OIL RECOVERY

Primary recovery, using only the natural

energy of reservoirs, typically recovers up to
50% of OOIP (average 19%).
Secondary recovery involves adding energy
to the natural system by injecting water to
maintain pressure and displace oil (also known
as waterflood). Typical recoveries are 25-45%
OIP after primary recovery (average 32%).
Tertiary recovery includes all other methods
used to increase the amount of oil recovered.
Typical recoveries are 5-20% of OIP after
primary and secondary recovery (average
13%).
Secondary and tertiary recovery are together
referred to as enhanced oil recovery (EOR).
19% + 26% =(100-19) x 32% + 7% =(100-45)x13% = 52%
TOTAL
TERTIARY
SECONDARY
PRIMARY

} EOR

PRIMARY AND SECONDARY RECOVERY

After primary and secondary recovery
(waterflood) oil remains in the reservoir as:
uncontacted (unswept) oil
partially removed oil
residual oil

(So = 1 - Swi)
(1 - Swi < So > Soi)
(So = Soi)

Uncontacted oil remains because the

volumetric sweep efficiency, including both
areal and vertical sweep efficiency, is never
100%.
Sweep efficiency depends on geology
(permeability anisotropy and inhomogeneity)
and mobility ratio (density and viscosity).
Viscous fingering can seriously reduce sweep
efficiency.
Vertical sweep efficiency is strongly influenced
by geology (reservoir stratification).

IMMISCIBLE DISPLACEMENT
Most oil and gas production (primary and
secondary recovery) relies on the process of
immiscible displacement of fluids in the
reservoir.
Primary recovery uses the natural energy of
the reservoir to displace oil and/or gas. The
mechanisms include:
- gas cap drive (expansion of the gas phase)
- solution gas drive (exsolution of solution gas)
- bottom water drive (aquifer displacement)
Secondary recovery (waterflooding) uses
injected water to displace hydrocarbons.
We will discuss waterflooding as an example
of the immiscible displacement process where
one fluid displaces another in the reservoir.

WATERFLOODING
In a waterflood, water is injected in a well or
pattern of wells to displace oil towards a
producer.
Initially, oil alone is produced as the part of the
reservoir at the irreducible water saturation is
swept.
When the leading edge of the capillary
transition zone reaches the producer
breakthrough occurs (the first appearance of
water in the produced fluids).
After breakthrough, both oil and water are
produced and the watercut increases
progressively.
Eventually the trailing edge of the capillary
zone reaches the producer and only water is
produced.

DISPLACEMENT PROCESS

WELL PATTERNS
Regular patterns of wells are used to sweep
the entire area of a reservoir with a waterflood.
INVERTED NINE SPOT

FOUR SPOT

DIRECT LINE DRIVE

SEVEN SPOT

INVERTED SEVEN SPOT

FIVE SPOT

STAGGERED LINE DRIVE

NINE SPOT

VISCOUS FINGERING
The mechanics of displacing one fluid with
another are relatively simple if the displaced
fluid (oil) has a tendency to flow faster than
the displacing fluid (water).
Under these circumstances, there is no
tendency for the displaced fluid to be
overtaken by the displacing fluid and the fluidfluid (oil-water) interface is stable.
If the displacing fluid has a tendency to move
faster than the displaced fluid, the fluid-fluid
interface is unstable. Tongues of displacing
fluid propagate at the interface. This process is
called viscous fingering.

MOBILITY

MOBILITY
The mechanics of displacement of one fluid
with another are controlled by differences in
the ratio of effective permeability and viscosity
(k / ).
The specific discharge (flow per unit cross
sectional area) for each fluid phase depends
on k / . This is called the fluid mobility ():
w
w = kw /
o = ko /
o
Mobility controls the relative ease with which
fluids can flow through a porous medium.
Because the relative permeabilities to oil, kro,
and water, krw, depend on the fluid saturations
(So = 1 - Sw and Sw = 1 - So), mobility also is a
strong function of saturation.

MOBILITY RATIO
The mobility ratio is expressed as:
M = w / o
In ideal displacement, there is a sharp
transition from residual oil saturation (Soi) to
maximum oil saturation (1 - Swi) at the oil-water
interface.
Ahead of the interface, oil alone is flowing at
the end-point mobility o = ko/o. Behind the
interface, water alone is flowing at the endpoint mobility w = kw/w.
Ideal displacement is the most favourable condition
for production but only occurs if the end-point
mobility ratio is less than or equal to unity.

M = w / o

IDEAL DISPLACEMENT
If the mobility ratio is less than or equal to one,
oil can flow at a rate greater than or equal to
that of water and is pushed ahead by the water
bank in a piston-like fashion.
The moveable oil volume (MOV) is given by:
MOV = (1 - Soi - Swi).PV
where PV is the pore volume. For a waterflood,
the volume of oil recovered is exactly equal to
the volume of water injected.

1 - Soi

Swi

NON-IDEAL DISPLACEMENT (1)

Under most circumstances, water is found to be
more mobile than oil. As a result, tongues of water
bypass the oil leading to much less favourable
saturation profiles.
Some distance ahead of the water front, oil alone
flows at the end-point mobility o = ko/o.
At some point nearer the water front there is a sharp
change in water saturation called the shock front.
Behind the shock front there is a transition zone
where both water and oil flow.
At the end of the transition zone, water alone is
flowing at the end-point mobility w = kw/w.
When the shock front reaches the production well
there is a sharp increase in watercut. This event is
called breakthrough.

NON-IDEAL DISPLACEMENT (2)

In contrast to the ideal displacement case, at
breakthrough, only a fraction of the MOV has
been recovered.
Addition water injection is required to recover
the moveable oil. Several (5 or 6) MOVs of
water may be needed to displace a single
MOV of oil.
1 - Soi

Swi
The diagram shows two saturation profiles with
the shock front to the right. At breakthrough,
the shaded area represents moveable oil that
remains between the injector and producer.

AREAL SWEEP EFFICIENCY

When oil is produced from patterns of injectors
and producers , the flow is such that only part
of the area is swept at breakthrough.
The expansion of the waterbank is initially
radial from the injector but eventually is
focused at the producer.

The pattern is illustrated for a direct line drive

at a mobility ratio of unity. At breakthrough a
considerable area of the reservoir is unswept.

MOBILITY RATIO AND SWEEP EFFICIENCY

Mobility ratio has a strong influence on areal
sweep efficiency at breakthrough. For five-spot
patterns, areal sweep efficiency (ASE) at
breakthrough is over 95% for mobility ratios
less than 0.2. At M = 1.0, ASE = 67% and at M
=10, ASE = 50%.

Low M

High M

ENHANCED OIL RECOVERY

The objective of EOR is to economically
increase displacement efficiency. The key
factor is the mobility ratio, M:
M = w / o = [ krw(Sw) / w ] / [ kro(So) / o ]
Mobility ratio is a function of viscosity and
relative permeability, which in turn depends on
saturation.
EOR involves mobility control of various kinds
that can:
change oil and water viscosities
change interfacial tensions
change oil and water saturations
There are four principal groups of EOR
technologies available:
thermal EOR
miscible EOR
chemical EOR
microbial EOR

THERMAL EOR
The principle of thermal EOR is that heat
increases the mobility of oil by reducing the
viscosity.
M = w /

o = [ krw(Sw) / w ] / [ kro(So) / o ]

Oil mobility is increased relative to that of water

and the mobility ratio is reduced allowing more
favourable displacement.
Four thermal recovery methods have been
investigated:
cyclic steam injection
steamflood
fireflood
microwave heating
Thermal methods are generally used in heavy
oils rich in high molecular weight aromatics
and asphaltenes. The principal difficulty in
extracting such oils is the very high viscosity.

CYCLIC STEAM INJECTION

Cyclic steam injection or huff and puff or
steam soak involves alternating injection of
high quality steam and production of oil and
condensed steam from the same well.
Well are injected with slugs of steam at very
high rates (millions of kilograms) for a short
period of time (typically 10 days).
The wells are then allowed to "soak" for a
further period of days (5 to 10) and then oil is
produced for 100 to 200 days (until the
production rate is unacceptable).
The process is then repeated. When the
watercut becomes too high or the reservoir
pressure too low for another production cycle,
pools are often converted to a full steamflood.
Cyclic steam injection is the most successful
recovery method to date for Canadian heavy
oil reserves.

STEAMFLOOD
Steamflooding, also known as steam drive, involves
continuous injection of steam to create a steam bank in the
reservoir.
A pattern of injectors and producers are used in the same way
as a conventional waterflood.
Steamflood uses much more steam than cyclic injection and
the heat balance or energy balance is critical. If crude oil is
3
burned to generate the steam, in theory 1 m of crude oil
3
generates 12 m of steam. In practice, the thermal efficiency is
closer to 3:1.
Steam costs are very high and can amount to up to 50% of the
value of the produced oil.
Steamflooding has three actions that improve the mobility ratio
in the reservoir:
heat reduces oil viscosity
thermal expansion of oil helps to free it from the
reservoir matrix.
light hydrocarbon fractions are vaporized at the heat
front and move ahead of the steam bank acting as a
"natural miscible flood".
The longest running and most successful steamflood was
conducted in the Peace River oil sands in northern Alberta.

FIREFLOOD
Fireflooding or in-situ combustion provides thermal energy to
reduce viscosity by burning crude oil in the reservoir. The
method requires a relatively high permeability reservoir.
A heater or igniter is lowered down the well to initiate the
fireflood. Oxygen or air is injected continuously to maintain
combustion and move the front forward. Water may also be
injected to provide additional steam (wet combustion).
Fireflooding has three actions in the reservoir:
heat reduces oil viscosity
steam is generated in-situ to provide a component of
steam drive
combustion gases and injected gases provide a
component of gas drive.
In forward fireflood, oil burns, water is turned to steam in the
combustion zone. The lighter hydrocarbon fraction is vaporized
and coke is left in the reservoir after combustion.
If the reservoir is thin, unconsolidated and pressure is low,
conventional waterflooding is ineffective and produces high
sandcuts. Steamflooding is also ineffective in thin reservoirs
because of high heat losses. In these circumstances, fireflood
tends to be a last resort EOR method for heavy, viscous
crudes.

REVERSE COMBUSTION
Reverse combustion is a good idea that has yet to prove itself.
Instead of igniting the oil in the injector, the producer is ignited
and the combustion front moves out radially towards the
oxygen supply (the injector). The displaced fluids move
towards the producer through hot sand so the oil is effectively
upgraded in situ.
If reverse combustion could be developed successfully it could
revolutionize the production of heavy, viscous crude oils in
western Canada.
One major problem is spontaneous ignition of the oil near the
injector. This cuts off oxygen to the combustion front and the
system reverts to forward combustion.

MICROWAVE HEATING
Another novel idea is the use of microwaves as a source of
heat. EM waves are generated with downhole equipment to
heat the oil and reduce viscosity.
The technique is experimental and penetration distances are
currently too short for effective economic production.

MISCIBLE EOR
Miscible flooding works on the principle that some fluids are
miscible with crude oil (methane, ethane, CO2 etc) and can be
used to displace oil with no capillary resistance.
First contact miscible means that the injected fluids mix with
reservoir fluids in all proportions as a single fluid phase. CO2 is
not strictly miscible. It has a vapour pressure very close to the
wet gases and is soluble in oil at high pressures. CO2 takes
time to mix (dynamically miscible).
When oil is mixed with a miscible fluid, there are no interfacial
tensions or capillary forces and no interface exists.
The effect of adding a miscible fluid to the reservoir is to "swell"
the oil and increase So and hence kro.
An additional benefit of miscible hydrocarbon gases and CO2 is
that they dissolve in oil to lower its viscosity, o.
M = w /

o = [ krw(Sw) / w ] / [ kro(So) / o ]

These two factors combine in miscible flooding to improve the

mobility ratio by increasing the mobility of the oil phase.
To date, miscible flooding is the only economically proven
tertiary recovery method applied to "normal oils" in Canada.

HYDROCARBON SOLVENT FLOODS

Several hydrocarbon fluids are used in miscible floods:
lean gas injection or vaporizing gas drive - C2 to C6
injected relatively high pressure. The light gas strips
intermediate molecular weight hydrocarbons and forms
a miscible back.
Enriched gas injection or condensing gas drive - the
injected gas condenses intermediates to form the
miscible back.
LPG slug (propane and butane) injection miscible slug
driven by either gas and/or water.
Miscible hydrocarbon flooding is not without problems:
Miscible banks are unstable. Solvents are less dense
and less viscous than oil and are subject to channeling
and upward migration due to gravity effects (work well in
pinnacle reefs).
Solvent banks tend to breakdown and become less
effective due to inhomogeneity in the reservoir.
Golden Spike is an example of a successful miscible flood. The
brief history of the pool is:
1949 - discovery, no gas cap, no bottom water.
1953 - gas injection for pressure maintenance created
secondary gas cap
1964 - injected 7% HCPV LPG slug + gas and water
1972 - asymmetric GOC up to 40 m difference across pool
1973 - detailed geology shows low perm zones break up the
LPG slug
3
3
4.8 million m solvent recovered 1.6 million m oil 67% OOIP

CYCLIC CARBON DIOXIDE INJECTION

This miscible technique is analogous to cyclic steam injection.
The "soak" period is advantageous because CO2 is not first
contact miscible with oil (at normal reservoir pressures) and it
takes time for the gas to swell the oil and reduce viscosity:
The well is injected with CO2 for a period of 20 to 100
hours.
A soak period of 5 to 20 days is allowed for the CO2 to
act.
A production period of several weeks from the same
well follows when evolution of CO2 may provide
additional solution gas drive energy.
There are some disadvantages:

Cyclic

carbon dioxide stimulation performance drops of

rapidly with number of cycles.

If

natural sources of CO2 are not available, it is

expensive to generate.

CO2

is corrosive which adds capital costs to recovery

operations.

It

is necessary to separate produced CO2 from

hydrocarbon gases.

Typically 900 to 2200 m3 of CO2 are required to produce 1 m3

of additional oil. This added cost can be a very significant
fraction of the value of the oil (up to 70%).

CARBON DIOXIDE FLOODING

In CO2 flooding a conventional pattern of
injectors and producers is used.
Very large volumes of CO2 are required
(injection volumes are 15% HCPV or greater).
The most efficient use of CO2 is achieved
when it is injected in alternation with water.
CO2 injected alone is very mobile and tends to
bypass the oil rather than dissolving in it.
This problem arises especially at lower
pressures when the dynamic miscibility
characteristics require the greatest amount of
contact time for solution. At low pressures,
miscibility is lost completely. There is,
therefore, a minimum pressure requirement for
miscible CO2 flooding.
The CO2 strips light molecules from oil and
forms a miscible bank composed of CO2 and
enriched light gas.

NITROGEN FLOODING
In certain circumstances, nitrogen can be a
substitute for carbon dioxide in miscible floods.
The N2 is miscible with oil at high pressure and
dissolves to swell the oil and reduce viscosity.
The method is used in deep reservoirs since
the miscibility pressure for nitrogen is in
excess of 3500 kPa.
Light oils with low Bo and low methane are the
best candidates to accept nitrogen. The N2
vaporizes light hydrocarbons and forms an
enriched miscible bank as the interfacial
tension is reduced to zero.
Water is commonly used as a chase fluid to
mitigate problems with high gas mobility.
Nitrogen is relatively cheap, non-corrosive and
can be readily extracted from the atmosphere.

CHEMICAL EOR
Chemical EOR involves a variety of techniques
used to mainly to modify the mobility of the
aqueous phase during displacement.
In polymer flooding, the objective is to reduce
the mobility of the aqueous displacing phase
by increasing the viscosity:
M=

w / o = [ krw(Sw) / w ] / [ kro(So) / o ]

The overall result is a reduced, and hence

more favourable, mobility ratio.
Surfactants have a different effect. In
surfactant or micellar floods these molecules
"scrub" residual oil from pores by reducing
interfacial tensions and creating emulsions or
dispersions of hydrocarbon in the aqueous
phase. The action is to release oil by reducing,
Soi, and hence increase the moveable oil
volume (MOV).

POLYMER FLOODING
In polymer flooding, the water is "thickened" by the addition of
water soluble polymers.
Some of the polymers that have been tried are:
PAC - synthetic polyacrylates (limited use).
PAM - synthetic polyacrylamides (popular).
Celluloses - starches from wastes (susceptible to attack
by enzymes).
XG - Xanthan Gum - a natural carbohydrate (popular).
The polymer flood process is:
Injection of polymer slug
Injection of freshwater "pad" to protect the slug from
brine / formation water
Injection of brine / formation water chase fluid
The technique is most suitable for high permeability sandstone
reservoirs (since polymer flooding reduces water mobility)
where high watercuts have developed in the late stages of
secondary waterflooding. In such fields, disposal of produced
brines can present an insurmountable economic and
environmental problem.
Polymer flooding is being adopted at an earlier stage in
waterfloods because of its capability to control breakthrough
and increase areal sweep efficiency.

MICELLAR FLOODING
Natural surfactants in reservoirs create emulsions or oil-inwater dispersions with viscosities similar to the aqueous phase
used to displace oil.
These "solubilizers" of hydrocarbon are polar surfactant
molecules (like detergents) called micelles. One end of the
molecule is hydrophilic and attracts water, the other end is
hydrophobic and attracts hydrocarbons. The overall effect is to
drag residual oil into an emulsion or dispersion with the
aqueous fluid.
Surfactants can also modify the balance of adhesive and
cohesive forces in reservoirs and hence change the wettability
from water wet to oil wet or vice versa.
Both alkaline flooding and microbial recovery methods involve
the creation of in-situ surfactants.
A micellar slug injected into a reservoir after waterflooding acts
as an underground detergent or "scrubber" mobilizing residual
oil by reducing the residual oil saturation. In effect, the
moveable oil volume (MOV) is increased.
Micellar slugs are usually chased by polymer floods to control
mobility and reduce the tendency for channelling of water
because of adverse mobility ratios. The main saving is a
reduction in the volume of water that must be produced with
the oil emulsion or dispersion.

ALKALINE FLOODING
Alkaline or caustic flooding involves injection
of NaOH or KOH into the reservoir. These
chemicals react with organic acids in-situ to
produce soap-like surfactants. This process is
not well understood in any quantitative way.
The technique has yet to establish itself and
only a limited number of field trials have been
undertaken with limited success. Because
NaOH and KOH are cheap and readily
available, caustic flooding is the least
expensive EOR process.
Some recent successes suggest that the
method may have considerable potential
because of its significant cost advantage.
In common with micellar floods, alkaline floods
are chased with a polymer pad for mobility
control. For this reason only highly permeable
reservoirs are candidates for the technique.

MICROBIAL EOR
Microbial methods are new and experimental areas
of research.
The principle is that micro-organisms together with a
source of nutrients are injected into reservoirs where
they produce H2, CO2 and surfactants that help to
mobilize oil.
Micro-organisms under consideration for use in
microbial EOR include: fungi, algae, protozoa,
viruses, aerobic and anaerobic bacteria.
A variety of natural populations of microbes exist in
oil reservoirs where some use the oil as a substrate
(eat oil). Among other things, micro-organisms are
responsible for:
bacterial formation plugging
H2S generation (bacterial souring)
CO2 generation
Bacterial plugging can be used to advantage to
force displacing fluids through unswept areas.

CYCLIC MICROBIAL RECOVERY

Cyclic microbial recovery is an experimental
single-well technique similar to cyclic steam
and cyclic CO2 simulation.
There is a short (hours) injection period when
micro-organisms and nutrients (molasses,
oxygen, etc.) are injected.
Next the wells are shut-in for an incubation
periods when CO2 and surfactants are
produced as metabolic products. This period
may be days or weeks.
Finally, the production phase begins and
extents over a period of weeks or months.
When production declines, another phase of
injection is started.
Temperature seems to be an important factor
in microbial recovery and the choice of microorganism is critical. Organisms may prove to
be specific to each individual reservoir.

MICROBIAL FLOODING
In microbial flooding a conventional pattern of
injectors and producers is employed.
A preflush by water normally precedes the
microbial flood, which is primarily aimed at
recovering residual oil.
The bank of micro-organisms and nutrients are
followed by water as a chase fluid to sweep
through the reservoir.
Again the action expected of the microbes is to
oxidize the oil to fatty acids (surfactants) and
to generate miscible gases that contact the
residual oil to release it. The produced CO2
and biomass act to displace the oil.
A major obstacle to microbial methods is the
availability of micro-organisms that are viable
under extreme conditions of pH, pressure and
temperature.