Adapted Methodology for Evaluating EOR Reserves and Resources, Incorporated and Applied at an Oil and Gas Company

Abstract

As other companies registered in the US stock market, the company reports oil and gas reserves, in compliance with the definitions of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). In addition, it complies internally with the guidelines established by the Petroleum Resources Management System to certify its resources. The PRMS focuses on supporting consistent evaluation of oil resources based on technically sound industry practices, providing fundamental principles for the assessment and classification of oil reserves and resources, but does not provide specific guidance for the classification and categorization of quantities associated with IOR projects. Recently, the company has implemented EOR pilot projects, and their results seem to show commerciality for future development or expansion to new areas, displaying multiple opportunities and proposals to incorporate reserves and resources. So far, the pilot projects and their expansions have been addressed only from the point of view of incremental projects, as an improvement over the previous secondary recovery. The company does not have sufficient track record in booking reserves or resources from EOR projects, their quantities have been incorporated following bibliographic references and results of EOR projects with proven commerciality around the world. For this reason, the need arose to have a tool that provides the company with methodological criteria to evaluate the resources and reserves inherent in this type of project, that incorporate the "best practices" of the industry and that respect the guidelines and definitions of PRMS for incremental projects. That was how, the need to meet this challenging goal led company to develop its "EOR Resources and Reserves Assessment Guide" with the advice of a renowned consulting company. Although the Guide is not intended to be a review of the large body of existing IOR literature, it contains several useful references that serve as a starting point for understanding the IOR project for assessment process of resources and reserves. This document shows the process of development and implementation of the EOR guide, complementing the existing guides within the corporation and providing the company with a positive result within the internal processes of Audit, reserves and resources for this type of projects.