Enhanced Oil Recovery in Malaysia: Making it a Reality

Abstract

A considerable amount of hydrocarbon resource is estimated to remain in the ground even after primary and secondary recoveries in the fields.As of 2003, the estimated oil-in-place from the forty-seven producing fields in Malaysia stand at about 20.1 BSTB, with a cumulative production of 4.9 BSTB and reserves of 2.5 BSTB[1]. This translates to an averaged recovery factor of only 36.8 percent for producing fields in Malaysia.For this reason, the remaining oil-in-place of 12.7 BSTB i.e. 63.2% of STOIIP will be the prime target for Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) projects.On top of the value that could be gained through EOR applications, most of the fields are already entering maturing stage for primary and/or secondary depletion with declining oil rates and increasing water-cut and GOR trend. This situation will further merit the application of EOR processes.However, to date, there has been no full-field application of EOR in Malaysia, with the exception of a pilot WAG project in Dulang field[2, 3] and MEOR stimulation project in Bokor field[4–6]. In 2000, a screening study on seventy-two (72) reservoirs in Malaysia has identified almost a billion barrels of additional reserves that can be achieved through EOR.Majority of these potentials resides in a few major reservoirs, which carries about 60% of the total EOR potential7.The screening study has also identified several key EOR technologies that are most applicable in Malaysia, namely gas injection, chemical injection, and microbial.Thermal processes were investigated but have been ruled out due to the operational, properties of reservoir fluid, safety and commercial limitation of the methods for Malaysian offshore applications.However, transforming those potentials into real projects may face some challenges and change of operating philosophy.Factors such as facilities condition, sources of injection gas, reservoir characterization, technology applicability, and commercial aspects will play an important role in planning for an EOR projects in Malaysia. This paper presents the possible opportunities that could be realized by EOR applications, and discusses issues and challenges including change of mindsets required in making EOR a reality in Malaysia. Overview of Malaysian Oil and Gas History The earliest officially recorded oil find in Malaysia was made in July 1882 by the British Resident of the Baram district in Sarawak. The oil was used by the local residents for medicinal purposes and later for lighting lamps and waterproofing boats. Commercial exploitation of petroleum only began in 1910 when the Anglo-Saxon Petroleum Company, the forerunner of the present Sarawak Shell, which was granted the sole right to explore for petroleum in Sarawak, struck oil in the town of Miri, marking the start of the Malaysian petroleum industry. The Miri success encouraged further attempts to discover other onshore fields. However, only traces of petroleum were found, and these were not large enough to justify drilling activities. Consequently, by the 1950s, attention turned to the seas. This was made possible by new improvements in offshore petroleum technology. Marine seismic surveys were carried out for the first time in Sarawak in 1954. The shift offshore began to show results in 1962 with the discovery of oil in two areas offshore Sarawak. Other finds followed in rapid succession. In Peninsular Malaysia, petroleum exploration activities began in 1968 and the first oil field was discovered in 1971. As in many other developing countries, oil companies in Malaysia had been operating under what was known as a concession system. After the 1973 oil embargo, oil-producing countries of the world realize the importance of controlling their own petroleum resources.In Malaysia, it led to the promulgation of the Petroleum Development Act (PDA) in 1974 and the formation of a national oil company, PETRONAS, to ensure that the nation's petroleum resources could be developed in line with the needs and aspirations of the nation. PETRONAS, short for Petroliam Nasional Bhd, is wholly-owned by the Government, the corporation is vested with the entire oil and gas resources in Malaysia and is entrusted with the responsibility of developing and adding value to these resources.

Enhanced Oil Recovery: An Update Review

“…The main drainage strategy in offshore fields has been pressure maintenance by gas and water injection. Figure 7 shows the statistics of oil recovery projects in the North Sea [262][263][264][265] as well as EOR opportunities in offshore Malaysia [266][267][268][269][270]. [262]) and, (b) EOR Opportunities Offshore Malaysia (From Samsudin et al, [268]).…”

Exploring Malaysia’s Transformation to Net Oil Importer and Oil Import Dependence

“…Even though this technology has been introduced in Malaysia in 2000, there has not been any full-field application of EOR [23]. Only later in 2005, Petronas made a commitment for a full implementation of EOR in one of its oil fields, Dulang.…”

“…The average recovery rate of Malaysia's oil reservoirs is 36.8%, while the remaining oil-in-place (63.2%) is unrecoverable or cannot be produced [23]. This scenario assumed that EOR implementation will increase the recoverability of all oil reservoirs to 100% of their potential, thus oil production will increase accordingly.…”

Exploring the Potential Application of Palm Methyl Ester Sulfonate as an Interfacial Tension Reducing Surfactant for Chemical Enhanced Oil Recovery

“…In the EOR method, various techniques are employed for the oil recovery. One of the most promising methods for incremental oil recovery is known as alkaline-surfactant-polymer (ASP) injection method [3][4][5]. For practical oilfield application, mixture of these materials is injected into the reservoir to increase the effectiveness of crude oil recovery by improving mobility ratio and increasing capillary number [6].…”