Enhanced recovery

This paper describes the application of an underbalanced coiled tubing technology in tight sandstones, using an integrative approach that incorporates petrophysical, geophysical, and reservoir engineering data.

The EOR scene has evolved as well. Low-salinity waterflooding, originally thought to apply only in certain sandstone reservoirs, appears to be able to unlock additional reserves also for some carbonate formations, although the fundamental mechanisms are different.

Engineers desperately need an alternative to acid placement through pipe, coiled tubing, or bullheading. For example, propellants have been around for years; however, their performance has not quite met the hype. Nevertheless, several case histories have been authored to suggest their efficacy; historically, some treatments have even been wildly successful.

Traditional oil extraction methods hit a snag in noncontiguous fields, where conventional flow-based EOR techniques falter. In southwest Texas, a producer faced imminent shutdown of its canyon sand field due to rapid production decline. Field tests using elastic-wave EOR determined whether the field could be revitalized or if a costly shut-in process was inevitable.

This paper presents the design and development of a prototype intelligent water-injection and smart allocation tool aimed at achieving autonomous waterflood operations.

Oil production from thin-oil-rim fields can be a challenge considering early gas breakthrough and high gas/oil ratio. This study evaluates the performance of autonomous inflow control valves (in comparison with inflow control devices and sand screens) and their effectiveness in improved oil recovery in such fields.

This paper describes the potential, challenges, and opportunities of using a modified steam-assisted gravity drainage configuration in the Mukhaizna heavy oil field in suboptimal operating conditions.

This study aims at understanding the effect of a surfactant known as a high-temperature emulsifying agent as an additive to the steam-assisted gravity drainage process and the possibility of forming oil-in-water emulsions.

This paper describes the implementation of a hybrid technology of cyclic steam stimulation and foam into the heavy oil field development plans of the Middle Magdalena Valley basin in Colombia.

To avoid costly interventions like sidetracking or wellbore abandonment, a check-valve system was installed near the sandface within three injector wells which prevented the mobilization of fines from the reservoir into the wellbore by stopping backflow.