Low-Salinity Waterflooding for EOR in Field A of Western Offshore Basin: A Pilot Study Analysis with Laboratory and Simulation Studies—Early Observations

Vivek Raj Srivastava (), Hemanta K. Sarma () and Sharad Kumar Gupta
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Vivek Raj Srivastava: Institute of Reservoir Studies (IRS), Oil & Natural Gas Corporation Ltd. (ONGC), Ahmedabad 380005, Gujarat, India
Hemanta K. Sarma: Department of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB T2N 1N4, Canada
Sharad Kumar Gupta: Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi 110016, Delhi, India

Energies, 2024, vol. 17, issue 9, 1-23

Abstract: Carbonate reservoirs hold vast oil reserves, but their complex properties make traditional enhanced oil recovery (EOR) methods challenging. This study explores the application of low-salinity water flooding (LSWF) as a novel EOR method for India’s largest offshore carbonate oil field. Conventional EOR techniques were deemed unsuitable due to reservoir heterogeneity, pressure decline, high temperature, and the offshore location. Favorable factors for LSWF included successful seawater flooding history, medium-weight crude oil, and existing infrastructure. Following core flooding experiments demonstrating a 6–16% increase in oil recovery, a multi-pronged evaluation process was implemented. Single-well chemical tracer tests (SWCTT) and reservoir simulations confirmed the potential of LSWF. A specific target area was chosen based on reservoir characteristics, production data, and available facilities. Simulations predicted a 1.5% incremental oil recovery using diluted seawater (25% salinity) at 30% pore volume injection. After a positive techno-economic analysis, the first offshore LSWF project in India was completed within 3 years. Initial monitoring results are encouraging. This study highlights the successful journey of LSWF from concept to field deployment in a challenging carbonate reservoir, showcasing its potential for revitalizing such fields. Furthermore, this work provides valuable data relevant to Indian offshore environments, where factors like salinity, mineralogy, and crude oil composition pose unique challenges compared to other LSWF applications. These detailed data fill a critical gap in the existing literature.

Keywords: low-salinity water flood (LSWF); original oil in place (OIIP); enhanced oil recovery (EOR); single-well chemical tracer test (SWCTT); potential determining ions (PDI) (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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