PET 441E

Enhanced Oil Recovery

Lecture 1

by
Dr. Murat Çınar
Fall 2020
 Need for EOR
Typical stages of reservoir life:

– primary 2-15% OOIP

• Solution gas, water influx, gas cap, gravity drainage, fluid rock expansion

– secondary 15-50% OOIP

• Water flooding, pressure maintenance processes

– tertiary 5-30% plus OOIP

• EOR

General definition:
Oil recovery through introduction of energy into a reservoir by injection of materials
not normally present in reservoirs.

EOR involves the application of external forces, and substances to manipulate chemical
and physical interactions in hydrocarbon reservoirs in a manner that promotes favorable
recovery conditions.

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 Need for EOR
Reserves are petroleum recoverable from known reservoirs
under prevailing economics and technology.
Reserves ≠ Resources

 Production 
 Present   Past   Addition   
 reserves    reserves    to reserves    from   R  t 
       reserves 
 

Adding to reserves:
1. Discovering new fields.
2. Discovering new reservoirs in known fields.
3. Extending reservoir in known fields.
4. Redefining reserves because of changes in
economics of extraction technology.

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 EOR Target
• Conventional Oil Resources ~3000 billion OOIP
~25% has already been produced
~ 1650 billion OOIP in proven reserves

~ 1250 billion OOIP Conventional

+ 3400 billion OOIP Heavy Oil
+ 5500 billion OOIP Natural Bitumen

Results are based on USGS study in 2000. See USGS website

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 EOR Categories
• Thermal
– Steam, ISC
• Gas
– CO2, Hydrocarbon, Nitrogen, Flue Gas
• Chemical
– Polymer, Alkaline, Micellar Polymer
• Other
– Microbial

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 EOR Categories US production

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 US EOR production

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 US EOR production

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 US EOR production

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 US EOR production

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 US EOR production

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 US Proven Reserves

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 Why Does Gas Injection Dominate?
Statistics show that steam-flooding and CO2 injection
dominate EOR production.

Thermal – Steam
–over 3 trillion bbl OOIP of 20 °API and heavier worldwide
– cogeneration of steam and electricity
• good primary energy efficiency
• strong effect of temperature on μ oil

• CO2
– natural CO2 sources (relatively cheap)
– pipeline network in place
– Governmental regulations and global warming

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 Incremental Oil
A universal measure of the success of an EOR process, is the
amount of incremental oil recovered.

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 IOR versus EOR
Improved Oil Recovery vs. Enhanced Oil Recovery

IOR EOR

• better field management • inject:

• improved operating – steam
procedures – CO2
• optimal infill drilling – surfactant (soap)
• optimal well interventions: – polymers
• acidizing, work-over, etc. • change recovery
mechanisms.

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 EOR Promise and Problems
What’s good
• large volume of oil in place
that is quantified
• data: well logs, production,
reservoir models
• decline rates are small
relative to WF or primary
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What’s not good
• injected fluids are relatively
expensive
• requires more and good
engineering
• payout on projects is longer
• oil rates are not large
compared to primary
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