Reservoir heterogeneity controls of CO_(2)-EOR and storage potentials in residual oil zones:Insights from numerical simulations

Residual oil zones(ROZs)have large potential for CO_(2)enhanced oil recovery(EOR)and geologic storage.During CO_(2)injection,the migration of CO_(2)in ROZs controls the performance of both EOR and storage.However,it has not been clearly visualized and understood that how geological heterogeneity factors control the transport of CO_(2)in ROZs.In this study,the oil recovery performance and geologic storage potential during continuous CO_(2)injection in a representative ROZ are studied based on geostatistical modelling and high-fidelity three-phase flow simulation.We examined the influence of autocorrelation length of permeability,global heterogeneity(DykstraeParsons coefficient),and permeability anisotropy on cumulative oil recovery and CO_(2)retention fraction.Simulation results indicate that,as the permeability autocorrelation length increases,the cumulative oil recovery and CO_(2)storage efficiency decrease.This results from the accelerated migration of CO_(2)along high permeability zones(i.e.,gas channeling).The increase in global heterogeneity and permeability anisotropies can lead to low oil recovery and poor CO_(2)sequestration performance,depending on the degree of CO_(2)channeling.The net utilization ratio of CO_(2)(CO_(2)retained/oil produced)unfavorably increases with both autocorrelation length and Dykstra eParsons coefficient,but decreases with the increase in kv/kh.Such a decrease is attributed to enlarged swept volume induced by gravity override.The study provides important implications for fieldscale CO_(2)EOR and storage applications in ROZs.

Numerical analysis of water-alternating-CO_(2) flooding for CO_(2)-EOR and storage projects in residual oil zones

Residual oil zones(ROZs)have high residual oil saturation,which can be produced using CO_(2) miscible flooding.At the same time,these zones are good candidates for CO_(2) sequestration.To evaluate the coupled CO_(2)-EOR and storage perfor-mance in ROZs for Water-Alternating-CO_(2)(WAG)flooding,a multi-compositional CO_(2) miscible model with molecular diffusion was developed.The effects of formation parameters(porosity,permeability,temperature),operation parameters(bottom hole pressure,WAG ratio,pore volume of injected water),and diffusion coeffcient on the coupled CO_(2)-EOR and storage were investigated.Five points from the CO_(2) sequestration curve and the oil recovery factor curve were selected to help better analyze coupled CO_(2)-EOR and storage.The results demonstrate that enhanced performance is observed when formation permeability is higher and a larger volume of water is injected.On the other hand,the performance diminishes with increasing porosity,molecular diffusion of gas,and the WAG ratio.When the temperature is around 100℃,coupled CO_(2)-EOR and storage performance is the worst.To achieve optimal miscible flooding,it is recommended to maintain the bottom hole pressure(BHP)of the injection well above 1.2 minimum miscibility pressure(MMP),while ensuring that the BHP of the production well remains sufficiently high.Furthermore,the tapered WAG flooding strategy proves to be profitable for enhanced oil recovery,as compared to a WAG ratio of 0.5:1,although it may not be as effective for CO_(2) sequestration.