Abstract
The different techniques of enhanced oil recovery (EOR) cover a wide range of applications from light to heavy crudes. In 1988, EOR production reached 1.5 million bbl/d, representing about 3% of the total amount of oil produced in the world. North America is the main actor in this domain, ensuring half of the total EOR production. Thermal processes and gas injection represent respectively 55% and 43% of EOR production by the various processes that are widely used in the world.
From a technical point of view, research on EOR processes is among the most complex projects carried out by the oil industry. Process tailoring itself requires long lead times to do the necessary research and development. All the processes have evolved technically in recent years and steady progress has been made, but the sharp drop in the price of crude oil in 1986 again emphasized the crucial influence of the cost of these methods on their implementation.
This paper discusses the different ways of decreasing the technical and economic risks of EOR methods by mastering the main parameters of the processes thanks to extensive research and development in laboratories, by improving reservoir characterization or their performance to be predicted with some degree of confidence, and lastly by searching for synergy with new technologies that have emerged in the meantime, such as horizontal drainholes.