Summary Low salinity water injection is an emerging EOR technology, applicable to mixed-to-oil-wet sandstone reservoirs. Flooding with low salinity water causes desorption of petroleum heavy ends from the clays present on the pore wall, resulting in a more waterwet rock surface, a lower remaining oil saturation and higher oil recovery. A secondary flood application is discussed in the Omar field in Syria showing a change of wettability from oil wet to a water-wet system. This change in wettability is supported by the observation of dual steps in watercut development. In between the two steps the watercut was constant. This behaviour is a known indicator of changing wettability. Moreover, direct connate water banking measurements confirm the change. The field observations are supported by spontaneous imbibition experiments in core material and a single well Log-Inject-Log test in an analogue field. From the field observations, the change in wettability is estimated to be nearly complete, leading to an associated incremental recovery of 10–15% of the Stock Tank Oil Initialy In Place (STOIIP). The significance of this work is that this is one of the very few documented proofs of concept on a reservoir scale. Work is ongoing to prove this concept in a tertiary flood as well.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
customersupport@researchsolutions.com
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
Copyright © 2025 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.