The Viking reservoirs of west-central Saskatchewan contain a large number of light oil resources, of which only approximately 10% is considered recoverable. Oil production is hindered by (a) permeability damage due to clay swelling and migration during water injection and (b) organic solid (asphaltenes/wax) precipitation due to pressure and temperature variations. The Saskatchewan Research Council conducted laboratory experiments to evaluate and address these problems. Reservoir cores were tested for permeability damage measurements using both injection and produced brine. Different additives [i.e., potassium chloride (KCl) with/without hydrochloric acid (HCl), commercial clay stabilizers, liquid CO 2 , and isopropyl alcohol] were assessed as permeability remedies. The results showed that injection brine caused greater permeability damage than produced brine. KCl solutions preserved permeability, whereas KCl acidized with HCl appreciably improved it in one core. None of the used commercial additives significantly improved permeability. Injection of liquid CO 2 and isopropyl alcohol caused encouraging permeability improvement in some cores. Wax precipitation tests were carried out on both dead oil and live oil samples. It was found that precipitation occurred in the dead oil even at the reservoir temperature of 22°C. Filtration tests demonstrated that the live oil was much less sensitive to wax precipitation than the dead oil.
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