Screening Criteria and Considerations of Offshore Enhanced Oil Recovery

Energies

Pan-Sang Kang¹  Jong-Se Lim¹  Chun Huh² 

[1] Department of Energy and Resources Engineering, Korea Maritime and Ocean University, Yeongdo-Gu, Busan 49112, Korea;Department of Petroleum and Geosystems Engineering, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712-1585, USA;

关键词: enhanced oil recovery;    offshore;    EOR screening;   

DOI  :  10.3390/en9010044

来源: mdpi

【 摘 要 】

The application of enhanced oil recovery (EOR) in offshore oil fields has received significant attention due to the potentially enormous amount of recoverable oil. However, EOR application offshore is in its very early stage due to conditions that are more complex than onshore oil fields, owing to the unique parameters present offshore. Therefore, successful EOR applications in offshore oil fields require different screening criteria than those for conventional onshore applications. A comprehensive database for onshore applications of EOR processes together with a limited offshore EOR application database are analyzed in this paper, and the important parameters for successful offshore application are incorporated into the new EOR screening criteria. In this paper, screening criteria to determine acceptable EOR processes for offshore fields, including hydrocarbon gas miscible, CO₂ miscible, and polymer processes, are presented. Suggested screening criteria for these EOR processes comprise quantitative boundaries and qualitative considerations. Quantitative screening criteria are predominantly based on quantifiable data, such as oil and reservoir properties. Qualitative screening considerations mainly focus on the operational issues present offshore, including platform space constraints, limited disposal options, injectant availability, and flow assurance matters (including hydrate formation and difficulties in emulsion separation).

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© 2016 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.