This paper introduces new oil recovery mechanisms for oil recovery by polymer injection in heavy oil reservoirs with strong bottom aquifers. Due to unfavorable mobility ratio between aquifer water and oil and the development of the sharp cones significant amount of oil remains unswept. To overcome these issues, for the case demonstrated in this paper, a polymer injection pilot was executed with three horizontal injectors, located a few meters above the oil/water contact. The injectivity issues resulted in frequent shutdowns of the injectors. Interestingly, the water cut reversal and oil gain continued during the shut-in periods. This observation has led to the development of a new cyclic polymer injection strategy, in which the injection of polymer is alternated with intentional well shut-ins. The strategy is referred to as Nothing-Alternating-Polymer (NAP). It was found that during polymer injection, the oil is recovered by conventional mobility and sweep enhancement mechanisms ahead of the polymer front. Additionally, during this stage the injected polymer squeezes the existing cones and creates a barrier between the aquifer and the oil column, suppressing the aquifer flux and hence the negative effect of the cones or water channels (blanketing mechanism). Moreover, injection of polymer pushes the oil to the depleted water cones, which is then produced by the water coming from the aquifer during shut-in period (recharge mechanism). During the shut-in or NAP period, the aquifer water also pushes the existing polymer bank and hence leads to extra oil production. The resistance caused by polymer adsorption reduces the extent of fingering of water into polymer bank. The NAP strategy reduces polymer loss into aquifer and improves the polymer utilization factor expressed in kg-polymer/bbl of oil, resulting in a favorable economic outcome.

Production of mature oil fields emits significant amount of CO₂ related to circulation and handling of large volumes of gas and water. This can be reduced either by (1) using a low-carbon energy source and/or (2) reducing the volumes of the non-hydrocarbon produced/injected fluids. This paper describes how improved oil recovery techniques can be designed to reduce CO₂ intensity (kgCO₂/bbl oil) of oil production by efficient use of the injectants. It is shown that CO₂ emissions associated with injection of chemicals is strongly influenced by water cut at the start of the project, extent of the water cut reduction, and chemical utilization factor defined as the volume of produced oil per mass or volume of the injectant. As an example, for the oil field considered in this study, 3–8% reduction in water cut can result in 50–80% reduction in its CO₂ intensity. In addition to the incremental oil production with lower CO₂ intensity, the earlier implementation of enhanced oil recovery methods can extend the lifetime of the mature fields if carbon emission cut-offs are applied. In case of CO₂ enhanced oil recovery (EOR), the large storage potential for CO₂ can significantly reduce the overall CO₂ emissions of oil, albeit at a large energetic cost. For CO₂ EOR using CO₂ captured from gas power plants, improving the utilization factor from 2 bbl/tCO₂ to 4 bbl/tCO₂ can reduce the CO₂ intensity of the produced oil from 120 kgCO₂/bbl to 80 kgCO₂/bbl (33% reduction).

We develop a method based on concept of exergy-return on exergy-investment (ERoEI) to determine the energy efficiency and CO₂ footprint of polymer and surfactant enhanced oil recovery (EOR). This integrated approach considers main surface and subsurface elements of the chemical EOR methods. The main energy investment in oil recovery by water injection is mainly related to circulation of water with respect to exergy of the oil produced. At large water cuts of >90%, more than 70% of the total invested energy is spent on pumping the fluids. Consequently, production of barrels of oil is associated with large amounts of CO₂ emission for mature oil fields with large water cuts. Our analysis shows that injection of polymer increases the energy efficiency of the oil recovery system. Because of additional oil (exergy gain) and less water circulation (exergy investment), the project-time averaged energy invested (and consequently CO₂ emitted) to produce one barrel of oil from polymer flooding is less than that of the water flooding at large water cuts. We conclude that polymer injection into reservoirs with high water cut can be a solution for two major challenges of the transition period: (1) meet the global energy demand via an increase in oil recovery and (2) reduce the CO₂ footprint of oil production (more and cleaner oil). For surfactant-polymer EOR, the extent of improvement in energy efficiency depends on the incremental gain and the simplicity of the formulations.

A method based on the concept of exergy-return on exergy-investment is developed to determine the energy efficiency and CO₂ intensity of polymer and surfactant enhanced oil recovery techniques. Exergy is the useful work obtained from a system at a given thermodynamics state. The main exergy investment in oil recovery by water injection is related to the circulation of water required to produce oil. At water cuts (water fraction in the total liquid produced) greater than 90%, more than 70% of the total invested energy is spent on injection and lift pumps, resulting in large CO₂ intensity for the produced oil. It is shown that injection of polymer with or without surfactant can considerably reduce CO₂ intensity of the mature waterflood projects by decreasing the volume of produced water and the exergy investment associated with its circulation. In the field examples considered in this paper, a barrel of oil produced by injection of polymer has 2–5 times less CO₂ intensity compared to the baseline waterflood oil. Due to large manufacturing exergy of the synthetic polymers and surfactants, in some cases, the unit exergy investment for production of oil could be larger than that of the waterflooding. It is asserted that polymer injection into reservoirs with large water cut can be a solution for two major challenges of the energy transition period: (1) meet the global energy demand via an increase in oil recovery and (2) reduce the CO₂ intensity of oil production (more and cleaner energy).