Carbon Storage – Enhanced Oil RecoveryMike Monea – CEO International CCS Knowledge Centre

Prepared in part by the PTRC and Ken From

ENHANCED OIL RECOVERY

AGENDA Introduction Primary Production Secondary Production Enhanced Production Thermal CO2 

Concluding Remarks

Petra=Rock Oleum=Oil A petroleum reservoir is a rock

formation that holds oil and gas

OIL RESERVOIR CHARACTERISTICS

BOUNDARY DAM

Primary Production ‐ Natural depletion of the reservoir

Secondary recovery – putting energy back into the reservoir

Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) –changing the chemical and physical properties of reservoir fluids Reservoir energy continues to decline until

insufficient energy exists to force enough oil into the well to warrant continued production.

OIL FIELD LIFE CYCLE

BOUNDARY DMINCOMPLETE OIL RECOVERYMain reasons for incomplete oil recovery:

Heterogeneity exists at many levels. Unfavourable mobility ratio. Capillary trapping.

(Coderre et al, 2012)Channel features

BOUNDARY DAMHOW TO MAXIMIZE RECOVERY

Need a clear understanding of hydrocarbon system

Well placement – number and location require reservoir knowledge/modelling (scale hundreds to thousands of metres)

Oil recovery process rock/fluid interactions (moscale to tens of metres)

Oil displacement phenomena (scale micrometers to metres)

BOUNDARY DAMSECONDARY RECOVERY

Waterflooding most common:

Simplicity Availability Cost

Efficiency determined by fluid/rock properties, reservoir heterogeneity and placement of wells

Optimized traditionally by updating reservoir models using historical data (pressure, water cut, etc.)

SECONDARY RECOVERY ‐ EOR Polymer is a gel material that is added to the water to increase

viscosity and further improve results of the water flood.

BOUNDARY DAMENHANCED OIL RECOVERY

Interact with the rock/fluids to create favourable recovery conditions:

Oil viscosity reduction Extraction of oil with a solvent Alter capillary and viscous forces between

the oil, injected fluid, and the rock surface

Increase sweep efficiency

Micro and macro

BOUNDARY DAMSOLVENT INJECTION METHODS

A solvent can mix with the oil, form a homogeneous mixture, and carry the oil away from the reservoir.

Solvents used in EOR include CO2, propane, methane.

CO2 Injection:

Is miscible with crude oil

When the injected CO2 and residual oil are miscible, the CO2 dissolves in the oil, it swells the oil and reduces its viscosity. This increases the mobility of the fluid through the reservoir.

Diagram courtesy of DOE

BOUNDARY DAMSOLUBILITY ‐MISCIBILITY

Fig.1) Hexane in Heavy Oil - Miscible

Fig. 2) Propane in Heavy Oil- Soluble

Miscibility refers to whether a solvent can mix with oil and have no clear interface between the two fluids. (Fig.1). This is the case with conventional oil.

Although miscible, we are still pushing a liquid with a gas, creating an unstable system.

The WAG process fixes the viscosity ratio, but also introduces an immiscible phase (water) back into the system – increasing the risk of oil trapping.

CO2 in heavy oil acts as a solvent as it dissolves and changes the oil properties. In this case, the CO2 is immiscible, since an interface exists between them. (Fig. 2) When CO2 is immiscible, capillary trapping mechanisms can trap the oil.

(Source: PERM Inc)

BOUNDARY DAMINJECTION AND PRODUCTIONMidaleAnhydrite

Oil & CO2CO2

CO2 & OilOil&Water

Frobisher

Vuggy

MidaleAnhydrite

Frobisher

Hz CO2 Injector

Marly

Vuggy

VerticalProducer Vertical Water

Injector

Water

Marly

CO2

Hz Producer

Reservoir heterogeneity results in complex well geometry and production methods.

BOUNDARY DAMCASE STUDY – WEYBURNENHANCED OIL RECOVERY Largest CO2 EOR project in Canada

OOIP 1.4 Bbbls 160 Mbbls incremental

Outstanding EOR response

World’s largest geological CO2 sequestration project 30 million tonnes stored to date

BOUNDARY DAMWEYBURN OIL PRODUCTION

BOUNDARY DAMPURCHASED VS RECYCLED CO2

BOUNDARY DAMCO2 FLOOD AT WEYBURN

BOUNDARY DAMCO2 EOR VS “REGULAR OIL”

BOUNDARY DAMCO2 FLOOD AT WEYBURN

Barriers to be solved * Conformance – address the geological

constraint heterogeneity.

Operating Strategies – where is the remaining oil?

Viscosity control – CO2 is less viscous, improved mobility control to avoid bypassing oil.

CO2 control – inject more CO2 without thief zone channeling.

Low pressure reservoirs – near miscible CO2 strategies.

* - Vello Kuuskraa

BOUNDARY DAMCURRENT RESEARCH FOR EOR

IOR and production optimization• Infill drilling• Targets identified with 4D seismic 

and reservoir characterization• Waterflood

EOR Measures• Thermal methods• Miscible gas injection• CO2 injection• Surfactant flooding• Microbial EOR

BOUNDARY DAMCONCLUSIONS

Frontier technique, despite many years of pilot wells and project:

EOR operations require much higher precision than primary production: project outcomes have an enormous dispersion with a high number of failures and some very successful cases (in the 30% to 50% range increase).

EOR remains expensive: depending on project complexity and field size, the costs range from $10 to $80 per barrel. 

EOR is considered a technological frontier, especially for chemical methods. Indeed, EOR faces technical challenges include the following:

Understanding static and dynamic reservoir characterization for correct assessment of fluid choice and injection well design and configuration

Planning for the production and transport logistics for these fluids Awareness of environmental constraints and reservoir life‐cycle limitations Correct use of reservoir surveillance technologies

Complex technical challenges unique to each reservoirand type of EOR method. 

For more information please visit our website at:

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or contact us by email:  info@ccsknowledge.com Thank you to PTRC and Ken From for their input and images.