Recovery Technology of Depleted Oil Fields

• Published in: Chemical and Structure Modification of Polymers pp. 27 - 32
• Format: Book Chapter
• Language: English
• Published: United Kingdom Apple Academic Press 2015; Apple Academic Press, Incorporated
• Subjects: Materials science; Polymer chemistry; Oil Recovery; DEPLETED OIL FIELDS; Skin Layer; Decomposition; RECOVERY TECHNOLOGY; BM; Productive Layer; Water Introduction; Layer Pressure; Saltpeter Decomposition; Patent WO; Profitable Extraction; Water Injecting; Holds; Oil Extraction; USA; Producing Oil Wells; Oil Displacement; Heat Emission; Oil Fields; Reagent Injection; Oil Recovery Rate; Sodium Nitrite; Unlimited; Oil Wells
• ISBN: 9781771881227; 1771881224
• DOI: 10.1201/b19300-7

The cornerstone problem of modern oil production is water intrusion in the productive layers resulted from water flood displacement (water introduction from water injecting to oil producing wells aimed at oil displacement and subsequent oil recovery). Water is typically introduced not earlier than the end of active and most cost effective stage of development (10-20 years). The water introduction is aimed at the increase of layer pressure. In Russia after pumping millions of tons of water and extractingabout 40% of oil deposits the process gradually turns from oil extraction into water extraction. This process is accompanied by the formation of skin layer consisting of viscous heavy oil, which more easily adheres to the surface of pores and cracks as compared to light oil. Because of oil hydrophobic properties, the water driven from water injection to oil recovery wells moves along the washouts thus displacing oil on a very limited scale. As a result of this about 60% of Russian known oil reserves stay underground labeled difficult or impossible to extract. These difficulties are further aggravated by the ever-increasing cost of geological survey of new oil fields, almost all deposits at small depth (up to 5 km) being already known. Still during the recent years there has evolved a way to solve the above-described problems by means of thermochemical technology of Binary Mixtures (BM) [1-6].