Review of and outlook for enhanced oil recovery in Wyoming

Thesis/Dissertation · Tue Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1985

OSTI ID:5649140

Varma, J K

A review of ongoing Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) projects in the state indicates 41 projects, 32 of which use chemical floods, 4 utilize miscible schemes, and 5 employ thermal techniques (as of September, 1984). Following the procedure used by the National Petroleum Council, 26 oil fields with over half of the total original oil in place in the state were analyzed to determine the potential target for EOR. This analysis showed that approximately 1.5 billion barrels of additional oil is recoverable by currently available EOR techniques. Separately, an economic analysis was conducted for these 26 fields which showed that both polymer and CO/sub 2/ floods were economically viable at intermediate depths (6000 feet) at a crude oil price of $28.50 per barrel. However, CO/sub 2/ floods in deep reservoirs (>9000 feet) were uneconomic at a CO/sub 2/ price of $1.25 per thousand standard cubic feet. A lower price of CO/sub 2/, in the range of $0.50-0.75 per thousand standard cubic feet, would make most of these projects economically attractive. Data were insufficient to determine the status of thermal methods - only one reservoir was available for analysis - but the scheme appeared to be marginal. The state revenues as a result of these EOR projects (through royalties, severance, and property taxes) were also computed. If one-third of the target oil, or 500 million barrels, is recovered in the next 30 years, the state revenues are expected to rise by an amount whose present worth was estimated at more than one billion dollars. The development of cheap and plentiful CO/sub 2/ in southwestern Wyoming, coupled with more orderly crude oil prices, should spur greater activity, particularly CO/sub 2/ floods.

• Research Organization: Wyoming Univ., Laramie (USA)
• OSTI ID: 5649140
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

02 PETROLEUM
020300* -- Petroleum-- Drilling & Production
020700 -- Petroleum-- Economics
Industrial
& Business Aspects
CARBON COMPOUNDS
CARBON DIOXIDE
CARBON DIOXIDE INJECTION
CARBON OXIDES
CHALCOGENIDES
DEPTH
DIMENSIONS
ECONOMIC ANALYSIS
ECONOMICS
ENERGY SOURCES
ENHANCED RECOVERY
FEDERAL REGION VIII
FLUID INJECTION
FOSSIL FUELS
FUELS
INCOME
MISCIBLE-PHASE DISPLACEMENT
NORTH AMERICA
OIL WELLS
OXIDES
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
PETROLEUM
PRICES
PRODUCTION
RECOVERY
ROYALTIES
TAXES
THERMAL RECOVERY
USA
WELLS
WYOMING