Improved efficiency of miscible CO2 floods and enhanced prospects for CO2 flooding heterogeneous reservoirs. Final report, April 17, 1991--May 31, 1997

From 1986 to 1996, oil recovery in the US by gas injection increased almost threefold, to 300,000 bbl/day. Carbon dioxide (CO{sub 2}) injection projects make up three-quarters of the 191,139 bbl/day production increase. This document reports experimental and modeling research in three areas that is increasing the number of reservoirs in which CO{sub 2} can profitably enhance oil recovery: (1) foams for selective mobility reduction (SMR) in heterogeneous reservoirs, (2) reduction of the amount of CO{sub 2} required in CO{sub 2} floods, and (3) low interfacial tension (97) processes and the possibility of CO{sub 2} flooding in naturally fractured reservoirs. CO{sub 2} injection under miscible conditions can effectively displace oil, but due to differences in density and viscosity the mobility of CO{sub 2} is higher than either oil or water. High CO{sub 2} mobility causes injection gas to finger through a reservoir, causing such problems as early gas breakthrough, high gas production rates, excessive injection gas recycling, and bypassing of much of the reservoir oil. These adverse effects are exacerbated by increased reservoir heterogeneity, reaching an extreme in naturally fractured reservoirs. Thus, many highly heterogeneous reservoirs have not been considered for CO{sub 2} injection or have had disappointing recoveries. One example is the heterogeneous Spraberry trend in west Texas, where only 10% of its ten billion barrels of original oil in place (OOIP) are recoverable by conventional methods. CO{sub 2} mobility can be reduced by injecting water (brine) alternated with CO{sub 2} (WAG) and then further reduced by adding foaming agents-surfactants. In Task 1, we studied a unique foam property, selective mobility reduction (SMR), that effectively reduces the effects of reservoir heterogeneity. Selective mobility reduction creates a more uniform displacement by decreasing CO{sub 2} mobility in higher permeability zones more than in lower permeability zones