Date of Award

August 2024

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Petroleum Engineering

First Advisor

Olusegun Stanley Tomomewo

Abstract

Flaring of associated gas from oil wells and the excess gas from gas-processing units and oil refineries is one of the most prominent producers of greenhouse gas emissions. Flaring, by definition, is a method used to burn unwanted flammable gas, which produces significant amounts of methane, carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxide, and sulfur oxide. The petroleum industry adds millions of tons of CO2 annually into the atmosphere by flaring gas, which presents a serious risk due to the environmental and economic impacts associated with it. In light of the increasing awareness of this threat, the industry is investigating economical means to reduce the anthropogenic release of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. Oil production from the Bakken and Three Forks formations has significantly increased over the last ten years without commensurate augmentation of gas capture infrastructure, which consequently resulted in increased flaring of the associated gas. The North Dakota Industrial Commission (NDIC) has set rigorous regulations to reduce flaring. The project’s main objectives are to evaluate technically and economically the feasibility of deploying gas re-injection in the Bakken formation as a means to increase oil recovery, reduce flaring and maintain compliance. The approach addresses the compression capacity constraints, mineral ownership types, and gas availability. A flow simulation model was created to investigate gas injection and to assess the possibility of incremental oil production. Results indicate that gas injection rate of 2.8 MMcfd has the highest gas injection efficiency, up to 0.3 bbl of oil equivalent per Mcf of gas injected. High gas injection rates yielded better gas recovery up to 80%, however lower gas injection efficiency and early gas breakthrough are expected. Low gas injection rates could produce incremental oil with moderate effect on offset wells. Communication of gas is likely to occur between wells within 1500 feet and wells positioned heel to heel that are common to the well-pad facility. The findings support continued work to further investigate well configurations that can best benefit from the technique and to mature economic case studies.

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