Insights into Oil Recovery Mechanism by Nothing-Alternating-Polymer NAP Concept

This paper discusses the application of polymer injection in a heavy oil reservoir in the South of the Sultanate of Oman containing oil with a viscosity of 300-800cP underlain by a strong bottom-up aquifer. Due to unfavorable mobility ratio between aquifer water and oil and the development of the sharp cones significant amount of oil remains unswept. To overcome these issues, a polymer injection pilot started in 2013 with three horizontal injectors, located a few meters above the oil/water contact. Initially a polymer solution with a viscosity of 100 cP was continuously injected at high injection rates. However, it was challenging to sustain the injectivity mainly due to surface facilities, water, and polymer quality issues. This resulted in frequent shutdowns of the injectors. Interestingly, the water cut reversal and oil gain continued during the shut-in periods. This observation has led to the development of a new cyclic polymer injection strategy, in which the injection of polymer is alternated with shut-ins. The strategy is referred to as Nothing-Alternating-Polymer (NAP). This paper discusses the oil recovery mechanism from the NAP strategy. A 3D model was constructed to match the actual pilot results and capture the observed behavior. The injected polymer squeezes the cones and partly restores the barrier between the aquifer and the oil column, suppressing the aquifer flux and hence the negative affect of the cones. It was found that during polymer injection, the oil is recovered by conventional mobility and sweep enhancement mechanisms ahead of the polymer front. Additionally, during this stage the injected polymer creates a barrier between the aquifer and the oil column, suppressing the aquifer flux and hence the negative effect of the cones or water channels (blanketing mechanism). Moreover, injection of polymer pushes the oil to the depleted water cones, which is then is produced by the water coming from the aquifer during shut-in period (recharge mechanism). During the shut-in or NAP period, the aquifer water also pushes the existing polymer bank and hence leads to extra oil production. The NAP strategy reduces polymer loss into aquifer and improves the polymer utilization factor expressed in kg-polymer/bbl of oil, resulting in a favorable economic outcome.