Altering wettability to recover more oil from tight formations

Brady, Patrick V.; Bryan, Charles R.; Thyne, Geoffrey; Li, Huina

doi:10.1016/j.juogr.2016.05.004

Altering wettability to recover more oil from tight formations

Journal Article · Fri Jun 03 00:00:00 EDT 2016 · Journal of Unconventional Oil and Gas Resources

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.juogr.2016.05.004· OSTI ID:1259534

Brady, Patrick V. ^[1]; Bryan, Charles R. ^[1]; Thyne, Geoffrey ^[2]; Li, Huina ^[3]

Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)
Science Based Solutions, Laramie, WY (United States)
Statoil Gulf Services LLC, Houston, TX (United States)

We describe here a method for chemically modifying fracturing fluids and overflushes to chemically increase oil recovery from tight formations. Oil wetting of tight formations is usually controlled by adhesion to illite, kerogen, or both; adhesion to carbonate minerals may also play a role. Oil-illite adhesion is sensitive to salinity, dissolved divalent cation content, and pH. We measure oil-rock adhesion with middle Bakken formation oil and core to verify a surface complexation model of reservoir wettability. The agreement between the model and experiments suggests that wettability trends in tight formations can be quantitatively predicted and that fracturing fluid and overflush compositions can be individually tailored to increase oil recovery.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

Research Organization:: Sandia National Laboratories (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA)

Grant/Contract Number:: AC04-94AL85000

OSTI ID:: 1259534

Alternate ID(s):: OSTI ID: 1356701

Report Number(s):: SAND--2015-9056J; PII: S2213397616300192

Journal Information:: Journal of Unconventional Oil and Gas Resources, Journal Name: Journal of Unconventional Oil and Gas Resources Journal Issue: C Vol. 15; ISSN 2213-3976

Publisher:: ElsevierCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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Response of Non-Polar Oil Component on Low Salinity Effect in Carbonate Reservoirs: Adhesion Force Measurement Using Atomic Force Microscopy Maskari, Nasser S. Al; Sari, Ahmad; Hossain, Md Mofazzal Energies, Vol. 13, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.3390/en13010077	journal	December 2019

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