Abstract

During the past 45 years, CO2 flood technology for Enhanced Oil Recovery projects evolved from a partially understood process filled with uncertainties to a process based on proven technology and experience. Many questions involved with CO2 flooding have been thoroughly analyzed and answered. This knowledge is currently being used by a limited number of companies that actually know how to design, implement, and manage a CO2 flood for long term profit. The purpose of this report is to help disseminate this knowledge to operating companies interested in EOR flooding or to CO2 Sequestration Communities interested in storing CO2 in EOR projects.

In 2015, Merchant Consulting published CMTC-440075-MS "Life beyond 80 – A look at Conventional WAG Recovery beyond 80% HCPV Injection in CO2 Tertiary Floods". The primary objective of the report was to target all 10 CO2 Recovery Methods used today including "Conventional WAG Techniques" which have been used in over 90% of all the Enhanced Oil Recovery projects implemented to date. These include projects in the Permian Basin in Texas, Colorado, Oklahoma, and Wyoming. The paper presents answers to the question "What is life after 80% HCPV Injected?" And "What effect does life after 80% HCPV have on Tertiary Oil Recovery, CO2 Utilization and CO2 Retention in different producing formations?" Results of this study show Tertiary Oil Recovery can be as high as 26% OOIP when slug sizes exceed 190% HCPV injected.

Conventional WAG History in CO2 Tertiary Oil Projects:

To achieve CO2 Injection beyond 80% HCPV Injection requires proper CO2 WAG Management. The purpose of this report is to provide both the EOR and CO2 Sequestration Communities an understanding of the "History of Conventional WAG" and how it has changed from first introduced in the Lab in the 1950's, to how it was implemented and developed in the 1980's by the Major Oil Companies in the Permian Basin, and how Conventional WAG is being managed today in the field.

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