TITLE:
Investigating Improved Oil Recovery in Heavy Oil Reservoirs
AUTHORS:
Yogesh Kumar Suman, Ezeddin Shirif, Hussameldin Ibrahim, Abdulsalam Ala-Ktiwi
KEYWORDS:
Heavy Oil; IOR; GEM Simulator; Reservoir Simulation; Drainage Volume
JOURNAL NAME:
World Journal of Engineering and Technology,
Vol.2 No.1,
January
29,
2014
ABSTRACT: Primary production mechanisms do not recover an appreciable fraction of
the hydrocarbon initially in place (HIIP). Practical knowledge has shown that,
at the point when the natural energy in a heavy oil reservoir is nearly or
altogether depleted, the recovery factor does not exceed about 20%. Some heavy
oil reservoirs do not produce at all by natural drive mechanisms. This often necessitates
adopting a production improvement strategy to augment recovery. Prior to
implementing an improved oil recovery method (either secondary or tertiary) in
the field, it is very important to investigate its potential for success.
Reservoir simulation is a part of a continuous
learning process used to gain insight into the feasibility and applicability of
improved oil recovery methods. In this project, GEM compositional reservoir
simulator has been used to study the efficiencies of different improved oil
recovery strategies, ranging from waterflooding to solvent injection. The
drainage volume investigated is a hypothetical box-shaped heavy oil reservoir
composed of three distinct permeable layers.