Application of Steam Flooding for Heavy Oil recovery: Case Study of Suitable Nigerian Heavy Oil Reservoirs | Chapter 08 | Innovations in Science and Technology Vol. 3

 Objectives: Nigeria has a significant conventional and heavy oil resource base. Despite the fact that the bulk of conventional oil reserves have been produced since independence, heavy oil reserves have gone unexplored due to low primary production recovery and, as a result, worries about economic viability under the current budgetary framework. This chapter investigates the use of the Steam Flooding enhanced oil recovery (EOR) method utilising appropriate Nigerian heavy oil reservoirs as a case study, aims to construct a diagnostic model to predict performance, and assesses the economics to determine the EOR method's viability. As heavy oil is developed, Nigeria's oil reserves and production will grow.

Study Design: Following a non-disclosure agreement, data for two heavy oil reservoirs in Nigeria was acquired from two oil corporations (NDA)

Studying at the Emerald Energy Institute at the University of Port Harcourt in Nigeria from 2016 to 2021.

Methodology: To select steam flooding for the examined reservoirs, the screening criteria of commercially effective EOR technologies were used. The Design of Experiment (DoE) method was used to analyse the reservoirs and operational parameters, as well as to find their optimum values, which were then utilised to forecast reservoir performance. Using Discounted Cash Flow Analysis, the economics of the steam flood technique recommended for the reservoirs in question were also assessed (DCFA).

Results: The steam flooding technique was shown to be technically and economically viable for the heavy oil reservoirs studied. In comparison to the water flooding approach, which had a 13 percent OOIP and natural depletion of 9 percent for the offshore reservoir, the steam flood had an excellent recovery efficiency of 24 percent. The recovery efficiency for the onshore reservoir was 20% for steam flood and 4% for natural depletion. The project was found to be viable even at a worst-case heavy oil price of US$15, according to the economic analysis.

Conclusion: Steam flooding is a viable method for developing heavy oil reservoirs in Nigeria that match the screening criteria, hence increasing the country's oil reserves and production.

Recommendation: Fiscal policy should be changed, particularly the petroleum profit tax, which should be reduced from 85% to 50% to encourage operators and investors to pursue steam flooding and other EOR approaches.

Author(S) Details

Okoro Emmanuel Evans
Emerald Energy Institute, University of Port Harcourt, Nigeria.

Mike Onyekonwu
Emerald Energy Institute, University of Port Harcourt, Nigeria.

Joseph Ajienka
Emerald Energy Institute, University of Port Harcourt, Nigeria.

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Scientific Study on the Design of a Simulator for Enhanced Oil Recovery Process Using a Nigerian Reservoir as a Case Study | Chapter 9 | Emerging Trends in Engineering Research and Technology Vol. 8

 This study involves the applications of different numerical techniques in a more general way to the

design of a simulator for an enhanced oil recovery process with surfactant assisted water flooding.
The data from a hypothetical oil well and a Nigerian oil well were used for the validation of the
simulator. The process is represented by a system of nonlinear partial differential equations: the
continuity equation for the transport of the components and Darcy’s equation for the phase flow. The
orthogonal collocation, finite difference and coherence theory techniques were used in solving the
equations that characterized the multidimensional, multiphase and multicomponent flow problem.
Matlab computer programs were used for the numerical solution of the model equations. The
predicted simulator, obtained from the resulting numerical exercise confers unconditional stability and
more insight into the physical reservoir description. The results of the orthogonal collocation solution
were compared with those of finite difference and coherence solutions. The results indicate that the
concentration of surfactants for orthogonal collocation show more features than the predictions of the
coherence solution and the finite difference, offering more opportunities for further understanding of
the physical nature of the complex problem. We have found out that the partition of the three
components between the two-phases determines other physical property data and hence the oil
recovery. The oil recovery for the Nigerian oil reservoir is higher than the recovery predicted for the
hypothetical crude. The displacement mechanism for the multi component and multiphase system is
stable in the Nigerian oil reservoir due to the moderate value of the oil/water viscosity instead of the
hypothetical reservoir with high value of oil/water ratio.

Author (s) Details

K. F. Oyedeko
Department of Chemical and Polymer Engineering, Lagos State University, Epe, Lagos, Nigeria.

A. A. Susu
Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Lagos, Lagos, Nigeria.

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