Improved Oil Recovery with Viscoelastic Surfactant: Screening and Effectiveness of Formulations

摘要

Middle East carbonate reservoirs are usually characterized as high temperature and high saline (HTHS) reservoirs. In chemical enhanced oil recovery (cEOR), interfacial tension (IFT) and capillary number are the key parameters that alter the reservoir environment. Viscoelastic surfactant (VES) is introduced due to its dual capability of lowering the IFT and improving the sweep efficiency of the reservoir. In this work, the main objective is to screen out a novel VES for cEOR applications in HTHS carbonate reservoirs.