Thermal Recovery in Kuwait - From Potential to Characterization

A large scale study (Al-Bahar et al. 2004) of Improved Oil Recovery (IOR) potential within Kuwait was performed by a team from Kuwait Oil Company and Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research. The study screened 10 IOR displacement processes in 81 reservoirs in Kuwait. The study comprised of chemical, thermal, and gas injection processes. This paper will highlight some of the findings regarding the thermal IOR processes in the screening study. These 4 processes are Steam Flooding, Cyclic Steam Flooding, Steam Assisted Gravity Drainage (SAGD), and In Situ Combustion. Steam Flooding passed the screening criteria in 6 percent of the reservoirs while In Situ Combustion passed in 16 percent of the reservoirs. The failure of a large number of the reservoirs to pass the screen will be the focus of this paper. An analysis of the critical failure parameters and the potential to overcome these parameters will be discussed.