Enhance Oil Recovery Methods: Theory and Application

Introduction

Enhanced oil recovery (EOR) has received significant attention in recent years. This course provides many advanced tools & techniques to help address the challenges of providing a more reliable and sound oil recovery background. It presents parameters, techniques, advantages, disadvantages, and limitations of each technique, simplified and more complex simulation methods of EOR.

It covers different techniques of oil recovery such as immiscible and miscible gas and hydrocarbon solvent injections, steam and air injections, polymer, surfactant, alkali-surfactant floods, and microbial EOR. N2, LPG, CO2-EOR processes are covered in various sections of miscible gas injection to enhance the knowledge of the attendees in EOR techniques.

This is an intensive, applied course in enhanced oil recovery (EOR).  The three main EOR processes covered are miscible flood (CO2 and miscible gas injection), chemical flood (micellar/polymer), and thermal recovery (steam injection and in-situ combustion).  The physics of each EOR process will be covered in detail, including the fundamentals of reservoir fluid flow and recovery mechanisms.  Each EOR process will be illustrated with an actual field example.  Exercises in class will be conducted to estimate oil production forecasts with EOR.  

This course teaches an integrated version of the basics of water flooding and enhanced oil recovery (EOR). The connection of each process to a few fundamental principles is illustrated. The course then reviews the specifics of thermal and solvent methods, relating basic principles to the results of field cases.

Objectives

Upon the successful completion of the course, participants will be able to:-

• Know the oil reservoir drive mechanisms including the types of reservoir energy, fluid properties, material balance, compaction drives, etc.
• Describe the process of water flooding by identifying its design, operation, and monitoring.
• Acquaint the participants with the concept of immiscible gas injection in oil reservoirs by discussing the techniques & calculation methods used in immiscible gas/oil displacement and identifying the compositional effects during immiscible gas displacement.
• Develop an in-depth understanding of polymers, gels, foams, and resins including their conformance problems and improvements.
• Become familiar with the miscible processes which include designing a miscible flood, knowing its compositional numerical simulation and prediction of compositionally enhanced solvent flood behavior.
• Learn the process of thermal recovery by steam injection and discuss their design calculation, steam delivery systems, and heat management.
• Become aware of the process description of in-situ combustion using the laboratory studies and explain in detail its screening guidelines and operation practices.

Training Methodology

This interactive training workshop includes the following training methodologies as a percentage of total tuition hours:-

50% Lectures, 30% Workshops, Group Work & Practical

Exercises, 20% Videos & Software

Who Should Attend?

Reservoir Engineers, Production Engineers, geoscientists, field operation staff, management personnel, and others involved in the various aspects of oil recovery, and petroleum reservoir management.

The course is aimed at petroleum engineers who wish to have advanced knowledge of the three most common EOR processes.  After the course, they will be able to select the most appropriate EOR method for a particular reservoir and perform a first-pass production forecast for the EOR method selected.   

Also, this course is designed for engineers & technical staff who is working in petroleum or chemical engineering. All other engineers, mathematicians, and physicists and some experience in reservoir engineering and/or numerical simulation can benefit from this course.

Course Outline

Day 1:

• Introduction to Enhanced Oil Recovery
• Volatile-and-Black-Oil Fluid Characteristics
• Types of Reservoir Energy
• Reservoir Drive Mechanisms
• Reservoir Rock and Fluids Properties

Day 2:

• Determination of Hydrocarbon in Place
• Reserve Estimation and Classification
• Reservoir Management Plan
• Secondary Recovery and Pressure Maintenance
• Waterflood Design, Monitoring and Field-Case-Studies
• Development of Mature Field

Day 3:

• Microscopic Efficiency of Immiscible Displacement
• Miscible and Immiscible Displacement (N2, LPG, CO2)
• Miscible Recovery Processes (Screening Criteria and
• Field Applications)
• Field Examples and Case Histories

Day 4:

• Chemical EOR Processes (Idea, technologies, processes)
• Polymers processes (Screening Criteria and Field Applications)
• Surfactant processes (Screening Criteria and Field Applications)
• Field Examples and Case Histories

Day 5:

• Thermal Recovery Techniques
• Steam Field Applications (Screening Criteria, Steam flood
• Design, Cyclic Steam Stimulation Design, Design
• Considerations; and Field Applications)
• Bio-chemical Recovery Processes
• Process Optimization