Enhanced Oil Recovery in Shales
Value to Sponsors
- Provide sound injection strategies for enhanced oil recovery in shales based on phase behavior and flow capacities.
- Provide optimized injection – production well configurations for field application.
- Report on suitability of using water, CO2, natural gas, ethane or propane for enhancing recovery from shales based on core flood recoveries.
- Evaluation of the effect of rock type on the choice of the injection fluid.
- Measurements of permeabilities of liquids and gases by performing ow-through experiments and relative permeabilities of selected pairs of fluids (water-oil; oil-CO2; oil-gas).
- Guidelines based on computer simulations for injection and production configurations – well locations, spacing, fracture spacing, etc.
It is recognized that oil recoveries in plays producing liquids are low (5-10%), and that new technologies are necessary to unlock the enormous amount of stranded oil. Secondary recovery in the form of water flooding is common in conventional reservoirs. Gas injection is used to enhance recoveries in a number of cases, with carbon dioxide (CO2) being the most common injectant. Keys to the success of any injection strategy to enhance recoveries are the compositions and properties of the phases formed (phase behavior) and ow capacities (relative permeabilities) of the phases.
Previous research conducted at the Energy & Geoscience Institute has revealed interesting permeability characteristics for organic and aqueous phases. Once the suitability of injection fluid is established based on phase behavior and ow considerations, an appropriate injection-production program must be designed to understand, how, where and when to inject and produce fluids. Experimental investigation of phase behavior and ow for various injectants and computer simulations of injection/production strategies will be undertaken in this project.