Oil recovery method employing alternate slugs of surfactant and fresh water

Patent · Tue Mar 27 04:00:00 EST 1984

OSTI ID:6605062

Bousaid, I S

Disclosed is a petroleum recovery method suitable for recovering petroleum from subterranean formations containing water having high salinity and/or divalent ion concentration, employing an aqueous surfactant-containing fluid which is designed to effect low surface tension displacement of petroleum in the formation in the presence of high salinity water. The improvement comprises injecting the total desired volume of surfactant in the form of a plurality of relatively small slugs of surfactant fluid, and alternatingly injecting similarly small pore volume slugs of fresh water having salinity less than the salinity of the formation water. The total pore volume of surfactant-containing fluid injected is ordinarily from 0.01 to 1.00 and preferably from 0.20 to 0.50 pore volumes. This total amount of surfactant fluid is injected in from 2 to 15 and preferably from 3 to 6 separate discrete slugs. Each slug of surfactant fluid is followed by injecting a quantity of low salinity, relatively fresh water, e.g. of salinity less than about 10,000 and preferably less than 1000 parts per million total dissolved solids. The volume of each lower salinity water isolating slug is less than 0.5 and preferably in the range of 0.05 to 0.20 pore volumes.

• Assignee: Texaco Inc.
• Patent Number(s): US 4438814
• OSTI ID: 6605062
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

02 PETROLEUM
020300* -- Petroleum-- Drilling & Production
DISPLACEMENT FLUIDS
ENHANCED RECOVERY
FLUID INJECTION
FLUIDS
FRESH WATER
GROUND WATER
HYDROGEN COMPOUNDS
OIL WELLS
OPTIMIZATION
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
QUANTITY RATIO
RECOMMENDATIONS
RECOVERY
SALINITY
SURFACTANTS
TECHNOLOGY UTILIZATION
WATER
WATERFLOODING
WELLS