Evolution of Chemical EOR (ASP) Program for a Carbonate Reservoir in North Kuwait

Abstract

Sabiriyah Mauddud (SAMA) is not only a giant reservoir in North Kuwait with largest footprint it is also the most complex being carbonate. Presently, this reservoir is under waterflood which has helped to improve reservoir pressure and production performance. Production strategy of 1 million BOPD from NK reservoirs has brought focus on accelerated oil production by drilling new wells, good reservoir management practices and targeting difficult reserves. Possibility of early implementation of EOR has been considered as an option for SAMA. EOR screening studies were followed by extensive laboratory coreflood studies and sector model simulation study. In Lab, carefully designed recipe of chemicals (Alkali-Surfactant-Polymer) successfully addressed the critical issues of conformance control and adverse mobility ratio observed in SAMA to provide high displacement efficiency. Sector model was carried out to evaluate the different EOR processes like, gas, polymer and Surfactant-Polymer (SP). Encouraging oil recovery results were observed in lab and in sector model study with Chemical EOR which paved the way forward for testing it in reservoir. Success achieved through bench experiments and simulation study was transferred to the field last year when Single Well Chemical Tracer Tests with water and ASP recipe were conducted in three SAMA wells with successive improvement either in test procedure or in chemical formulation of the ASP. The result of the last test with ASP paid for all the hard work that was done with Sor brought down to 6%. Encouraged by these results, a small 6-acre inverted 5-spot pilot for Sabiriyah Mauddud is planned for 2016-17 success of which is a significant step for field wide implementation of EOR program.

Historical and recent observations in polymer floods: An update review

“…Most of the activities of polymer injection in carbonates have been focused on the evaluations in laboratory and simulation studies (Han, Fuseni, Zahrani & Wang, 2014;Masalmeh, Wei, Blom & Jing, 2014;Raza, Shoaib, Al Sumaiti & Al Hassan, 2015). It is worth mentioning the recent Single Well Tracer Tests (SWTT) and pilot designs reported in carbonate fields in Abu Dhabi and Kuwait (Abdullah, Tiwari & Pathak, 2015; Bursaux, R., Peltier, S., Nguyen, M., Romero, C., & Morel, D., 2016;Levitt et al, 2016). However, both projects are evaluating surfactant technologies (SP or ASP).…”

Alkali and Hybrid-Alkali Flooding as a Tertiary Oil Recovery Mode: Prospects and Challenges

“…This led them to take this to the field and Single Well Tracer Test (SWTT) of ASP flooding was conducted and which established success of the technique. KOC planned to start an ASP pilot by 2017 in an inverted 5-spot pattern stretching across 6 acres (Abdullah et al, 2015). Comparisons between polymer, alkaline polymer, surfactant polymer and alkaline surfactant polymer flooding were performed on carbonated core plugs to find its potential for recovering residual oil.…”

Upscaling Polymer Flooding to Model Sub-gridblock Geological Heterogeneity and Compensate for Numerical Dispersion

“…Additional laboratory work has been performed and single well pilot trials have been implemented with great success (Al-Saad, 2013;Abdullah, 2015). Simulation models have been generated for pilot area performance forecasts (Veedu, 2015) and to see the long-term effect of full field implementation and its impact on Kuwait's strategic production plan.…”