Open AccessCoupling the Alkaline-Surfactant-Polymer Technology and The Gelation Technology to Maximize Oil Production
Author(s) -
Malcolm Pitts,
Jie Qi,
Dan Wilson,
Phil Dowling,
David J. Stewart,
Bill Jones
Publication year - 2005
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Reports
DOI - 10.2172/887243
Subject(s) - oil in place , pulmonary surfactant , petroleum engineering , polymer , enhanced oil recovery , produced water , permeability (electromagnetism) , materials science , chemical engineering , geology , chemistry , composite material , petroleum , engineering , paleontology , biochemistry , membrane
Performance and produced polymer evaluation of four alkaline-surfactant-polymer projects concluded that only one of the projects could have benefited from combining the alkaline-surfactant-polymer and gelation technologies. Cambridge, the 1993 Daqing, Mellott Ranch, and the Wardlaw alkaline-surfacant-polymer floods were studied. An initial gel treatment followed by an alkaline-surfactant-polymer flood in the Wardlaw field would have been a benefit due to reduction of fracture flow. Numerical simulation demonstrated that reducing the permeability of a high permeability zone of a reservoir with gel improved both waterflood and alkaline-surfactant-polymer flood oil recovery. A Minnelusa reservoir with both A and B sand production was simulated. A and B sands are separated by a shale layer. A sand and B sand waterflood oil recovery was improved by 196,000 bbls or 3.3% OOIP when a gel was placed in the B sand. Alkaline-surfactant-polymer flood oil recovery improvement over a waterflood was 392,000 bbls or 6.5% OOIP. Placing a gel into the B sand prior to an alkaline-surfactant-polymer flood resulted in 989,000 bbl or 16.4% OOIP more oil than only water injection. A sand and B sand alkaline-surfactant-polymer flood oil recovery was improved by 596,000 bbls or 9.9% OOIP when a gel was placed in the B sand