Patent ID: 8347973

Claim:
A method to increase petroleum production from an oil well drilled into a petroleum reservoir having an oil layer and an aqueous layer, comprising: delivering one or more of an alkali metal carbonate or an alkaline earth metal carbonate through one or more injection wells into the aqueous layer, wherein the one or more of alkali metal carbonate or alkaline earth metal carbonate is supplied as one or more of an aqueous concentrated solution and particles having an average diameter of about 100 μm or less; delivering an explosive composition capable of generating CO 2 gas and heat into one or more injection wells or production wells into the oil layer; sealing the oil well in a manner to confine pressure build-up within the petroleum reservoir; delivering an acid through an injection well into the aqueous layer; and detonating the explosive composition, wherein delivering acid is performed after sealing the oil well and before detonating the explosive, and the petroleum reservoir has a volume of porous rock less than about 10 km 3 .