A review of polymer flooding for enhanced oil recovery

Abstract

Oil has a significant role as the principal source of energy in a society with rising energy demand. According to the annual report 2021 by Shelf Drilling (a leading provider of jack-up contract drilling services), the world oil consumption grew by 0.8 million barrels per day to reach almost 101 million barrels per day in the year 2019. Several other reports mention that the global crude oil output increased by 2.1 million barrels per day, or 2.3 percent, which is more than three times the global consumption. Additionally, the recent dramatic drop in oil prices compelled oil corporations to reconsider their production plans and cut costs in light of the dynamic oil price environment. While new oil sources are still being discovered and developed, enhanced oil recovery (EOR) methods are being used more frequently. In this review paper, the features of polymers utilized for EOR, including synthetic and natural polymers (biopolymers) are discussed. Also, the numerous EOR applications such as polymer flooding, polymer foam flooding, alkali–polymer flooding, surfactant–polymer flooding, alkali–surfactant polymer flooding, and polymeric nanofluid flooding are generalized and evaluated. With new advancements in the applications of polymeric nanofluid, it is capable of taking over the oil industry efficiently in polymer flooding for EOR. Additionally, due to their general macromolecular structure and viscoelastic characteristics, polymers are important in EOR.