Factors influencing successful implementation of enhanced oil recovery projects

Abstract

Tertiary methods in oil production process called 'Enhanced Oil recovery methods' (EOR) are mostly applied in mature oil fields with declining production trend after primary and secondary recovery methods or immediately after primary production phase. These 'Enhanced Oil Recovery' methods implies injection of gases or fluids to mobilize residual oil captured in reservoir rock due to presence of strong viscous and capillary forces and high value of interfacial tension between fluid and rock. Depending on the type of injected fluid, production mechanism, as well as an approach to implementation, EOR methods are divided into thermal methods, chemical methods, miscible/immiscible gas injection methods and other methods that so far have an experimental application. The paper analyzes the key factors influencing the successful implementation of EOR projects: phases of EOR project implementation, the price of crude oil at the world market as a criterion for the beginning and the justification for EOR process application and development of new technologies for more efficient process realization.

Petroleum and Refining Engineering- Brief Review on Few Key Aspects

“…Factors affecting the recovery of this residual oil were studied by Vesna et.al. [16]. According to their studies, oil recovery methods are classified as thermal methods, chemical methods, miscible/immiscible gas injection methods and other methods.…”

Enhancing Injectivity in Lithuanian Hydrocarbon Reservoirs through Wettability-Altering Surfactant Injection

“…Analytical EOR screening for a depleted oil field is conducted using an in-house Excel-based tool developed from the SPE guidelines [15][16][17]. Additionally, several SPE publications provide comprehensive screening criteria and guidelines for evaluating the feasibility of EOR projects under various technical and economic considerations, including factors like oil prices and technological advancements [50]. These guidelines offer valuable insights and methodologies for assessing EOR projects across different scenarios.…”

Enhanced Oil Recovery: Chemical Flooding

“…In this process a surfactant is added to the polymer solution that has the affinity for both water and oil. The use of the micellar solution is to reduce the interfacial tension of the water-oil system in the reservoir in order to displace the residual oil [15]. SP flooding method was patented for Marathon oil co. by Gogarty and Tosch known as Mara-flood.…”