Enhanced oil recovery - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Page 1 of 5

Enhanced oil recovery

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Enhanced Oil Recovery (abbreviated EOR) is a generic term for techniques for increasing the amount
of crude oil that can be extracted from an oil field. Using EOR, 30-60 %, or more, of the reservoir's
original oil can be extracted[1] compared with 20-40%[2] using primary and secondary recovery.

Enhanced oil recovery is also called improved oil recovery or tertiary recovery (as opposed to
primary and secondary recovery). Sometimes the term quaternary recovery is used to refer to more
advanced, speculative, EOR techniques.[3] [4] [5] [6]

Contents
■ 1 How it works
■ 1.1 Gas injection
■ 1.2 Chemical injection
■ 1.3 Ultrasonic stimulation
■ 1.4 Microbial injection
■ 1.5 Thermal recovery
■ 2 Economic costs and benefits
■ 3 Examples of current EOR projects
■ 4 Potential for EOR in United States
■ 5 References
■ 6 See also
■ 7 External links

How it works
Enhanced oil recovery is achieved by gas injection, chemical injection, ultrasonic stimulation, microbial
injection, or thermal recovery (which includes cyclic steam, steamflooding, and fireflooding).

Gas injection
Gas injection is presently the most-commonly used approach to enhanced recovery. A gas is injected
into the oil-bearing stratum under high pressure. That pressure pushes the oil into the pipe and up to the
surface. In addition to the beneficial effect of the pressure, this method sometimes aids recovery by
reducing the viscosity of the crude oil as the gas mixes with it.

Gases commonly used include CO2, natural gas or nitrogen.

http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Enhanced_oil_recovery&printable=yes 8/3/2009
Enhanced oil recovery - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Page 2 of 5

Oil displacement by carbon dioxide injection relies on the phase behaviour of the mixtures of that gas
and the crude, which are strongly dependent on reservoir temperature, pressure and crude oil
composition. These mechanisms range from oil swelling and viscosity reduction for injection of
immiscible fluids (at low pressures) to completely miscible displacement in high-pressure applications.
In these applications, more than half and up to two-thirds of the injected CO2 returns with the produced
oil and is usually re-injected into the reservoir to minimize operating costs. The remainder is trapped in
the oil reservoir by various means.

Chemical injection
Several possible methods have been proposed. Some successful applications are injection of polymers,
which can either reduce the crude's viscosity or increase the viscosity of water which has also been
injected to force the crude out of the stratum. Detergent-like surfactants such as rhamnolipids are
injected to lower the capillary pressure that impedes oil droplets from moving through a reservoir.

Ultrasonic stimulation
It has been proposed to use high-power ultrasonic vibrations from a piezoelectric vibration unit lowered
into the drillhead, to "shake" the oil droplets from the rock matrices, allowing them to move more freely
toward the drillhead. This technique is projected to be most effective immediately around the drillhead.
[3]

Microbial injection
Microbial injection is part of microbial enhanced oil recovery and is presently rarely used, both because
of its higher cost and because the developments in this field are more recent than other techniques.
Strains of microbes have been both discovered and developed (using gene mutation) which function
either by partially digesting long hydrocarbon molecules, by generating biosurfactants, or by emitting
carbon dioxide (which then functions as described in Gas injection above).[7]

Three approaches have been used to achieve microbial injection. In the first approach, bacterial cultures
mixed with a food source (a carbohydrate such as molasses is commonly used) are injected into the oil
field. In the second approach, used since 1985[8], nutrients are injected into the ground to nurture
existing microbial bodies; these nutrients cause the bacteria to increase production of the natural
surfactants they normally use to metabolize crude oil underground. [9] After the injected nutrients are
consumed, the microbes go into near-shutdown mode, their exteriors become hydrophilic, and they
migrate to the oil-water interface area, where they cause oil droplets to form from the larger oil mass,
making the droplets more likely to migrate to the wellhead. This approach has been used in oilfields near
the Four Corners and in Beverly Hills, California.

The third approach is used to address the problem of paraffin components of the crude oil, which tend to
separate from the crude as it flows to the surface. Since the earth's surface is considerably cooler than
the petroleum deposits (a temperature drop of 13-14 degree F per thousand feet of depth is usual),[10] the
paraffin's higher melting point causes it to solidify as it is cooled during the upward flow. Bacteria
capable of breaking these paraffin chains into smaller chains (which would then flow more easily) are
injected into the wellhead, either near the point of first congealment or in the rock stratum itself. [11]

http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Enhanced_oil_recovery&printable=yes 8/3/2009
Enhanced oil recovery - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Page 3 of 5

Thermal recovery
In this approach, various methods are used to heat the crude oil either during its flow upward in the
drillhead, or in the pool, which would allow it to flow more easily toward the drillhead.

Economic costs and benefits

Adding oil recovery methods adds to the cost of oil — in the case of CO2 typically between 0.5-8.0 US$
per tonne of CO2. The increased extraction of oil on the other hand, is an economic benefit with the
revenue depending on prevailing oil prices.[12] Onshore EOR has paid in the range of a net 10-16 US$
per tonne of CO2 injected for oil prices of 15-20 US$/barrel. Prevailing prices depend on many factors
but can determine the economic suitability of any procedure, with more procedures and more expensive
procedures being economically viable at higher prices. Example: With oil prices at around 130
US$/barrel, the economic benefit is about 100 US$ per tonne CO2.

Examples of current EOR projects

In Canada, a CO2-EOR project has been established by EnCana at the Weyburn Oil Field in southern
Saskatchewan. The project is expected to inject a net 18 million ton CO2 and recover an additional
130 million barrels (21,000,000 m3) of oil, extending the life of the oil field by 25 years.[13] (When
combusted, this extra volume of oil will produce nearly 60 million ton CO2, so in this case carbon
capture and storage in combination does not result in a net reduction in atmospheric CO2). Since CO2
injection began in late 2000, the EOR project has performed largely as predicted. Currently, some 1600
m3 (10,063 barrels) per day of incremental oil is being produced from the field.

Potential for EOR in United States

In United States, the Department of Energy (DOE) has estimated that full use of 'next generation' CO2-
EOR in United States could generate an additional 240 billion barrels (3.8 ×1010 m3) of recoverable oil
resources. Developing this potential would depend on the availability of commercial CO2 in large
volumes, which could be made possible by widespread use of carbon capture and storage. For
comparison, the total undeveloped US domestic oil resources still in the ground total more than 1 trillion
barrels (1.6 ×1011 m3), most of it remaining unrecoverable. The DOE estimates that if the EOR potential
were to be fully realised, State and local treasuries would gain $280 billion in revenues from future
royalties, severance taxes, and state income taxes on oil production, aside from other economic benefits.

References
1. ^ DOE - Fossil Energy: DOE's Oil Recovery R&D Program
(http://www.fossil.energy.gov/programs/oilgas/eor/index.html)
2. ^ http://www.energy.ca.gov/process/pubs/electrotech_opps_tr113836.pdf
3. ^ Hobson, Hobson; Eric Neshan Tiratsoo (1975). Introduction to petroleum geology. Scientific Press. ISBN
0901360074, 9780901360076.
4. ^ Walsh, Mark; Larry W. Lake (2003). A generalized approach to primary hydrocarbon recovery. Elsevier.
5. ^ Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. 21st century technologies. 1998. OECD
Publishing. pp. 39. ISBN 9264160523, 9789264160521.
6. ^ Smith, Charles (1966). Mechanics of secondary oil recovery. Reinhold Pub. Corp.
7. ^ "Tiny Prospectors", Chemical & Engineering News, 87, 6, p. 20

http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Enhanced_oil_recovery&printable=yes 8/3/2009
Enhanced oil recovery - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Page 4 of 5

8. ^ http://www.saione.com/aboutpdl.htm Biography of Philip Lauer

9. ^ www.titanoilrecovery.com Titan Oil Recovery (Beverly Hills CA) webpage
10. ^ http://www.en.allexperts.com/q/Geology-1359/2009/1/temperature-underground.htm#6 Geology Q/A
website
11. ^ WMI International, Houston TX 77092; (713) 956-4001
12. ^ Austell, J Michael (2005). "CO2 for Enhanced Oil Recovery Needs - Enhanced Fiscal Incentives".
Exploration & Production: The Oil & Gas Review -. http://www.touchoilandgas.com/enhanced-recovery-
needs-enhanced-a423-1.html. Retrieved on 2007-09-28.
13. ^ http://www.netl.doe.gov/publications/proceedings/01/carbon_seq/2a1.pdf Department of Energy website

■ IPCC Special Report on Carbon dioxide Capture and Storage

(http://www.ipcc.ch/activity/srccs/index.htm) . Chapter 5, Underground geological storage.
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), 2005.
■ US Department of Energy analysis of EOR potential
(http://www.fossil.energy.gov/programs/oilgas/eor/Undeveloped_Domestic_Oil_Resources_Provi.html)
Game Changer Improvements Could Dramatically Increase Domestic Oil Resource Recovery. An
analysis by Advanced Resources International, Arlington, VA, for the U.S. Department of
Energy’s Office of Fossil Energy. Advanced Resources International, February 2006. See also
press release (http://www.fossil.energy.gov/news/techlines/2006/06015-
Oil_Recovery_Assessments_Released.html)

See also
■ Carbon capture and storage
■ Gas reinjection
■ Quaternary recovery
■ Steam assisted gravity drainage
■ Steam injection (oil industry)
■ Wikiversity:Enhanced oil recovery

External links
■ US Department of Energy (http://www.fe.doe.gov/programs/oilgas/eor/) Information page on
Enhanced Oil Recovery/CO2 Injection.
■ Enhanced Oil Recovery Institute (http://eori.gg.uwyo.edu/) Enhanced Oil Recovery Institute.
■ UMass Lowell invention for enhanced oil recovery (http://www.uml.edu/Media/eNews/Ryan%
20Golomb%20MTTC%20grant.html) Commercialization Planned for Enhanced Oil Recovery
Method
■ Massachusetts Technology Portal (http://www.masstechportal.com/IP1493.aspx) Licensable
Technology
■ Progressultrasonics (http://www.progressultrasonics.com/) Near borehole stimulation by power
untrasonics waves
■ Mississippi Oil Journal Map (http://www.mississippioiljournal.com/map/?x=-
90.44631958007812&y=31.50353732721094&z=12) Oil Well Map of EOR CO2 field in
Brookhaven Mississippi
■ Schlumberger Oilfield Glossary (http://www.glossary.oilfield.slb.com/Display.cfm?
Term=enhanced%20oil%20recovery)

http://www.firp.ula.ve/

■ http://www.adv-res.com/ Advanced Resources International, Inc.

http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Enhanced_oil_recovery&printable=yes 8/3/2009
Enhanced oil recovery - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Page 5 of 5

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enhanced_oil_recovery"

Categories: Petroleum production

■ This page was last modified on 4 June 2009 at 07:35.

■ Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License; additional terms
may apply. See Terms of Use for details.
Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit
organization.

http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Enhanced_oil_recovery&printable=yes 8/3/2009