The Potential of Enhanced Oil Recovery by Micellar/Polymer Flooding in Heterogeneous Reservoirs

The performance prediction of a micellar polymer flood in a complex reservoir requires an accurate model that represents the reservoir features, chemical properties, and displacement mechanisms that affect the flood performance. First, this article provides a comprehensive comparison of micellar polymer flood with other recovery techniques, such as waterflooding, polymer flooding, and surfactant flooding. Then, the article states the successful evidences of micellar polymer flooding in a highly heterogeneous oil field in Vietnam. The results indicate that waterflooding is only efficient for homogeneous reservoirs and it is necessary to apply chemical flooding for highly heterogeneous reservoirs in tertiary hydrocarbon recovery processing. A significant value of increasing oil recovery is a reliable evidence for the worth of micellar polymer flooding.