Title: Modified seawater EOR fluid for carbonate reservoirs

Authors: Khaled Z. Abdelgawad; Mohamed Ahmed Nasr El-Din Mahmoud

Addresses: Department of Petroleum Engineering, King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, Dhahran 31261, Saudi Arabia ' Department of Petroleum Engineering, King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, Dhahran 31261, Saudi Arabia; Department of Petroleum Engineering, Suez University, Suez, Egypt

Abstract: Low salinity of water flooding was studied as EOR fluid for carbonate and sandstone utilising its ability to interact with the rock surface. In this study, we introduced a chemical that can be applied in carbonate reservoirs to increase the oil recovery as alternative to low salinity or seawater flooding. A new method was employed the ability of a chelating agent to sequester metal ions in solution and prevent any solid precipitates in the reservoir. Seawater was used without desulphonation without any tendency to interact with the formation brine. The effluent samples from coreflooding were analysed to determine the dissolution caused by the chelating agents and its impact on the oil recovery. The increased recovery during coreflooding is attributed to dissolution of carbonate rock surface, liberation of oil, and IFT reduction due to the high pH injected fluid (pH > 11). Other mechanisms contribution was proved as well. [Received: August 24, 2015; Accepted: March 19, 2016]

Keywords: EOR; chemical EOR; oil recovery; waterflooding; chelating agents; low salinity; high salinity; calcium sulphate precipitation; formation damage; carbonate reservoirs; reservoir enhancement.

DOI: 10.1504/IJOGCT.2017.084832

International Journal of Oil, Gas and Coal Technology, 2017 Vol.15 No.4, pp.347 - 362

Received: 30 Sep 2015
Accepted: 19 Mar 2016
Published online: 30 Jun 2017 *

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