Mathematical modeling of thermal enhanced oil recovery method

Abstract

The demand for petroleum is increasing steadily, with the International Energy Agency (IEA) projecting that the world's petroleum expenditure will rise from 3564 Million Tonnes of Oil Equivalent (MTOE) in 2007 to as much as 5471 MTOE in 2015 and 6301 MTOE in 2030. More than two-thirds of the oil discovered around the world remains unrecovered; 40–70% of the original oil is still left in place after using conventional production techniques, namely, primary and secondary recovery techniques. This paper is based on the use of the Thermal Enhanced Oil Recovery (TEOR) method in a Sudanese oil field, the Orion field. There are two types of thermal EOR methods, namely In-Situ Combustion (ISC) and Hot Fluid Injection Process. The selection of a specific thermal EOR method is crucial for economic production. Also the challenges faced, such as depth limitation, conventional completion problems, reservoir heterogeneity, etc. are discussed. In order to get maximum recovery from the field, it is necessary to select a shallow depth so that heat loss does not occur inside the formation.