Runxuan Sun

Date of Award

January 2019

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department

Petroleum Engineering

First Advisor

Hui Pu

Abstract

The Bakken formation is one of the largest unconventional resources in the world with approximately 92 billion barrels of recoverable oil. However, the primary oil recovery factor remains as low as less than 10% of the original oil in place (OOIP). Given the vast Bakken resources and low primary oil recovery, there is a need and enormous potential for the enhanced oil recovery (EOR) in Bakken.

Two comprehensive numerical compositional models were built for the simulation CO2 Huff-n-Puff and cyclic surfactant injection in an actual Middle Bakken horizontal well. A good history match of primary production was obtained. Embedded Discrete Fracture Model (EDFM) method was used to efficiently handle hydraulic fractures using non-neighboring connections as a new technique in this simulation study.

The EDFM method is faster than the traditional local grid refinement method. The results of CO2 Huff-n-Puff and cyclic surfactant injection processes are compared and discussed. The simulation results show that both enhanced oil recovery processes can significantly increase oil recovery.

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