First Ever Polymer Flood Field Pilot to Enhance the Recovery of Heavy Oils on Alaska's North Slope—Polymer Injection Performance

Ning, Samson; Barnes, John; Edwards, Reid; Dunford, Kyler; Eastham, Kevin R.; Dandekar, Abhijit; Zhang, Y.; Cercone, David; Ciferno, Jared

doi:10.15530/urtec-2019-643

Cited by 32 publications

(8 citation statements)

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“…The very first hybrid low-salinity water polymer-flood pilot test was reported by Dandekar et al, and Ning et al, which began in August 2018 on the Alaska North Shore (ANS) at the Milne Point reservoir, possessing large volumes of heavy-oil reserves [ 30 , 223 , 224 , 225 ]. The Milne Point heavy-oil reservoir is of a thin layer and covered with dense permafrost deposit.…”

Section: Numerical Studies and Field Applicationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Consequently, the outcome of the almost 2-years of the pilot project in the Milne Point field as on May 2020, showed remarkable outcomes of the proposed hybrid enhanced-oil-recovery (EOR) process, i.e., water-cut reduction was decreased from 70% to less than 15% with oil rate increase and no polymer breakthroughs were observed, mainly attributed to the enhanced sweep efficiency by polymers and the Sor reduction induced by low-salinity in the unswept zones. The flood design had two horizontal injection wells and horizontal producer wells each, further details of which are available in the literature published by Dandekar et al [ 229 , 230 ] and Ning et al [ 223 ]. It was observed from the pilot test that the decreasing trend in oil rate, which is anticipated during waterflood, was reversed and began to increase owing to the polymer injection.…”

Section: Numerical Studies and Field Applicationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Updated Perceptions on Polymer-Based Enhanced Oil Recovery toward High-Temperature High-Salinity Tolerance for Successful Field Applications in Carbonate Reservoirs

2022

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The aging of the existing reservoirs makes the hydrocarbon extraction shift toward newer reserves, and harsh conditioned carbonates, which possess high temperature and high salinity (HTHS). Conventional polymer-flooding fails in these HTHS carbonates, due to precipitation, viscosity loss, and polymer adsorption. Therefore, to counteract these challenges, novel polymer-based cEOR alternatives employ optimized polymers, polymer–surfactant, and alkali–surfactant–polymer solutions along with hybrid methods, which have shown a potential to target the residual or remaining oils in carbonates. Consequently, we investigate novel polymers, viz., ATBS, Scleroglucan, NVP-based polymers, and hydrophobic associative polymers, along with bio-polymers. These selected polymers have shown low shear sensitivity, low adsorption, and robust thermal/salinity tolerance. Additionally, adding an alkali-surfactant to polymer solution produces a synergy effect of improved mobility control, wettability alteration, and interfacial-tension reduction. Thus, enhancing the displacement and sweep efficiencies. Moreover, low-salinity water can precondition high-salinity reservoirs before polymer flooding (hybrid method), to decrease polymer adsorption and viscosity loss. Thus, this paper is a reference for novel polymers, and their hybrid techniques, to improve polymer-based cEOR field applications under HTHS conditions in carbonates. Additionally, the recommendations can assist in project designs with reasonable costs and minimal environmental impact. The implication of this work will aid in supplementing the oil and gas energy sector growth, making a positive contribution to the Middle Eastern economy.

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Section: Numerical Studies and Field Applicationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Numerical Studies and Field Applicationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Updated Perceptions on Polymer-Based Enhanced Oil Recovery toward High-Temperature High-Salinity Tolerance for Successful Field Applications in Carbonate Reservoirs

2022

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“…Oil viscosity at reservoir conditions is about 300 cp. Formation thickness is 15-30 ft. A number of publications describe details of this project [48][49][50][51][52][53][54][55][56][57][58]. The pilot is at the J-pad of the Milne Point Unit and consists of two horizontal injectors (J-23A and J-24A) and producers (J-27, J-28) drilled into the Schrader Bluff NB-sand.…”

Section: Geofluidsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pressure Modification or Barrier Issues during Polymer Flooding Enhanced Oil Recovery

2022

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Effective oil displacement from a reservoir requires adequate and properly directed pressure gradients in areas of high oil saturation. If the polymer bank is too large or too viscous during a polymer flood, the pressure drops from the injection well to the polymer front may act as a pressure modification or barrier by usurping most of the downstream driving force for oil displacement. Polymer injection pressures must be limited. The maximum allowable injection pressure is commonly constrained by caprock integrity, injection equipment, and/or regulations, even though fractures can be beneficial to polymer injectivity. This paper examines when the pressure-barrier concept limits the size and viscosity of the polymer bank during a polymer flood. Analytical and numerical methods are used to address this issue. We examine the relevance of the pressure modification concept for a wide variety of circumstances, including oil viscosities ranging from 10 cp to 1650 cp, vertical wells versus horizontal wells, single versus multiple layered reservoirs, permeability contrast, and crossflow between layers. We also examine the relation between the pressure-barrier concept and fractures and fracture extension during polymer injection. We demonstrate that in reservoirs with single layers, the pressure-barrier concept only limits the optimum viscosity of the injected polymer if the mobility of the polymer bank is less than the mobility of the displaced oil bank. The same is true for multizoned reservoirs with no crossflow between layers. Thus, for these cases, the optimum polymer viscosity is likely to be dictated by the mobility of the oil bank, unless other factors intervene. For multizoned reservoirs with free crossflow between layers, the situation is different. A compromise must be reached between injected polymer viscosity and the efficiency of oil recovery. This work is particularly relevant to viscous oil reservoirs where polymer viscosities are substantially lower than the oil viscosity.

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“…Recent advances in CO 2 EOR were reviewed in [ 12 ]. Despite the progress that was made in applying polymer flooding to very viscous oils in the Pelican Lake in Canada [ 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 ] and the Alaska North Slope in the USA [ 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 ], the selection of polymer viscosity and slug size to recover very viscous oils [ 25 , 26 , 27 , 28 , 29 ] remains quite different from that in China because of the not well-understood mechanisms under an unfavorable mobility ratio. Polymers have been regarded as not having an effect on residual oil saturation (ROS) reduction [ 5 , 30 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Recent Advances in Polymer Flooding in China

et al. 2022

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Polymer flooding is drawing lots of attention because of the technical maturity in some reservoirs. The first commercial polymer flooding in China was performed in the Daqing oilfield and is one of the largest applications in the world. Some laboratory tests from Daqing researchers in China showed that the viscoelasticity of high molecular weight polymers plays a significant role in increasing displacement efficiency. Hence, encouraged by the conventional field applications and new findings on the viscoelasticity effect of polymers on residual oil saturation (ROS), some high-concentration high-molecular-weight (HCHMW) polymer-flooding field tests have been conducted. Although some field tests were well-documented, subsequent progress was seldom reported. It was recently reported that HCHMW has a limited application in Daqing, which does not agree with observations from laboratory core flooding and early field tests. However, the cause of this discrepancy is unclear. Thus, a systematic summary of polymer-flooding mechanisms and field tests in China is necessary. This paper explained why HCHMW is not widely used when considering new understandings of polymer-flooding mechanisms. Different opinions on the viscoelasticity effect of polymers on ROS reduction were critically reviewed. Other mechanisms of polymer flooding, such as wettability change and gravity stability effect, were discussed with regard to widely reported laboratory tests, which were explained in terms of the viscoelasticity effects of polymers on ROS. Recent findings from Chinese field tests were also summarized. Salt-resistance polymers (SRPs) with good economic performance using produced water to prepare polymer solutions were very economically and environmentally promising. Notable progress in SRP flooding and new amphiphilic polymer field tests in China were summarized, and lessons learned were given. Formation blockage, represented by high injection pressure and produced productivity ability, was reported in several oil fields due to misunderstanding of polymers' injectivity. Although the influence of viscoelastic polymers on reservoir conditions is unknown, the injection of very viscous polymers to displace medium-to-high viscosity oils is not recommended. This is especially important for old wells that could cause damage. This paper clarified misleading notions on polymer-flooding implementations based on theory and practices in China.

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First Ever Polymer Flood Field Pilot to Enhance the Recovery of Heavy Oils on Alaska's North Slope—Polymer Injection Performance

Cited by 32 publications

References 0 publications

Updated Perceptions on Polymer-Based Enhanced Oil Recovery toward High-Temperature High-Salinity Tolerance for Successful Field Applications in Carbonate Reservoirs

Updated Perceptions on Polymer-Based Enhanced Oil Recovery toward High-Temperature High-Salinity Tolerance for Successful Field Applications in Carbonate Reservoirs

Pressure Modification or Barrier Issues during Polymer Flooding Enhanced Oil Recovery

Recent Advances in Polymer Flooding in China

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