A review of the current progress of CO2 injection EOR and carbon storage in shale oil reservoirs

Review of the litterature available outside the petroleum industry concerning wettability. This litterature discusses surface forces and their effects on wettability, including van der Waal and electrostatic forces. Hydrogen bonding and ion/water interactions, are also discussed. Advancing and receding contact angles for oil/water/mineral systems in terms of these surface forces are described.

Wettability : fundamentals and surface forces

The injected fluids in secondary processes supplement the natural energy present in the reservoir to displace oil. The recovery efficiency mainly depends on the mechanism of pressure maintenance. However, the injected fluids in tertiary or enhanced oil recovery (EOR) processes interact with the reservoir rock/oil system. Thus, EOR techniques are receiving substantial attention worldwide as the available oil resources are declining. However, some challenges, such as low sweep efficiency, high costs and potential formation damage, still hinder the further application of these EOR technologies. Current studies on nanoparticles are seen as potential solutions to most of the challenges associated with these traditional EOR techniques. This paper provides an overview of the latest studies about the use of nanoparticles to enhance oil recovery and paves the way for researchers who are interested in the integration of these progresses. The first part of this paper addresses studies about the major EOR mechanisms of nanoparticles used in the forms of nanofluids, nanoemulsions and nanocatalysts, including disjoining pressure, viscosity increase of injection fluids, preventing asphaltene precipitation, wettability alteration and interfacial tension reduction. This part is followed by a review of the most important research regarding various novel nano-assisted EOR methods where nanoparticles are used to target various existing thermal, chemical and gas methods. Finally, this review identifies the challenges and opportunities for future study regarding application of nanoparticles in EOR processes.

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Application of Nanoparticles in Enhanced Oil Recovery: A Critical Review of Recent Progress

Electrokinetics of Carbonate/Brine Interface in Low-Salinity Waterflooding: Effect of Brine Salinity, Composition, Rock Type, and pH on ζ-Potential and a Surface-Complexation Model

A comprehensive review of low salinity/engineered water injections and their applications in sandstone and carbonate rocks

Numerous studies indicate that the pressure/volume/temperature (PVT) phase behavior of fluids in large pores (designated “unconfined” space) deviates from phase behavior in nanopores (designated “confined” space). The deviation in confined space has been attributed to the increase in capillary force, electrostatic interactions, van der Waals forces, and fluid structural changes. In this paper, conventional vapor/liquid equilibrium (VLE) calculations are modified to account for the capillary pressure and the critical-pressure and -temperature shifts in nanopores. The modified VLE is used to study the phase behavior of reservoir fluids in unconventional reservoirs. The multiple-mixing-cell (MMC) algorithm and the modified VLE procedure were used to determine the minimal miscibility pressure (MMP) of a synthetic oil and Bakken oil with carbon dioxide (CO2) and mixtures of CO2 and methane gas. We show that the bubblepoint pressure, gas/oil interfacial tension (IFT), and MMP are decreased with confinement (nanopores), whereas the upper dewpoint pressure increases and the lower dewpoint pressure decreases.

Phase Behavior and Minimum Miscibility Pressure in Nanopores

Enhanced Oil Recovery in Liquid-Rich Shale Reservoirs: Laboratory to Field

Multiphase Compositional Modeling in Small-Scale Pores of Unconventional Shale Reservoirs

Application of advanced high power laser technology to oil and gas well drilling has been attracting significant research interests recently among research institutes, petroleum industries, and universities. Potential laser or laser-aided oil and gas well drilling has many advantages over the conventional rotary drilling, such as high penetration rate, reduction or elimination of tripping, casing, and bit costs, and enhanced well control, perforating and side-tracking capabilities. The energy required to remove a unit volume of rock, namely the specific energy (SE), is a critical rock property data that can be used to determine both the technical and economic feasibility of laser oil and gas well drilling. When a high power laser beam is applied on a rock, it can remove the rock by thermal spallation, melting, or vaporization depending on the applied laser energy and the way the energy is applied. The most efficient rock removal mechanism would be the one that requires the minimum energy to remove a unit ...

Ramona M. Graves

Papers

Phase Behavior and Minimum Miscibility Pressure in Nanopores

Enhanced Oil Recovery in Liquid-Rich Shale Reservoirs: Laboratory to Field

Multiphase Compositional Modeling in Small-Scale Pores of Unconventional Shale Reservoirs

Specific energy for pulsed laser rock drilling

Enhanced Oil Recovery in Liquid-Rich Shale Reservoirs: Laboratory to Field