Enhanced-Oil Recovery (EOR) evaluations focused on asset acquisition or rejuvenation involve a combination of complex decisions, using different data sources. EOR projects have been traditionally associated with high CAPEX and OPEX, as well as high financial risk, which tend to limit the number of EOR projects launched. In this book, the authors propose workflows for EOR evaluations that account for different volumes and quality of information. This flexible workflow has been successfully applied to oil property evaluations and EOR feasibility studies in many oil reservoirs. The methodology associated with the workflow relies on traditional (look-up tables, XY correlations, etc.) and more advanced (data mining for analog reservoir search and geology indicators) screening methods, emphasizing identification of analogues to support decision making. The screening phase is combined with analytical or simplified numerical simulations to estimate full-field performance by using reservoir data-driven segmentation procedures. - Case Studies form Asia, Canada, Mexico, South America and the United States - Assets evaluated include reservoir types ranging from oil sands to condensate reservoirs - Different stages of development and information availability are discussed
Thermal Methods, Volume Two, the latest release in the Enhanced Oil Recovery series, helps engineers focus on the latest developments in this fast-growing area. In the book, different techniques are described in addition to the latest technologies in data mining and hybrid processes. Supported field case studies are included to illustrate a bridge between research and practical applications, making it useful for both academics and practicing engineers. Structured to start with thermal concepts and steam flooding, the book's editors then advance to more complex content, guiding engineers into areas such as hybrid thermal methods and edgier technologies that bridge solar and nuclear energy. Supported by a full spectrum of contributors, this book gives petroleum engineers and researchers the latest research developments and field applications to drive innovation for the future of energy. - Presents the latest understanding surrounding the updated research and practical applications specific to thermal enhanced oil recovery methods - Provides an analysis of editors' research on available technology, including hybrid thermal-solvent processes and dual pipe configurations - Teaches about additional methods, such as data mining applications, and economic and environmental considerations
This book focuses on reservoir surveillance and management, reservoir evaluation and dynamic description, reservoir production stimulation and EOR, ultra-tight reservoir, unconventional oil and gas resources technology, oil and gas well production testing, and geomechanics. This book is a compilation of selected papers from the 11th International Field Exploration and Development Conference (IFEDC 2021). The conference not only provides a platform to exchanges experience, but also promotes the development of scientific research in oil & gas exploration and production. The main audience for the work includes reservoir engineer, geological engineer, enterprise managers, senior engineers as well as professional students.
Simulating thermal processes is usually computationally expensive because of the complexity of the problem and strong nonlinearities encountered. In this work, we explore novel and efficient simulation techniques to solve thermal enhanced oil recovery problems. We focus on two major topics: the extension of streamline simulation for thermal enhanced oil recovery and the efficient simulation of chemical reaction kinetics as applied to the in-situ combustion process. For thermal streamline simulation, we first study the extension to hot water flood processes, in which we have temperature induced viscosity changes and thermal volume changes. We first compute the pressure field on an Eulerian grid. We then solve for the advective parts of the mass balance and energy equations along the individual streamlines, accounting for the compressibility effects. At the end of each global time step, we account for the nonadvective terms on the Eulerian grid along with gravity using operator splitting. We test our streamline simulator and compare the results with a commercial thermal simulator. Sensitivity studies for compressibility, gravity and thermal conduction effects are presented. We further extended our thermal streamline simulation to steam flooding. Steam flooding exhibits large volume changes and compressibility associated with the phase behavior of steam, strong gravity segregation and override, and highly coupled energy and mass transport. To overcome these challenges we implement a novel pressure update along the streamlines, a Glowinski scheme operator splitting and a preliminary streamline/finite volume hybrid approach. We tested our streamline simulator on a series of test cases. We compared our thermal streamline results with those computed by a commercial thermal simulator for both accuracy and efficiency. For the cases investigated, we are able to retain solution accuracy, while reducing computational cost and gaining connectivity information from the streamlines. These aspects are useful for reservoir engineering purposes. In traditional thermal reactive reservoir simulation, mass and energy balance equations are solved numerically on discretized reservoir grid blocks. The reaction terms are calculated through Arrhenius kinetics using cell-averaged properties, such as averaged temperature and reactant concentrations. For the in-situ combustion process, the chemical reaction front is physically very narrow, typically a few inches thick. To capture accurately this front, centimeter-sized grids are required that are orders of magnitude smaller than the affordable grid block sizes for full field reservoir models. To solve this grid size effect problem, we propose a new method based on a non-Arrhenius reaction upscaling approach. We do not resolve the combustion front on the grid, but instead use a subgrid-scale model that captures the overall effects of the combustion reactions on flow and transport, i.e. the amount of heat released, the amount of oil burned and the reaction products generated. The subgrid-scale model is calibrated using fine-scale highly accurate numerical simulation and laboratory experiments. This approach significantly improves the computational speed of in-situ combustion simulation as compared to traditional methods. We propose the detailed procedures to implement this methodology in a field-scale simulator. Test cases illustrate the solution consistency when scaling up the grid sizes in multidimensional heterogeneous problems. The methodology is also applicable to other subsurface reactive flow modeling problems with fast chemical reactions and sharp fronts. Displacement front stability is a major concern in the design of all the enhanced oil recovery processes. Historically, premature combustion front break through has been an issue for field operations of in-situ combustion. In this work, we perform detailed analysis based on both analytical methods and numerical simulation. We identify the different flow regimes and several driving fronts in a typical 1D ISC process. For the ISC process in a conventional mobile heavy oil reservoir, we identify the most critical front as the front of steam plateau driving the cold oil bank. We discuss the five main contributors for this front stability/instability: viscous force, condensation, heat conduction, coke plugging and gravity. Detailed numerical tests are performed to test and rank the relative importance of all these different effects.
Crude oil development and production in U.S. oil reservoirs can include up to three distinct phases: primary, secondary, and tertiary (or enhanced) recovery. During primary recovery, the natural pressure of the reservoir or gravity drive oil into the wellbore, combined with artificial lift techniques (such as pumps) which bring the oil to the surface. But only about 10 percent of a reservoir's original oil in place is typically produced during primary recovery. Secondary recovery techniques to the field's productive life generally by injecting water or gas to displace oil and drive it to a production wellbore, resulting in the recovery of 20 to 40 percent of the original oil in place. In the past two decades, major oil companies and research organizations have conducted extensive theoretical and laboratory EOR (enhanced oil recovery) researches, to include validating pilot and field trials relevant to much needed domestic commercial application, while western countries had terminated such endeavours almost completely due to low oil prices. In recent years, oil demand has soared and now these operations have become more desirable. This book is about the recent developments in the area as well as the technology for enhancing oil recovery. The book provides important case studies related to over one hundred EOR pilot and field applications in a variety of oil fields. These case studies focus on practical problems, underlying theoretical and modelling methods, operational parameters (e.g., injected chemical concentration, slug sizes, flooding schemes and well spacing), solutions and sensitivity studies, and performance optimization strategies. The book strikes an ideal balance between theory and practice, and would be invaluable to academicians and oil company practitioners alike. - Updated chemical EOR fundamentals providing clear picture of fundamental concepts - Practical cases with problems and solutions providing practical analogues and experiences - Actual data regarding ranges of operation parameters providing initial design parameters - Step-by-step calculation examples providing practical engineers with convenient procedures
Oil and Gas Chemistry Management Series brings an all-inclusive suite of tools to cover all the sectors of oil and gas chemicals from drilling, completion to production, processing, storage, and transportation. The third reference in the series, Recovery Improvement, delivers the critical chemical basics while also covering the latest research developments and practical solutions. Organized by the type of enhanced recovery approaches, this volume facilitates engineers to fully understand underlying theories, potential challenges, practical problems, and keys for successful deployment. In addition to the chemical, gas, and thermal methods, this reference volume also includes low-salinity (smart) water, microorganism- and nanofluid-based recovery enhancement, and chemical solutions for conformance control and water shutoff in near wellbore and deep in the reservoir. Supported by a list of contributing experts from both academia and industry, this book provides a necessary reference to bridge petroleum chemistry operations from theory into more cost-efficient and sustainable practical applications. - Covers background information and practical guidelines for various recovery enhancement domains, including chapters on enhanced oil recovery in unconventional reservoirs and carbon sequestration in CO2 gas flooding for more environment-friendly and more sustainable initiatives - Provides effective solutions to control chemistry-related issues and mitigation strategies for potential challenges from an industry list of experts and contributors - Delivers both up-to-date research developments and practical applications, featuring various case studies
Fundamentals of Enhanced Oil and Gas Recovery from Conventional and Unconventional Reservoirs delivers the proper foundation on all types of currently utilized and upcoming enhanced oil recovery, including methods used in emerging unconventional reservoirs. Going beyond traditional secondary methods, this reference includes advanced water-based EOR methods which are becoming more popular due to CO2 injection methods used in EOR and methods specific to target shale oil and gas activity. Rounding out with a chapter devoted to optimizing the application and economy of EOR methods, the book brings reservoir and petroleum engineers up-to-speed on the latest studies to apply. Enhanced oil recovery continues to grow in technology, and with ongoing unconventional reservoir activity underway, enhanced oil recovery methods of many kinds will continue to gain in studies and scientific advancements. Reservoir engineers currently have multiple outlets to gain knowledge and are in need of one product go-to reference. - Explains enhanced oil recovery methods, focusing specifically on those used for unconventional reservoirs - Includes real-world case studies and examples to further illustrate points - Creates a practical and theoretical foundation with multiple contributors from various backgrounds - Includes a full range of the latest and future methods for enhanced oil recovery, including chemical, waterflooding, CO2 injection and thermal
The need for energy is increasing and but the production from conventional reservoirs is declining quickly. This requires an economically and technically feasible source of energy for the coming years. Among some alternative future energy solutions, the most reasonable source is from unconventional reservoirs. As the name “unconventional” implies, different and challenging approaches are required to characterize and develop these resources. This Special Issue covers some of the technical challenges for developing unconventional energy sources from shale gas/oil, tight gas sand, and coalbed methane.
Primer on Enhanced Oil Recovery gives the oil and gas market the introductory information it needs to cover the physical and chemical properties of hydrocarbon reservoir fluids and rock, drilling operations, rock-fluid interactions, recovery methods, and the economy of enhanced oil recovery projects. Beginning with introductory materials on basic physics and oil-rock interaction, the book then progresses into well-known types of EOR, such as gas injection and microbial EOR. Other sections cover hybrid EOR, smart water/low salinity and solar EOR. Worldwide case study examples give engineers the go-to starting point they need to understand the fundamentals of EOR techniques and data. - Discusses basic physics and chemistry in oil, oil-rock interaction, variation of oil, and interaction properties with temperature - Helps readers understand why and when EOR can be used - Includes data on EOR implementation and economics
