Viscosity Reduction WAG: An Effective EOR Process for North Slope Viscous Oils

摘要

A novel EOR method, Viscosity Reducing Water-Alternating-rnGas injection (VR-WAG), has been developed to improve oilrnrecovery from viscous oil reservoirs and under-saturated lightrnoil reservoirs. Heavy components are mixed with producedrnlean gas to manufacture viscosity-reducing injectant (VRI).rnWhen VRI is injected into a heavy oil reservoir, oil viscosityrncan be reduced by up to 90% and the oil recovery can bernimproved by 15-20%.rnVR-WAG may be widely applied in Alaska’s heavy oils. Thernfirst enriched gas application will be the West Sak 1-J EORrnProject (WS-1J) at Kuparuk. Additional projects are likely tornutilize VR-WAG, including the Prudhoe Bay satellite fields,rnOrion and Polaris, and the S-pad EOR Project at Milne Point.rnLaboratory experimental data, numerical simulation results,rnand potential project scopes from each of these fields arernincluded.