Feasibility Of Oil Recovery By Polymer/Alkaline Flooding Through Horizontal Well

Abstract

A laboratory study on Saudi oil recovery by polymer/alkaline flooding from a horizontal well in a scaled quarter five-spot model was conducted. Safaniya crude oil, obtained from Safaniya oil field operated by Saudi Aramco, was used in the displacement tests. Properties of different concentrations of polymer/alkaline solutions were experimentally determined to select the suitable ones for enhanced oil recovery processes. An economic model was also developed to investigate the effects of polymer/alkaline concentration, oil price, and cost of the horizontal well on the feasibility of the process. Results are presented for selected concentrations of polymer/alkaline solutions for enhanced oil recovery experiments in the ratios of 0.05/1.0, 0.10/1.0, 0.15/1.0 and 0.20/1.0 by weight. Displacement results show that the best polymer/alkaline concentration that yields the maximum oil recovery from a horizontal well is 0.10/1.0. A good agreement exists between the optimum concentration of polymer/alkaline solution determined from the experimental results and that obtained from the economic model. This indicates that, with current oil prices, the reservoir engineering component of the economics (i.e. the amount and value of recovered oil) is more significant than all other factors and costs of the process.