SCREENING OF ENHANCED OIL RECOVERY METHODS

Pilot Study of Lokichar Basin, Tertiary Rift Kenya

Tsar Philip M. National Oil Corporation of Kenya (NOCK)
Numerous oil reservoirs which have been in production for many years are being reviewed to
assess options for increasing the ultimate oil recovery. The task includes the determination of the
volume and location of mobile remaining oil and subsequently the technical and economic
assessment of methods to recover this oil (Weber and Dronkert, 1998). Oil production by
Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) concept has drawn great attention in the petroleum industry
because of their high potential for recovering more oil from depleted reservoirs with
conventional production methods (Al Adasani and Bai, 2011; Gharbi, 2005). In the past two
decades, extensive works in EOR processes have been conducted, resulting in an increase in the
number of EOR projects being conducted and field tested and thus large volume of publications
(Gharbi, 2005).
Because of the large capital investment associated with EOR methods, high technical sensitivity,
the complexity and uncertainty of the process performance, and low and unpredictable crude oil
prices, proper selection of an EOR method is necessary for good decision making (Kamari, 2013
and 2014). The technical selection of an appropriate EOR method for a given reservoir can be
made based on the rock and fluid properties, and also considering mechanisms governing the
EOR processes. However, the process performance of a particular design and the costs associated
with it should be predicted before a decision can be made to invest large amount of money to
conduct such process in the reservoir (Gharbi, 2005).
In the past, studies have been done on the technical screening of EOR processes (Abbas and
Song, 2011; Alvardo et al., 2002; Bennion et al., 2000; Dickson et al., 2010; Gharbi, 2000).
Manrique et al. (2008) described the EOR decision-making procedures using field case examples
from Mexico, Canada, Asia, South Africa and USA. They discussed different stages of
development and availability. The conclusions indicated that the advantage of flexible decisionmaking frameworks that adapt to the volume and quality of information by formulating the
correct decision problem concentrate the projects/or properties with apparent economic merit.

Surguchev et al. (2010) suggested a three-level approach to selection of EOR methods. First,
their model allows for a fast first-order screening of key EOR applicability methods at given
reservoir condition. Then, the model is applied for oil recovery factor (RF) estimation based on
the statistical data from projects carried out worldwide.
The aim of this communication is to review different types of EOR methods including chemical
flooding (polymer flooding and micellar/polymer, ASP and alkaline flooding), thermal (steam
flooding and in-situ combustion), gas injection and infill drilling predictive models. After the
review, all of the aforementioned EOR methods were screened for applying in a Kenyan field
based on the reservoir characterization. Subsequently, correct percent of any method was
observed and the optimal technique/techniques have been (proposed) selected.

Keywords: Screening, EOR Methods, Selection, Criteria, Parameter