealed that variety of the detrital clay minerals like Illite, Smectite, Chlorite, and Palygorskite commonly occurring within the formation. An experimental study was carried out to understand the implications of steam injection on the clay bearing formations and to determine temperature-dependent water-oil relative permeability to provide an indication of the recoverable reserves under steam injection. Sensitivity to different pH and salinity were also analyzed.

Detailed laboratory study was conducted on nine plugs to determine the effect of hot water and steam injection on the permeability, relative permeability, residual oil saturation and mineralogical changes in the reservoir. The baseline steamflood was carried out to determine the residual oil saturation and evaluate the permeability changes due to clay swelling/dispersion in contact with brine and steam. The other six sensitivity steamfloods were carried out to determine the potential permeability damage resulting from clay swelling/dispersion when contacted with different pH fluid, salt concentrations (TDS) and clay stabilizers. Pre and post XRD and SEM analysis were done to see the effects of each steamflood on the core sample.

This paper presents the discussion on results of core flood experiments conducted on nine preserved core samples at reservoir conditions. The results show that clays when contacted with steam induce significant permeability reduction. High salinity and pH control may not be sufficient to eliminate the loss of permeability. However, some clay stabilizers are found to be useful to improve the permeability and recovery.
Heavy Crude Oil Recovery Enhancement and In-Situ Upgrading During Steam Injection Using Ni-Co-Mo Dispersed Catalyst
Authors: Shuwa S. M. , Al-Hajri R. S. , Mohsenzadeh A. , Al-Waheibi Y. M. , Jibril B. Y.
Published: March 2016

Steam injection has become commercially available thermal enhanced oil recovery methods for recovering heavy crudes. Recently, there has been increase in research interest in in-situ catalytic upgrading. In this work, experimental investigations on the application of a new submicron dispersed trimetallic catalyst based on Ni-Co-Mo for enhanced recovery and upgrading of Omani heavy crude oil was conducted. The catalysis effect of the ultra-dispersed Ni-Co-Mo metals generated in-situ from water-in-oil emulsion was studied in the presence of sand packed bed as a porous medium in a steam simulation process. The results from the recovery tests showed a higher oil recovery (15% OOIP) in the presence of the catalyst than base steam injection case. Substantial improvement in quality of produced oil was observed as there was a tremendous reduction in oil's viscosity of about 25% with significant reduction in sulfur (26%), and increase in API gravity (10%). This enhancement of the quality of Produced liquids in terms of increase in API gravity, viscosity and sulfur reduction, is an indication of successful in situ upgrading of the oil. Analysis of solid and gaseous products recovered from the experimental runs conducted with the catalyst showed thermal expansion and viscosity reduction due to catalytic hydrocracking as the dominant mechanisms for oil recovery.
Representation of Phase Behavior and PVT Workflow for DME Enhanced Water-Flooding
Authors: Groot J. A. , Chernetsky A. , Te Riele P. M. , Dindoruk B. , Cui J. , Wilson L. C. , Ratnakar R.
Published: March 2016

DME (di-methyl-ether) is a water-soluble solvent with clear potential for enhanced oil recovery (EOR) through its use in DME enhanced water-flooding (DEW). DEW is a novel technology where DME is dissolved in the brine that is injected in the reservoir. Upon contact with oil, DME preferentially partitions into the oil (hydrocarbon) phase. This results in swelling and viscosity reduction of the oil, hence enhancing oil production.

Recovery enhancement for DME enhanced water-flooding (DEW) strongly depends on the phase behavior of the system. Therefore, it is imperative to accurately describe the phase behavior in the dynamic DEW models. This paper presents the PVT experiments and workflow used to model the phase behavior in DEW processes.

The PVT modelling workflow consists of the following steps. Gather basic experimental data for the DME-brine and DME-crude phase behavior required to model phase behavior during the DEW displacement process.Characterize, tune and lump the hydrocarbon fluids using the SRK (Soave-Redlich-Kwong) EoS (equation-of-state).Model the interaction between hydrocarbons, brine and DME using the CPA (Cubic-Plus-Association) EoS.Generate composition dependent partitioning coefficients (K-values) and phase properties based on mixing rules.

Experimental data required as input for the workflow includes routine PVT data, DME-brine solubility data and DME partitioning data between reservoir fluids. This paper provides an overview of how experimental data is obtained and utilized to represent the phase behavior in the modeling workflow. The essential elements of the modeling workflow fall into two segments: representation of the phase behavior with a proper fit-for-purpose model,utilization of the phase behavior representation for dynamic reservoir modeling.

The phase behavior during the DEW displacement process is represented using the CPA EoS. CPA combines SRK with an association term to account for the interaction between DME and brine. As it is relatively computationally costly to run DEW simulations with the CPA EoS, the proposed modelling workflow is based on compositionally dependent partitioning coefficients.

In simulation studies the phase behavior is represented using a K-value model. The K-value model is validated for light and heavy oils in various reservoir models by comparison with conventional water-flooding simulation based on a black-oil PVT description. Results show that the K-value model is accurate for reasonably constant phase compositions, numerically stable and computationally efficient. Furthermore, it is shown that differences in history match obtained with the black-oil model and the K-value model are marginal, as the compositional path is far away from the critical locus. The results give confidence that the K-value model can be used to assess DEW performance in full field models.
Carbonate Reservoir Field Experiments in Extreme Steam Conditions, Bahrain Field
Authors: Smith Scott , Parakh Sameer
Published: March 2016

Starting late 2011, high temperature and high-pressure steam pilots were initiated in two Bahrain carbonate reservoirs. The first thermal pilot started in December 2011 within the heavy oil Rubble Reservoir, in a 7 well horizontal and vertical well configuration, covering 1 to 3 acre spacing. The second pilot started in December 2012 within the light oil Mauddud Reservoir with a 9 well horizontal and vertical test configuration covering 5 acres. Both carbonate thermal pilots progressed through pilot expansion or modification phases over the last 4 years, and were both technically successful in mobilizing and recovering oil and successfully reduced residual oil to expected thermal recovery end points. Currently, the Rubble and Mauddud thermal projects are undergoing expansion for field economic appraisals.

The focus of this paper is on the Mauddud Steam Pilot. The paper will describe the geologic environment, initial pilot design, changes made to the pilot through systematic analysis, and timely achieved final technical success results. The systematic analysis permitted successful pilot execution, pilot technical success and initiation of economic appraisal expansion in the amazingly short time period of approximately 2.5 years. Most astonishingly, this pilot is unconventional thermal recovery; there are no suitable analogs to tight fractured carbonate light oil thermal recovery.
A New Insight on the Impact of Individual Ions on Fluid/Fluid Interactions and SmarWater Recovery
Authors: AlGeer M. A. , Gmira A. , Al-Enezi S. M , Yousef A. A.
Published: March 2016

SmartWater flooding (SWF) has been proven as an effective and successful recovery method for carbonates, in which the injected water alters the carbonate rock wettability to produce incremental oil. Core-scale displacement experiments have demonstrated significant incremental recoveries of SmartWater in both secondary and tertiary modes. Single-well chemical tracer tests have demonstrated this potential in the field at a scale larger than those examined in the laboratory. Still, the underlying mechanisms responsible for SmartWater wettability alteration of carbonates are not well understood. The objective of this work is to understand the effects of individual mono and divalent ions on brine-oil interactions and their role in the observed alteration of carbonate wettability.

In previous studies, we have investigated liquid-rock interactions and their role in wettability alteration. At fixed salinities, mono and divalent ions were found to have different effects on the calcite surface potential. Here, we investigate SmartWater effects on liquid-liquid interactions. We perform interfacial tension (IFT) measurements between oil and brines of fixed salinities but varying ionic compositions, and we collect IFT data at different temperature conditions.

The different SmartWater recipes, at fixed salinities, have exhibited different IFT values indicating the varying effects of ions on fluid-fluid interactions. SmartWater recipes composed exclusively of magnesium cations exhibited a remarkably low level of IFT values. In contrast, SmartWater recipes with sodium or calcium cations exhibited comparable IFT stabilization levels, while SmartWater recipes that are solely composed of sulfate anions have resulted in higher IFT values. The low IFT values obtained with Mg2+ ions can be attributed to weaker bond dissociation energies and quicker ion accessibility in MgCl2 when compared to the other salts.

In the next stage, these results will be integrated with Zeta potential and contact angle data acquired at similar brine salinities and composition. This systematic integration will allow for a better understanding of individual ion effects, which would eventually help to further optimize the SmartWater recipe for higher oil recovery.
Synergy Between Low Salinity Water Flooding and CO2 for EOR in Chalk Reservoirs
Authors: Hamouda Aly Anis , Pranoto Arif
Published: March 2016

Low salinity water (LSW) flooding as an enhanced oil recovery (EOR) method is receiving attention from most oil field operators. Incremental oil recovery reported by different researchers is encouraging. While it is generally accepted that LSW changes rock wettability, the mechanism(s) by which this occurs remains debatable. CO2 flooding is a known EOR method and has been applied in different reservoirs. Synergy between LSW and CO2 are addressed in this paper.

Three major aspects are investigated: identifying the ion content boundary for the LSW which maximises oil recovery, assessing the ion ranking with LSW alternating CO2 injection (LSWACO), and assessing the synergies for oil recovery from applying LSWACO. Throughout the paper, ion tracking and pH are monitored using CMG GEM and Phreeqc Interactive 3.0 for simulating the fluid rock interactions recovered. Published EOR data for LSW and the simulation of core flooding which combines LSW and CO2 may shed light on the possible mechanism(s). Three dilution ratios of seawater (LSW5D, LSW10D and LSW25D) are investigated and ranked on the basis of the obtained incremental oil recovery.

It is interesting to see that the higher the dilution, the slower the oil recovery response from chalk reservoirs. The simulation also showed that the highest incremental recovery was obtained from LSW10D.

CO2 injection coupled with LSW (LSWACO) had a positive effect on oil recovery. It was interesting to observe that different LSW dilution ratios during LSWACO injection yield similar recovery response times and ultimate oil recovery. However, the order of the various LSW dilutions differs from that without CO2.
Learnings from Reservoir Souring Assessment on an Offshore Malaysian Field
Authors: Zhu Feibai , Kuijvenhoven Cor , Borhan Noorazlenawati Bt , Dickson Sara-Jane , Lomans Bart
Published: March 2016

MY01 is an offshore field located in Malaysia. Although souring mitigation by nitrate injection was applied from the start of the seawater flood, hydrogen sulphide (H2S) has been detected in several producers after injected seawater breakthrough. The objectives of this work are to understand the causes of reservoir souring in MY01 and to provide key considerations for improving souring prediction in low temperature reservoirs, as generalised from the learnings from this field.

Reservoir souring potential was assessed using a Joint Industrial Project (JIP) developed program (SourSimRL). SourSimRL is a reservoir model post-processor which simulates the microbial generation, scavenging, adsorption and transport processes of H2S in fields subjected to waterflood, based on fluid dynamics, reservoir conditions and water chemistries as dictated by the reservoir model. The MY01 reservoir model was split into two parts: (i) a history matched model that allows calibration on reservoir souring simulator input parameters; and (ii) a forecast model on which souring development is predicted. Extensive sensitivity studies were conducted to define key factors promoting or inhibiting H2S production to match the actual H2S levels seen in the producers. Furthermore, the application of microbiological analysis to understand the reservoir souring behaviour, including screening of bacteria present using DNA-based techniques is also discussed.

The simulations demonstrated that carbon is the souring limiting factor in MY01. To match the H2S field data, other metabolisable carbon sources should be available in addition to the volatile fatty acids (VFA's) in the formation water. The souring development in such field could be driven by the mechanism of the carbon supply. Therefore, it is critical to identify the type and quantify the level of dissolved organic carbon, including oil-derived BTEX or microbial degradation products. Since MY01 reservoir conditions are favourable for souring activities, microbial development is likely to take place both in the biofilm that forms at the injector face as well as at flood fronts deeper into the reservoir.
Study On Thermal-GAS EOR Method in In-Depth Extra-Heavy Oil Reservoir in China
Authors: Guo Erpeng , Jiang Youwei , Gao Yongrong , Wang Hongyuan , Wei Yao
Published: March 2016

SAGD(Steam Assisted Gravity Drainage) is commercially adopted as a main thermal recovery method for heavy oil reservoirs. How to improve the recovery effect and the heat efficiency of SAGD process draws the attention of all the heavy oil reservoir engineers, especially under low oil price circumstance. This paper aims to utilize gas as additives to reduce the steam demand of SAGD projects, hence to improve the recovery efficiency of this method.

In this paper, study on improving recovery efficiency of steam injection process with gas additives in reservoir with great depth was carried out. Laboratory tests were carried out to quantify the properties of different gas additives with heavy oil. Also flooding experiment were carried out to compare the relative permeability curve before and after gas additives were included. Then simulation were done to evaluate the influence of gas additives on SAGD process. SAGD processes with different gas additives were compared and the influences of different gas additives on recovery process were analyzed in detail.

The study reveals that the SAGD recovery process can be greatly influenced by gas additives. All of gas additives can sharply reduce the steam demand for SAGD process. It was shown that CO2 can improve the production effect of SAGD because of their great solubility and viscosity reduction effect. In the CO2 case the drainage threshold temperature was decreased by 17.1°C in comparison to the pure steam SAGD process with the help of viscosity reduction. Addition of CH4 will impair SAGD process because CH4 overrides faster than steam and hinders the development of steam chamber. N2 can accelerate the oil recovery rate but has no effect on improving recovery factor. On the contrary the viscosity reduction effect of CH4 and N2 is much less than CO2. With the results of this paper, the recovery factor of SAGD process can be improved by 8% and SOR can be improved by 14.7% when CO2 was co-injected with steam.

The results of this paper are of great significance in that it combines the advantage of steam injection process and gas injection process. The heat assumption in SAGD process can be sharply decreased and the recovery factor can be enhanced with the help of soluble gas additives. Also the greenhouse gas emission can be lowered down.
Application of Cyclic Steam Stimulation on XYZ Formation in Sultanate of Oman
Authors: Al Raqmi Mohammed , Al Saadi Hassan , Mirza Muhammad , Al Bahlouli Shihab Said , Arham M. Aidil , Setiawan Hari Sudono , Al Amri Bader
Published: March 2016

Medco LLC has initiated cyclic steam stimulation of XYZ formation in one of a green field located at South Oman. The fields contains under-saturated and waxy medium to heavy oil (18 °API) with initial viscosity ranging from 650cp to 1200cp at reservoir conditions. The reservoir is unconsolidated sand with average porosity and permeability of above 30% and 3 Darcy respectively.

The XYZ formation are continental deposits with thick units of coarse-clastic channel fills including conglomerates with high clay matrix content, rapid (proximal) deposition, and rare lignitic sediments indicating perhaps a more arid rather than humid environment. The unit is confined to South Oman in an approximately 300 km long NE-trending depositional low. This is associated with salt withdrawal along the Eastern Flank of the South Oman Salt Basin.

Samples from the core well indicated dominantly quartzarenitic sandstone. Quartz grains are dominantly moderately sorted with few poorly sorted sections that are mostly bioturbated. Overall digenesis is dominated by generally moderate compaction, infiltration of detrital clay, precipitation of quartz overgrowth. Calcite cements present as typically pore-occluding developments, with common effect on overall porosity. Primary intergranular pores are common; dissolution porosity is noted with dissolution of grains or cement.

Horizontal wells typically yield a higher primary recovery than vertical wells due to their larger contact area with the reservoir. The original expectation for primary production performance of these wells has not been achieved for three reasons: high oil viscosity, formation damage and sand accumulation around the liner during the early production. Following performance during period of primary production, it was considered to utilize vertical wells configuration under thermal stimulation using cyclic steam, with the use of steam as both heating and lifting agent; additional recovery is expected to be achieved.

Cyclic steam stimulation has been implemented in three selected wells spread over the field to give a better understanding of various reservoir characteristics response to stimulation process. The treated wells are vertical wells at 800 TVDSS / 1150 MD with initial reservoir temperature and pressure is 55 °C and 11000 kPa respectively. The total steam injection varies from 2000 to 3600 ton of steam with 85% steam quality in order to acquiring the valuable data and operation experience. Actual results are better than predicted in simulation studies with CSOR (cumulative steam-oil ratio) of about 0.5 to 1.0.

This paper described the started from the completion design, cold production performance, preparation and the execution as well as well evaluation of the practical application of CSS are the main keys to understanding reservoir performance and identifying that opportunities of steam stimulation will improve the ultimate recovery.
Laboratory Support of Heavy-Oil Polymer Flood Project
Authors: Al-Maamari Rashid S. , Al-Hashmi Abdulaziz , Al-Azri Nasser , Al-Riyami Omaira , Al-Mjeni Rifaat , Dupuis Guillaume , Zaitoun Alain
Published: March 2016

A Polymer Flooding pilot trial has being implemented in a heavy oil field, in the South of Oman. A joint team composed of personnel from Sultan Qaboos University, Poweltec and Petroleum Development of Oman provided full laboratory support which included polymer products screening, and core-flooding experimental tests. The reservoir under investigation is a high-permeability sandstone with oil viscosity of around 500 mPa.s, brine salinity of around 5,000 ppm TDS and a subsurface temperature of 50°C. The reservoir characteristics are within the upper boundaries of known polymer flooding applications worldwide. This is further compounded by the presence of a strong bottom aquifer drive which requires the optimization of well placement.

Laboratory work consisted of both bulk and core-flood testing, in which different commercial hydrolyzed polyacrylamides were submitted to rheology, filtration and stability tests, from which one product was qualified. An intensive coreflood program was executed, consisting of rheology, adsorption and displacement experiments. Due to mild reservoir conditions (low salinity and temperature), the main focus was on filtration quality of the products. Following on from the filtration tests, coreflooding programs were implemented with very long sequence of polymer injection at a rate representative of polymer propagation in the reservoir.

Adsorption was found to be quite low (around 20 µg/g) for all the tested products. In-situ rheology was correlatable to the viscosity trends. The program of tests finally qualified a product with molecular weight of around 20 million Dalton. Above this level, long-term filtration becomes questionable with a slow but continuous ramp up of pressure noticeable after about 50 Pore Volumes.
Combined Water/Sand Control Polymer Treatments in Offshore Gas Wells
Authors: Dupuis G. , Bouillot J. , Zaitoun A. , Caremi G. , Burrafato G.
Published: March 2016

An original polymer technology, successfully used in Underground Gas Storage (UGS) wells, has been recently applied in offshore gas producing wells. Many gas wells in this area are facing combined water and sand problems due to reservoir depletion, water entries and clayey formation. To avoid critical problems connected to water/sand production, the most common action has been so far to reduce gas production by choking down the wells.

The new technique consists of bullhead injection of water soluble polymers with the main objective to form an adsorbed polymer layer on the surface of the rock, thus providing stabilization. In addition, the products have RPM properties (Relative Permeability Modifiers). They have little impact on gas permeability while strongly reducing water permeability. The combination of both effects will result in a reduction of water and sand production.

Laboratory studies were performed to optimize polymer formulation and evaluate flow properties in reservoir cores. Because of the low reservoir rock permeability (around 10-20 mD), high focus was put on polymer injectivity and RPM effects.

Since 2013, nine offshore gas wells have been treated with polymers. Treatments have shown positive results combining gas rate increase up to 100% and water reduction around 50% while stopping the sand. Details regarding well and polymer selection, job design, execution and production data are provided.
Evaluation of Moved Oil Volume and Viscosity with NMR and Dielectric Dispersion Logs in a Heavy Oil Sandstone Reservoir Under Steam Injection
Authors: Claverie Michel , Yaliz Ayk , Bris Elsa Le
Published: March 2016

We examine the vertical profiles of moved oil volume and oil viscosity in the monitoring well of a steam injection pilot project. The oil volume and viscosity were assessed with petrophysical logs during the drilling of a monitoring well located near the centre producer of the producers-injectors pattern.

Prior to drilling the monitoring well, steam was injected for several months at the bottom of the sandstone heavy oil reservoir to increase the oil temperature and decrease its viscosity. As the monitoring well was drilled, water filtrate from the drilling fluid displaced a fraction of the reservoir oil proportional to the effectiveness of the steam flood; within the zones of elevated reservoir temperature, the oil viscosity was reduced and the mud filtrate invasion deeper.

As the reservoir oil is viscous, the displacement induced by the water filtrate is small – the filtrate invasion is shallow. Monitoring this displacement therefore requires log measurements with a small depth of investigation, even smaller than the flushed zone resistivity Rxo from a micro-laterolog. In this work, we evaluate the moved oil volume and the viscosity of the reservoir oil from the combination of magnetic resonance porosity, T2 relaxation time and D diffusion constant, and of water-filled dielectric porosity at 2 depths of investigation.

The water volume deep into the reservoir is compared to the NMR free fluid volume and to the deep and shallow dielectric water-filled porosities to identify the zones and calculate the volumes of oil displaced by filtrate. The NMR station measurements of T2 relaxation time and D diffusion constant provide a direct evaluation of reservoir oil and water volumes as well as an estimate of the in-situ oil viscosity after steam flood.

The profiles of fluids volumes after filtrate invasion confirm the effective vertical extent of the steam flood at the monitoring well and also provide a proxy to the residual oil volume under dynamic reservoir conditions. These volumes, controlled by the heavy oil shallow displacement by filtrate are only observable and measureable from the NMR and dielectric dispersion logs.

This method, applied for the first time in an offshore steam injection pilot, is applicable in the open hole conditions of drilling the monitoring well. However, derivatives of this method can be applied in cased hole – NMR logs have been recently acquired in radio-transparent glass-reinforced epoxy casing with suitable temperature rating for steam injection.
Miscible Gas EOR Pilot Design Decisions Driven by Linking EOR Performance Parameters to Uncertainties - A Kuwait Field Example
Authors: Sharma Shashank , Kamal Dawood , Al-Maraghi Eisa , AlMahrooqi Sultan , Winkler Mario
Published: March 2016

Many decisions in enhanced oil recovery (EOR) pilot design are required to plan an EOR pilot that, if executed successfully, gives a reliable data set and sufficient information to make full field EOR development decisions in the future. A miscible gas EOR pilot was designed for the formation "X" in the field "Y" of Kuwait using an uncertainty driven approach.

The method presented in this is paper is a qualitative way of linking key miscible gas EOR performance parameters of the formation to the intrinsic uncertainties of the properties impacting them. An assessment of the impact of the uncertainty itself, likelihood of impact and the acceptance, or required uncertainty reduction, provided the direct link to the selection of the pilot concept, the pilot type, the pilot location and the operational sequence of executing the pilot.

The key miscible EOR performance drivers for the formation in, with unacceptable high uncertainty, are vertical sweep efficiency (Ev) and remaining oil saturation (ROS). Hence it was decided a non-producing pilot with a single injection well and with observation well(s), is the EOR pilot concept and type enabling data gathering to address the above key uncertainties. The pilot area and pilot location was assessed via a semi-quantitative assessment of more than 10 parameters impacting miscible gas injection EOR, for example remaining oil, recovery factor, and pilot location distance to producers. While the final goal of the miscible gas EOR development for the formation is a miscible CO2 flood, it was decided to use produced hydrocarbon (HC) gas as a pilot injectant. This addresses the key objectives of the pilot with sufficient accuracy, while avoiding costly and timeline infrastructure changes at this early stage of understanding the chances of a successful EOR development.

The additive information to the audience is the consistent approach of using an uncertainty based assessment of key EOR performance drivers throughout the entire pilot planning steps and defining pilot objectives, pilot concept and type as well as pilot location.