Simulating Enhanced Oil Recovery (Eor) by High Pressure Air Injection (Llpai) in West Texas Light Oil Reservoir

The underlying objective of any enhanced oil recovery technique is to increase the mobility of reservoir fluids. In case of High Pressure Air Injection (HP AI), this is done by injecting pressurized air in the reservoir. This air, along with the reservoir fluids, undergoes a complex oxidation-combustion scheme and develops a fire front, which serves to heat the reservoir fluids, and thereby aids in enhanced oil recovery. This study was undertaken to investigate the potential of HPAl in a naturally fractured, light-oil reservoir. A simulation model was developed based on available laboratory and field data. The model was utilized to perform waterflood and air injection simulation runs in stratified and fractured reservoir environments. Application of horizontal wells was also investigated. The results obtained after an extensive history matching exercise using combustion tube data indicate that the reservoir under study is a very good candidate for High Pressure Air Injection.