CO2forEnhancedOilRecovery

Duringthelifetimeofanoilreservoir,oilproductionisusuallyimplementedintwoor,if economical,threephases.Theprimaryphaseiscategorizedbythenaturalflowofcrudeoilto theproducerwells.Howeverthisisoftenquicklysupplementedbyasecondaryinducedoil recovery(IOR)phasewhichaugmentsoilproductionthroughavarietyofdifferent technologies. Eachreservoirwillrespondindividually(i.e.therearenostandardfiguresthatcanbequoted), howeveronemayindicatethatprimaryproductionwilltypicallyresultintherecoveryof between1525%oftheoriginaloilinplace(OOIP),whilesecondaryIORusingconventional techniqueswillrecoverbetween2040%oftheOOIP. Withmorerecentadvancesindrillingandreservoirtechnology,theanticipatedrecoveryfor thematuringNorthSeaContinentalShelf(NSCS)isnowestimatedtolieonaveragebetween 4550%ofOOIP.Valuesabove60%areveryrare,althoughShellindicatethatforoneoftheir offshorefields,DraugenintheNorwegianSea,theywerepredictingrecoveryof64%OOIP withapossible75%usingamisciblegassuchasCO2. ThePermianBasinisoneofAmericaspremierenergyprovinces.Thebasincoverssoutheast NewMexicoandmuchofwesternTexas.Ithasproduced30billionbarrelsofoilandcurrently produces900,000barrelsperdayoraboutonefifthoftotalU.S.oilproduction. ThevastmajorityofthelargereservoirsintheBasinareincarbonatesproducingfromdepths between3000and7000feetbelowsurface.Thepredominantprimaryrecoverymechanism wassolutiongasdrive.Thereservoirshavebeenextensivelywaterflooded.Expected recoveriesafterwaterfloodrangefrom30to45percentoftheoriginaloilinplace(OOIP). Fromearlyon,thelargereservoirsintheBasinwereconsideredtobeexcellentcandidatesfor misciblefloodingusingCO2injection.Thisisduetothefactorsmentionedintheprevious paragraph,plusalowgeothermalgradientintheareathatresultsinlowerpressurerequired formiscibilityforagivencrude.Anotherfactorwastherelativelyhighresidualoilsaturation afterwaterflooding. Intheearly1970s,ChevrondevelopedaplanforthefirstmiscibleCO2floodinthePermian Basin,attheSACROCUnit.TheSACROCUnitcovers50,000acresandwasformedtooptimize secondaryandtertiaryrecoveryofoilintheCanyonReef,aPennsylvanianagereservoir.The reefhasanaverageporosityof4%andmeanpermeabilityof19millidarcies.Itinitiallyhad3 billionbarrelsofoilinplaceandhasrecovered1.4billionbarrelstodate. Over1000wellshavebeendrilledintheUnit,andtypicalwellspacingis20acres(8 hectares).Currentlythereareover200wellsproducing.ChevronrecoveredCO2from producedgasstreamsatfourgasplantsinthesouthernpartoftheBasin,anddehydratedand transportedthegas220milestoSACROCforinjection.InjectionwasinitiatedintheUnitin January1972onalimitedbasis. OilproductioninresponsetoCO2injectionbegansoonafterpeakwaterfloodproduction responseoccurred.Therefore,itisdifficulttodeterminetheimpactofCO2injectionbysimply lookingattheUnittotalproductioncurve.Reviewofindividualpatterncurvesindicatedthat theprojectwastechnicallysuccessfulfromanoilrecoverystandpoint.Therewereoperational problemssuchascorrosionandscalebuttheseproblemsweremanagedanddidnotseverely impactprojecteconomics.However,severalfactorsexistedthatcontributedtotheprojectnot beingaseconomicallysuccessfulasitcouldhavebeen. Thiswasthefirstlargescalefloodandtherewasasteeplearningcurve.Chevrondidsome excellentworkbuttheywereonthecuttingedgeandmistakesweremade.Therewas

insufficientCO2supplytofloodtheentirefieldinareasonabletimeframe,soareasofthe fieldhadtobeprioritizedformiscibleprocessing.Chevronsreservoirmanagementphilosophy atthattimewastofocusonareaswherewaterfloodrecoverywaspoorandthereforehadthe highestpercentoforiginaloilinplaceremainingintheground.Yearsofexperiencewiththis andlaterfloodsbymanyoperatorsdevelopedanindustryconsensusthattheareaswiththe bestwaterfloodperformancewouldperformbestunderCO2flood.Thehigheramountofoil remainingintheformationinsomeareaswasoflittleuseiftheinjectantnevercontactedit, andthereasonforperformancevariationwasfoundtobevariationsinwelltowell connectivityandnotvariationinresidualoilsaturationattheporelevel. Chevronalsoexperimentedwithmanydifferentinjectionschemes.Manyoftheseschemes calledforfarlessthanoptimumCO2slugsizes.Insomecases,CO2injectionwasendedsoon afterinitialproductionresponseoccurred.Returningtowaterinjectionatthatpointseverely depressedtheamountofincrementaloilrecovered. Lastly,operationofaCO2floodrequiresstrictdisciplineinreservoirmanagement.Chevron waslimitedbytheirinitiallyinstalledgashandlingcapacityandwouldnotspendthecapitalto increasethatcapacity.ThisinturncausedthemtocurtailCO2injectionsoasnottoproduce moregasthancouldbehandled.Thisdelayedfutureexpansionsuntilthe1986oilpricecrash renderedthosefutureexpansionsmuchlesseconomicallyattractive,andatthatpointa combinationofpersonnelturnoverandlossofstatusfortheprojectwithinthecompany resultedinstagnation.In1992ChevronsoldtheSACROCUnittoPennzoil.Inturn,Pennzoil wasboughtbyDevonin1999.DevoncontinuedforwardwithsomeexpansionsthatPennzoils staffhadrecommended,buttheydecidedthattheydidnotwanttobeintheCO2flooding business,soinApril2000theysoldtheUnittoKinderMorganCO2Company(KMCO2). IngeneralitisacknowledgedthatusingCO2fortertiaryEORmayaddanadditional512%of OOIPtotheanticipatedtotalproduction. Themechanismbywhichthisoccursisperhapsbest illustratedinthesketchbelowshowingtheclassicconfigurationofaninjectorwellworkingin combinationwithaproducer.

TheCO2istypicallyinjectedinanalternatingwaterandgas(WAG)process. Asillustrated above,thewaterisbeinginjectedbehinda"slug"ofCO2thatcreatesamisciblezonewhich helpsreleaseoilthathadpreviouslybeentrappedwhenusingonlywater.

AttheKinderMorganSACROCUnitthisprocesshasbeeninoperationsince1972. Atypical injectionwellisshowninthephotographbelowwherethewellheadisontheleftoftheimage andthetwopipesontherightareforthewaterandtheCO2supplylines.

The frequency of alternating the working fluid in a WAG process can vary considerably from a few days to several months:itverymuchdependsontheoilreservoir,injection and production volumes, well location and residual oil. A usefulruleofthumbisbaseduponwhenthethe volumeof breakthroughgasorwatercutsuddenlyincreasescompared withthevolumeoilthatisproduced. Theproducingwellsaresomewhatsimilarinappearanceas shownintheadjacentphotograph.Inpracticewheneverthe terrainallows,theseinjector/producersconfigurationsare spreadoutinarectangulararraywith12kmspacingbetweeneach. Akeyconcernregardingearlyoperationsofthesewellheadswastheissueofcorrosion. HowevertheexperiencefromWestTexasshowsthatoneoriginallyhadatendencytoover specifythematerialpropertiesofthewellsandpiping. Inpracticestainlesssteelisemployed, butnotextensivelyandonlyincriticalareas. Howeveronedoesrelyoninjectingsmaller volumesofchemicalinhibitorsthatprotectthemetalsurfaceswhereverthereisthecorrosive mixtureofwaterandCO2. Youcanreadmoreaboutcorrosionmitigationmeasureshere. Agroupofproducerwellheadsarelinkedtogethertoalargerfieldpreprocessingunitas showninthephotographbelow.Herethecollectingmanifoldfromtheproducerwellsis observedtotheleftintheimage,whilethethreepressuretanksseparatethewater,oil,and gaswithCO2,beforepumpingtoacentralizedprocessingplant.

AnessentialfeatureofusingCO2forEORisthattheCO2willmixandremergewiththe producedoilandgas. AtSACROCseparationandreinjectionoftheCO2isallhandledata centralReprocessingPlantlocatednearthetownofSnyder.ThecompleteSnyderFacilityis literallyamausoleumcoveringthestateoftheartinCO2strippingsincetheearly70s. Theextentbywhichthetechnologyhasevolvedduringthistime,isperhapsbestillustratedby thephotographbelowshowingthecompleteexpanseoftheFacilityasseenfromadistance. Thecolumnsinthemiddlearepartofthelongclosedpotassiumplantthatwasoriginally used.

Todaysamineandmembranefacilitiesarelocatedontherightoftheimage.Andpartthe latestunitbeingbroughtintooperationsbyKMCO2fortheirSACROCreprocessingisshownin thephotographbelow.

Thisispartoftheoverall$1billioninvestmentthatKMCO2arecurrentlymaking inorderto beabletoinject58mtCO2/yrforEORintotheirSACROCUnitwithin2004.SACROCwill thereforecontinuetobetheworldlargestCO2flood.

Withacknowledgmentfromhttp://www.co2.no/