T252 Environmental Impact Studies for Energy Resources

Wednesday, 25 September 2019
8:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Room 127ABC, North Building

BENEFICIAL USE OF PRODUCED WATER IN DEPLETED OIL RESERVOIRS: IN-SITU CRUDE OIL CONVERSION TO METHANE GAS

Paper number: T252-12
Program: Technical Sessions
Time: 10:35 AM – 10:50 AM

Authors

Abstract

Produced water contains crude oil degrading and methanogenic microbial communities that are very well adapted to deep subsurface conditions. This property of produced water can be used to enhance the recovery of residual crude oil (mostly n-alkanes) from depleted oil reservoirs by stimulating the microbial conversion of residual crude oil to CH4 (natural gas). CH4 is easier to recover than crude oil and its generation in-situ can also serve to restore reservoir pressure. The proposed method to enhance the recovery of residual crude oil as CH4 consists of the co-injection of CO2 and produced water supplied with protein-rich matter. CO2 is co-injected to increase the availability of CO2 for CH4 production as well as to decrease the pH of the injected water to moderate acidic pH levels where the activity of H2-producing fermentative microbes is highest. Protein-rich matter is supplied to the injected produce water to provide indigenous crude oil degrading and methanogenic microbial communities key nutrients such as trace metals and amino acid compounds. In this presentation, we will introduce new batch experimental results showing that the proposed method can be used to enhance the recovery of residual crude oil from depleted oil reservoirs of Oklahoma; and based on this new results, we will discuss the potentiality of the proposed method to make a beneficial use of produced water to both reduce the release of CO2 into the atmosphere and enhance the recovery of residual crude oil from depleted oil reservoirs.

Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs. Vol. 51, No. 5

doi: 10.1130/abs/2019AM-337928

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