Complex Phased Development for CO2 EOR in Oil Carbonate Reservoir, Abu Dhabi Onshore

AbstractCO2 injection into oil reservoirs for EOR is well known as one of the most proven and efficient Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) processes. The subject study was conducted with the objective of enhancing oil recovery by injecting CO2 into a heterogeneous, low dipping and low permeability carbonate oil reservoir. The required CO2 is captured from a steel plant (Emirates Steel Industry (ESI)) which is part of a large scale carbon capture and injection project. The project entails capturing, dehydrating, compressing, and transporting the CO2 to the oilfields for sequestration and/or EOR processes. The carbon capture from ESI is part of a collaboration (Joint Venture) between ADNOC and MASDAR which will help make CO2 available for potential future EOR operations along with the added benefit of reducing Abu Dhabi's carbon footprint.As part of this initiative, planning of the CO2 EOR process as part of ADNOC's EOR strategy is essential and includes building a phased development CO2 EOR model. The strategy is to breakdown the overall objective into phased developments/projects in order to gain experience in surface and subsurface aspects of CO2 EOR, operations and mitigate risk. The end goal of the phased development is to enhance oil recovery, improve CO2 utilization, and maximize project profitability by implementing more complex operations such as Continuous/WAG CO2 injection, CO2 recycling, and the development of "difficult oil" from flank areas with higher water saturation (transition zone). This paper discusses the benefits and rationale behind building such a phased development model.