Systematic Investigation of Waterflood Reducing Residual Oil Saturations by Increasing Differential Pressures at Various Wettabilities

The ratio between the viscous and capillary forces, commonly denoted the Capillary Number N_c, is crucial in determining the remaining oil saturation. The impact on residual oil saturation by a systematic increase in N_c is determined in homogeneous chalk at wettabilities varying from nearly neutral-wet to strongly-water-wet conditions. In fractured chalk reservoirs waterflood residual oil saturation is strongly dependent on the wettability. The current results provide assistance in determining the potential target for tertiary oil recovery by measuring the amount of mobile oil at various N_c. A series of displacements of oil by water injection at increasing constant pressures were carried out to determine the relation between remaining oil and applied capillary number in waterfloods at different wettability conditions.

Various uniform distributed mixed wettability conditions were established and quantified by the Amott test for 21 core plug samples. Minimum remaining oil at constant N_c occurred at wettability conditions reflecting an Amott Index to water at 0.3. The residual oil saturation decreased with increasing capillary number and significant trapped oil after completed spontaneous water imbibition was mobilized at moderately water-wet to nearly neutral-wet conditions. Similar results as reported in the literature for waterflooding residual oil saturations as function of wettability and PV water injected in sandstone were found for chalk at increasing capillary number. Distinct dome shaped curves of oil recovery as function of wettability, with consistent increase in oil recovery with increasing capillary number, reflected similarities to earlier results on waterflooding oil recovery.