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Derivation of Residual Oil Profile for Enhanced Recovery
- Publisher: European Association of Geoscientists & Engineers
- Source: Conference Proceedings, IPTC 2013: International Petroleum Technology Conference, Mar 2013, cp-350-00025
Abstract
Petrophysical evaluation of a given formation is not complete without looking into all means of exploitation of resident hydrocarbons. With this intent, we studied the hydrocarbon potential of the subject formation via conventional Petrophysics and identified only the possibility of recovering residual-oil (Sro). The remaining question and the objective of this study was the quantification of Sro that can make EOR sweeping of residual-oil economically viable or cost-prohibitive. It is a well-known phenomenon that additional residual oil (Sro) may be present below the conventionally defined oil-water-contacts as a function of geologic and hydrodynamic conditions. In addition, the oil-wet formations force the contact to be below Free-Water-Level leaving a sizable Sro “Stranded Oil” in or below the transition zone. The zone of “Stranded Oil” can be quite thick and economically viable for tertiary EOR techniques if there is a sufficient recoverable volume. To confirm the presence and quantify the saturation of residual oil, we used diffusion-T2intrinsic (DT2) maps from Nuclear Magnetic Resonance NMR log. The DT2 technique was challenged with a possibility of superimposed signals from residual oil and the filtrate from Synthetic-oil-based-mud (SOBM). However, an appreciable viscosity difference between residual formation oil and SOBM-filtrate made it possible to differentiate the NMR signals from SOBM and residual oil based on different diffusion characteristics. We had all possible reasons for having a thick zone of Sro. Either mechanical (tilting of the basin) and/or compartmentalization due to re-formed seals or later movement of water to the lower part of the oil accumulation were present. Hence, looking for a thick zone of Sro that was generated by reasons beyond the capillary behavior was justifiable. However, the quantification and derivation of Sro profile based on clearly identified residual-oil signals revealed a Sroprofile that failed to justify the formation as a future EOR sweep-zone.