Date of Award
January 2020
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Science (MS)
Department
Geological Engineering
First Advisor
Dongmei Wang
Abstract
The heavy oil reserves of the Ugnu and West Sak Formations in Alaska offer major production challenges, including proximity to the permafrost layer and exceptionally high viscosities. Despite deeper reserves, most of the untouched heavy oil deposits in the West Sak and Ugnu sands are at shallow depths with a low API gravity (< 15 degrees). The objective of this study is to evaluate permafrost subsidence while extracting heavy oil from shallow reservoir using polymer flooding. The approach to this study will focus on using geological properties taken from well logs, completion logs and available core data from 32 wells and applying them to a numerical fluid flow model. Calculations were completed for eight cross-sections taking into consideration the following outcomes: Formation tops, permafrost depth, porosity, water saturation, and permeability. Eleven numerical models were created showing polymer flooding is an effective enhanced oil recovery (EOR) process that minimizes permafrost subsidence.
Recommended Citation
Namie, Shane, "Polymer Flooding: Predicting Permafrost Stability For The WSak And Ugnu Alaska North Slope Reservoirs" (2020). Theses and Dissertations. 3289.
https://commons.und.edu/theses/3289