Comparison of Primary, Secondary and Tertiary Polymer Flood in Heavy Oil - Field Results

Abstract

Abstract Polymer flooding is an Enhanced Oil Recovery process usually employed in tertiary mode, after a waterflood. However, in heavy oil reservoirs the process is also commonly employed either in primary or secondary conditions because waterflooding is not considered to be economic. For new projects the question often arises as to whether it is better to start by injecting water or to go straight to polymer injection. Injecting water first provides a baseline for comparison with the polymer flood and in some cases allows an earlier start-up of the project due to the construction and commissioning of polymer mixing facilities. On the other hand, the risk is that water channeling could occur and could be irreversible, thus reducing the potential recovery during polymer injection. Some authors have reported laboratory studies comparing the different methods but so far there has been no field results published that could be used for validation or guidance. Although several polymer flood projects in heavy oil have been reported in the past few years they are still relatively few and no detailed field results have been reported to date on that issue. The largest polymer flood in heavy oil is currently being implemented in the Pelican Lake field in Canada, with several hundreds of horizontal wells injecting polymer. All the methods - primary, secondary and tertiary - have been tested and as a result the field provides a large database that allows to compare recovery and other parameters for each method. Although such a comparison is mostly focused on a single field and is thus inherently biased, it should provide useful guidelines for companies looking to start new pilots or field projects. Relevant literature on this topic will also be reviewed to present a complete review of the issue.