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US 6,186,232 B1Granted
Enhanced oil recovery by altering wettability
AssigneeAlberta Oil Sands Technology and Research Authority
InventorsEddy Isaacs, Tawfik Nasr, Alex Babchin
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Abstract
A process is disclosed for enhancing oil recovery in oil-containing reservoirs formed of water-wet sand. The process involves placing oil-wet sand in the near-bore region of a production well. The process can be used to provide an improvement to both a conventional pressure driven fluid drive process and a conventional steam-assisted gravity drainage process. In the fluid drive process, the drive fluid is injected intermittently.
Claims9
A thermal recovery method for recovering hydrocarbons from a subterranean formation, comprising:
- (a) providing at least one injection well and at least one production well, the production well having a substantially oil-wet near well-bore region, wherein the injection well and production well are vertically spaced-apart in the formation and are disposed in a substantially horizontal and parallel arrangement;
- (b) establishing fluid communication between the injection well and the production well;
- (c) injecting steam into the formation through the injection well;
- (d) recovering the hydrocarbons by gravity drainage to the production well, under a formation pressure gradient between the injection well and the production well of about 10 kPa/m, wherein the substantially oil-wet near well-bore region of the production well enhances the amount of hydrocarbons produced as compared to a substantially similar method of recovery in the formation, under the same pressure gradient, having a substantially water-wet near well-bore region.
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Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.