Chapters authored
Potential of Low-Salinity Waterflooding Technology to Improve Oil Recovery
Low-salinity waterflooding (LSWF) is a potential new method for enhanced oil recovery (EOR) in sandstone and carbonate rock formations. LSWF approach has gained an attention in the oil and gas industry due to its potential advantages over the conventional waterflooding and other chemical EOR technologies. The efficiency of waterflooding process is effected via reservoir and fluid parameters such as formation rock type, porosity, permeability, reservoir fluid saturation and distribution and optimum time of water injection. Combined effect of these factors can define the ultimate recovery of hydrocarbon. The main objective of this chapter is to review the mechanism of LSWF technique in improving oil recovery and the mechanism under which it operates. Various laboratory studies and few field applications of LSWF in recent years have been presented mainly at the lab scale. Also it will explore numerical modeling developments of this EOR approach.
Part of the book: Enhanced Oil Recovery Processes
A Review of Fracturing Technologies Utilized in Shale Gas Resources
The modern hydraulic fracturing technique was implemented in the oil and gas industry in the 1940s. Since then, it has been used extensively as a method of stimulation in unconventional reservoirs in order to enhance hydrocarbon recovery. Advances in directional drilling technology in shale reservoirs allowed hydraulic fracturing to become an extensively common practice worldwide. Fracturing technology can be classified according to the type of the fracturing fluid with respect to the well orientation into vertical, inclined, or horizontal well fracturing. Depth, natural fractures, well completion technology, capacity, and formation sensitivity of a shale reservoir all play a role in the selection of fracturing fluid and fracturing orientation. At present, the most commonly used technologies are multi-section fracturing, hydra-jet fracturing, fracture network fracturing, re-fracturing, simultaneous fracturing, and CO2 and N2 fracturing. This chapter briefly reviews the technologies used in shale reservoir fracturing.
Part of the book: Emerging Technologies in Hydraulic Fracturing and Gas Flow Modelling