Assessing the application of miscible CO2 flooding in oil reservoirs: a case study from Pakistan

• Main Authors: Amanat Ali Bhatti, Arshad Raza, Syed Mohammad Mahmood, Raoof Gholami
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: SpringerOpen 2018-06-01
• Series: Journal of Petroleum Exploration and Production Technology
• Subjects: Miscible CO2-EOR; Screening criteria; Injection strategy; Oil reservoirs; Numerical modeling
• Online Access: http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s13202-018-0504-x

Abstract Miscible carbon dioxide (CO2) flooding has been recognized as a promising approach to enhance the recovery of oil reservoirs. However, depending on the injection strategy and rock/fluid characteristics, efficiency of the miscible CO2 flooding varies from reservoir to reservoir. Although, many studies have been carried out to evaluate the performance of the miscible CO2 flooding, a specific strategy which can be strictly followed for a hydrocarbon reservoir has not been established yet. The aim of this study is to assess one of Pakistan’s oil reservoirs for miscible CO2 flooding by applying a modified screening criterion and numerical modeling. As such, the most recent miscible CO2 screening criteria were modified, and a numerical modeling was applied on the prospective reservoir. Based on the results obtained, South oil reservoir (S3) is chosen for a detailed assessment of miscible CO2 flooding. It was also found that implementation of CO2 water-alternating gas (CO2-WAG) injection at early stages of production can increase the production life of the reservoir.