Recent Developments and Updated Screening Criteria of Enhanced Oil Recovery Techniques The demand for oil keeps

on growing, and it may rule the world energy supply for the next three decades. However, the price of oil has increased tremendously. Due to this increment, enhanced oil recovery technologies have drawn increased interest. Enhanced oil recovery (EOR) is needed to retrieve the remaining original oil in place (OOIP) after the secondary oil recovery has been carried out. This oil is left behind as a result of the microscopic and macroscopic components. This paper describes some of these methods and their selection criteria. Water-Alternating-Gas, WAG is a method that involves the alternating of water-flood and gasflood to make the displacement front steady. WAG is a process of injecting gas as a slug alternately with a water slug to overcome the inherently gas injection mobility rations. The key design specifications in WAG are timing and water-to-gas ratio. Excess or inadequate water would be unfavourable for the recovery. Therefore, the significant WAG selection criteria are well spacing, injection pressure, and reservoir permeability deviations. Another method is Steam-Assisted Gravity Drainage, SAGD. Steam is injected into the reservoir, this reduces the oil viscosity and makes the oil swell. However there are limitations such as reservoir depth and formation net thickness. In the Carbon dioxide EOR and Sequestration method, carbon dioxide is captured and injected into the reservoir to recover the remaining oil. This method is favourable to the earths geological conditions and is a means of storing carbon dioxide. In conclusion, EOR technologies are classified into five principled categories: gas-based, thermal-based, water-based, other, and combination methods. Screening criteria include variables such as oil viscosity, oil gravity, reservoir depth, and reservoir permeability.

References Al-Adasani, A. and Bai, B. (2010) 'Recent Developments and Updated Screening Criteria of Enhanced Oil Recovery Techniques', International Oil and Gas Conference and Exhibition in China. 8-10 June 2010. Beijing, China: Society of Petroleum Engineers.