ABSTRACT
The LD oilfield is one of the representative offshore oilfields. After weak gel flooding, the recovery rate is significantly improved. However, the oilfield is then in a medium- to high-water content stage, presenting a complex distribution of the remaining oil. The measures for further enhanced oil recovery (EOR) are uncertain. As a result, it is necessary to clarify the distribution pattern and development potential of the remaining oil during the high-water content period after weak gel flooding. In this study, an online nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) oil displacement experiment and microscopic oil displacement experiment were conducted, and the mechanisms of weak gel flooding and the distribution pattern of the remaining oil were clarified in the LD oilfield. Additionally, high-multiple water flooding and numerical simulation experiments were conducted to analyze the development potential after weak gel flooding. The results show that the effect of weak gel flooding was more significant in the core of 1500 mD, with an increase in oil recovery of 9% compared to 500 mD. At a permeability of 500 mD, the degree of crude oil mobilization in micropores and small pores caused by weak gel flooding was improved by 29.64% and 23.48%, respectively, compared with water flooding. At 1500 mD, the degree of crude oil mobilization in small pores caused by weak gel flooding was increased by 37.79% compared to water flooding. After weak gel flooding, the remaining oil was primarily distributed in medium and large pores. Microscopically, the remaining oil was dominated by cluster residual oil, accounting for 16.49%, followed by columnar, membranous, and blind-end residual oil. High multiple water flooding experiments demonstrated that weak gel flooding could significantly reduce development time. The ultimate oil recovery efficiency of 500 mD and 1500 mD reached 71.85% and 80.69%, respectively. Numerical simulation results show that the ultimate oil recovery efficiency increased from 62.04% to 71.3% after weak gel flooding. This indicated that the LD oilfield still had certain development potential after weak gel flooding. The subsequent direction for enhanced oil recovery focuses mainly on mobilizing oil in medium pores or clustered remaining oil. This will play a crucial role in further exploring methods for utilizing the remaining oil and increasing the recovery rate.
ABSTRACT
This work focuses on the development of a novel high-temperature microemulsion for enhanced oil recovery in tight oil reservoirs. Microemulsions are a type of mixture that has properties of both liquids and solids; they have shown significant potential for improving oil recovery through spontaneous imbibition. Herein, a high-temperature-tolerant lower-phase microemulsion using a microemulsion dilution method was developed. The properties and morphological characteristics of the microemulsion were evaluated and proposed a mechanism for enhanced spontaneous imbibition oil recovery using imbibition tests and CT scanning technology. The results of the study showed that the optimum concentration of the microemulsion was 0.2 wt% and that it had good thermal stability, small droplet size, lower interfacial tension, good wettability alteration ability, and minimum adsorption loss. The imbibition and CT experiments demonstrated that the reduction in oil/solid adhesion was due to the synergistic effect of IFT reduction and wettability alteration and the ability to increase the imbibition distance through a larger self-driving force. The study concludes that the solubilization coefficient and self-driving force were defined and calculated to quantitatively analyze the imbibition mechanisms and the results showed that the reduction in oil/solid adhesion was due to the synergistic effect of IFT reduction and wettability alteration and the ability to increase the imbibition distance through a larger self-driving force.