SAUDI-ARAMCO INJECTION INNOVATION SEEKING A-SMARTER VERSION OF LOW-SALINITY FLOODING

摘要

In the oil industry, smart water has been synonymous with iow-salinity waterf looding to increase oil recoveries. But work by Saudi Aramco points to chemical changes that can make injection more effective other than low salinity. The goal of the SmartWater Flood research program at Saudi Aramco's EXPEC Advanced Research Center [ARC] is to modify the chemistry of the seawater it injects, altering the properties of the rock surfaces, loosening the reservoir's hold on the crude oil left after years of waterflooding. Saudi Aramco has pushed ahead with an ambitious research and development program to lookfor ways to increase Oil recovery from carbonate reservoirs by changing the salinity and ionic composition of the seawater injected to maintain pressure and push oil toward producing wells.