Pushing back the boundaries in oil and gas production, IFP

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Pushing back the boundaries in oil and gas production

Increases in petroleum production will depend, to a great extent, on the optimization of recovery rates. Better interpretation of field data would allow efficient scavenging techniques to be further improved. Accordingly, IFP is developing advanced underground modelling softwares.

Improving petroleum recovery rates

With existing technologies, the average worldwide recovery rate stands at 35%. Increasing this rate would significantly increase reserves of petroleum. In fact, increasing the rate by just one percent would provide an extra one or two years’ supply at current rates of consumption.

Sweep techniques can be used to improve recovery. For example, injecting immiscible fluids, such as water or pressurized gas, into wells facilitates the scavenging of the oil and improves recovery.

To further enhance well yields, it will be necessary to:

increase the efficiency of scavenging between injection wells and production wells,
reduce residual saturation following scavenging based on fluid injection.

These measures require a solid understanding of the properties of fluids and geological structures.

Modelling software for a better understanding of underground structures

Porosity, absolute and relative permeability, capilliary pressure, rheology,etc.: the properties of fluids and rocks can only be measured indirectly, through geophysical data, well logging and test drilling. IFP is committed to developing tools able to build quantitative three-dimensional reservoir models that take account of all relevant processes, from exploration through production.

The objective is to develop experimental and digital methodologies to ensure that the resulting models are consistent with:

observations made at different scales (from tiny rock samples to oil fields that are measured in kilometres),
knowledge of the geological processes involved in reservoir formation.

IFP is working on a number of projects that aim to:

improve reservoir modelling, for example by incorporating changes in fluids between the source rock and the final reservoir. Basin models will make it possible to evaluate the quality of the hydrocarbons contained in a reservoir as well as their pressure state,
develop software able to characterize and simulate production in all kinds of reservoirs. By making use of all the different data acquired during production, uncertainties about reservoir characteristics will be reduced.

New technological challenges for the petroleum industry

The exploitation of new oil fields is a highly complex matter. IFP is working closely with the oil industry to develop technologies that will facilitate their entry into production. Projects focus on:

the use of new materials to insulate pipelines or reduce their weight. Increasingly, new offshore wells are drilled in ultra deep water, giving rise to significant challenges associated with extreme pressures and temperatures,
the transport of multiphase oil (a mix of gas, oil and water) between wells and separation and treatment installations. IFP is developing software which evaluates the risk of hydrate blockage in pipelines. The transport of these hydrates, in suspension in the oil or entrained by the gas, would allow transport over longer distances by limiting the risks of obstruction,
the development of new sour gas treatment processes. This would allow the commercial exploitation of gas with high levels of H2S or CO2 while respecting increasingly strict regulations on treated gas.

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