Chapter 1
Introduction to Oil Recovery Processes
and Improved Oil Methods
Oil Recovery Mechanisms
Primary
Recovery
Artificial Lift
Natural Flow
Pump - Gas Lift - Etc.
Conventional
Recovery
Secondary
Recovery
Pressure
Waterflood Maintenance
Water - Gas Reinjection
Tertiary
Recovery
Thermal Chemical Enhanced
Recovery
Solvent Other
Fig.1-1. Oil recovery methods
Source: Adapted from the Oil & Gas Journal, Apr. 23, 1990
Primary Recovery Mechanisms
Depletion Drive—Solution Gas Drive
• Gas Cap Drive
• Expansion of the gas-cap gas
• Expansion of the solution gas
as it is liberated
Water Drive
Gravity Drainage
Combination drive
Mechanisms of Water Flooding
• Primary Goal: to displace oil with water in an
efficient manner that maximizes the profitable
recovery of oil from a reservoir.
• Waterflooding increases oil recovery from a
reservoir in two ways:
– Pressure maintenance
– Displacement of oil with water
Water quality requirements for injection
– Compatibility with reservoir rock & formation
water
– Least corrosive to injector/producer /facilities.
– Environment friendly.
Main sources of Injection water
1. Shallow aquifers, particularly if their waters cannot be used
for domestic or agricultural consumption
– Composition
– Amounts of dissolved salts
– Formation fines
– Precipitation products
– Corrosion products
– Bacteria / algae products
2. Surface water from a lake, river, or sea
– Composition
– Amounts of dissolved salts
– Amount of dissolved gases
i. Oxygen
ii. Carbon dioxide
iii. Hydrogen sulfide
– Quantity and nature of suspended solids
Main sources of Injection water
3. Produced water
– Composition
– Amounts of oil in suspension
– Dissolved solids
Waterflood Performance Measurements
• Economic success of a waterflood project
depends on the additional recovery obtained.
• The cost of the water, injection wells, and
surface treatment facilities must be less than
the value of the additional oil recovered.
Waterflood Performance Measurements
– Oil Production Rate (STB/D)
– Volume of Water Injected (Bbls)
– Cumulative Oil Recovery (STB)
– Water Injection Rate (STB/D)
– Water–Oil Production Ratio
Water Flood Planning in an Economic
Perspective Oil
Water Flood Evaluation
• Injection and Production Performance
• Natural Producing(Source of Reservoir
Energy)
• Total Expansion, Voidage, and Injection
• Injection Rate, Withdrawal Rate, and
Injection Withdrawal Ratio.
Definition of EOR (Tertiary Recovery)
• Oil Recovery by the injection of materials not normally present
in reservoir.
• Excludes conventional water flooding.
• The injected fluids and injection processes supplement the
natural energy present in the reservoir to displace oil to a
production well.
• The injected fluids interact with the reservoir rock/oil system to
create conditions favorable for oil recovery
• The interactions are attributable to physical and chemical
mechanisms and to the injection or production of thermal
energy.
• Not necessary “tertiary” stage
EOR and IOR
• In the last decade, improved oil recovery (IOR) has been
used interchangeably with EOR or even in place of it.
• Although there is no formal definition, IOR typically
refers to any process or practice that improves oil
recovery.
• IOR therefore includes EOR processes but can also
include other practices such as waterflooding, pressure
maintenance, infill drilling, and horizontal wells.
EOR Methods
Fig.1-2. EOR methods
Thermal Methods
• Steamflooding
• Cyclic steam stimulation
• In situ combustion
GAS MISCIBLE RECOVERY
• Miscible Recovery
• Carbon Dioxide Flooding
• Cyclic Carbon Dioxide Stimulation
• Nitrogen Flooding
• Nitrogen CO2 Flooding
Chemicals Recovery Methods
• Chemical recovery methods include
–Conformance Control
–polymer,
–micellar-polymer and
–alkaline flooding.
Conformance Control
Problem: Oil recovery from low K layers is hampered because the main water flows
through the high K layer. (more than 60% remaining oil is still remained in unswept area)
Objective: Inject blocking agents to block/reduce water flow in high permeability zone.
Methods: Gel treatment is the principle method to control conformance for water
flood reservoirs.
MEOR
• Microbial Flooding
• Cyclic Microbial Recovery
Microbial Products & Their Contribution
to EOR
EOR Potential in the World
The Four Key Issues to be Resolved
to Maximize Oil Recovery
Micelle and CMC
• A micelle is an aggregate of surfactant molecules dispersed in a liquid
colloid. A typical micelle in aqueous solution forms an aggregate with the
hydrophilic "head" regions in contact with surrounding solvent,
sequestering the hydrophobic single tail regions in the micelle centre.
the critical micelle concentration
(CMC) is defined as the
concentration of surfactants above
which micelles form and almost all
additional surfactants added to the
system go to micelles
