Enhanced Oil Recovery in the Midcontinent

There is a resurgence of interest within the Midcontinent about “enhanced/improved” oil recovery (IOR). There are certainly a lot of mature oil reservoirs where primary (and even secondary) recovery has left a large oil target. It is not exploration—the oil is known to be there. Through experience industry has learned that the reservoirs will be even more heterogeneous than originally thought, and it may be difficult to identify “Where is the oil today?” Still, the known target is large and the economic incentive is strong to go get it.

In Oklahoma there are several projects underway. Cano Petroleum is now injecting in their ASP (alkaline-surfactant-polymer) project in the Nowata Field in northeast Oklahoma. Not too far away, Deep Wave (www.onthewavefront.com) is applying their Powerwave process in Rogers County. Most Midcontinent operators are aware of Grand Directions, LLC and its work, which continues beyond work in DOE-supported projects, with “low cost” horizontals (SPE 99668, 2006). There are also known plans to get some CO₂ into northeast Oklahoma. The message being—there is IOR action in the Midcontinent.

There are also IOR Pioneers (an honor bestowed by the SPE IOR Symposium) in the Midcontinent. Dwight Dauben, Dauben International, Inc., is one of five individuals who will receive that honor at SPE IOR 2008 (Tulsa, April 19-23). He joins previous winners from the Midcontinent, including KU’s Don Green and Paul Willhite, in receiving that award. Bob Barnett, an ardent TORP and PTTC supporter now living in the Tulsa area, also shares that honor. Also at the luncheon, an award sponsored by Oil Chem Technologies will be given to an individual for “outstanding contribution to chemical EOR.” Awardees, and maybe up to a 1,000 others, will be attending IOR 2008 to catch up on the latest IOR trends.

The 18-session technical program features 108 papers, plus about a dozen alternates and posters. Plans also call for two additional, special sessions: one on massive IOR efforts in China’s Daqing oil field—said to be the “world’s largest field experiment in IOR/EOR"—and the other entitled “Best of Cairo,” a selection of top papers from the 2007 European Symposium on Improved Oil Recovery held in Cairo, Egypt. In addition, an extensive roster of short courses in IOR/EOR is offered the weekend preceding the Symposium. One can register online at www.speior.org.

RPSEA “Small Producer” Research Effort—Several Midcontinent Projects

Four of the recent RPSEA (Research Partnership to Secure Energy for America) “Small Producer” awards involve work in the Midcontinent. Research will explore a variety of technologies with varying degrees of maturity. The technologies being tested will be applicable in many areas beyond the Midcontinent. 

RPSEA Project - Near Miscible CO₂ Flooding

KU’s Tertiary Oil Recovery Project (TORP) and partner Carmen Schmitt, Inc.’s project will focus on laboratory and modeling work on near miscible CO₂ flooding. There are many reservoirs in Kansas (and elsewhere) that are too shallow for CO₂ flooding operations to be truly miscible at allowable pressures. Although not as efficient as truly miscible operations, significant oil recovery has been observed in slim-tube experiments and to a lesser extent with injection at lower near miscible pressures. Experimental work will systematically characterize the near miscible condition and study recovery of waterflood residual oil using CO₂ displacement at near miscible pressures. It will also identify key parameters in phase behavior and flow tests for simulation modeling. In the computational study, the work will develop a representative model to simulate near miscible displacement physics, plus assess the potential of recovery processes at near miscible pressures. Successful completion will lead to future field demonstration pilots by Carmen Schmitt, Inc. in the Arbuckle formation.

RPSEA Project - Radial-Jetted Laterals & High-Volume Progressing Cavity Pumps

In the Hillsboro Field in central Kansas, the Kansas Geological Survey and the American Energies Corporation will evaluate the use of radial-jetted laterals, in conjunction with a high-volume progressing cavity pump, to increase the drainage area and enhance oil production from a Viola producer. Increased volumes of produced water will be disposed of in a deepened Arbuckle injection well whose injectivity will be enhanced by targeted jetted laterals. Successful demonstration of this production-injection pair will be followed by applying the approach in multiple producing wells in the nearby Durham Center Field.

Seismic stimulation to enhance oil production will be field tested in

Gel treatments at injection wells to preferentially plug off water thief zones are a proven cost-effective method to improve sweep efficiency. A newer trend in gel treatments uses preformed particle gels (PPG) to overcome distinct drawbacks inherent with in situ gelant systems. Researchers at the University of Missouri, Rolla will study gel particle transport through fractures and fracture-like channels. Following three lab-oriented tasks, university researchers will work with ChemEOR, a chemical product provider, to procure and synthesize new commercial PPG chemistries. Interactive consultation from BJ Services, which ultimately anticipates providing PPG services to producers, will provide expert guidance so that field data analysis and lab work will generate information essential for faster deployment of PPG technology.

Workshop Topics
To Look Forward To
(check calendar on
www.pttc.org for latest information)

• 4/1 Gel Polymer Water Shut-Off Treatments in Kansas - Wichita, KS.

• 5/6 CO2 Applications for Enhanced Oil Recovery and Sequestration - Wichita, KS.

• 9/TBD · Cementing and Well Stimulation - Wichita, KS.

• Fall Pumper Workshops - location and dates TBD