Green River Basin Formation water flood demonstration project, Uinta Basin, Utah

Abstract

The Green River Formation of the Uinta Basin, Utah, contains abundant hydrocarbons that are inefficiently produced by primary means. However, secondary recovery projects have only been rarely implemented, largely because of complex geology and hydrocarbon chemistry. An evaluation of the successful Lomax Monument Butte Unit water flood will be performed under this contract, and based on this information, water floods will be initiated in nearby Travis and Boundary units. The project will also develop new techniques to characterize reservoir heterogeneity and the response of the reservoir to water flooding. In 1987, Lomax Exploration Company successfully implemented a water flood on their Monument Butte Unit which has a geologically heterogeneous low energy reservoir with a high paraffin crude oil. Production of about 5% of the OOIP from primary methods was increased through the water flood to an estimated recovery of 20% OOIP. The project will: (1) perform a technical evaluation of the successful Monument Butte Unit; (2) based on this information, extend the successful water flood to nearby Travis and Boundary units; (3) develop new characterization techniques and (4) transfer the technology to operators, regulators, government agencies, and the financial community.