Laboratory Study of Secondary Biopolymer Flooding of Safaniya Crude Oil Through Horizontal Well

This paper presents an experimental investigation of the biopolymer flooding of Safaniya crude oil through horizontal well in a laboratory scaled models. Two models were scaled according to two possible horizontal and vertical field arrays. Different biopolymer concentrations were used to determine the effective concentration for Safaniya crude oil biopolymer flooding. Oil recovery and oil cut from horizontal and vertical injectors were compared.The results showed that displacing Safaniya crude oil with 0.15% concentration yielded the highest oil recovery. Diagonally placed horizontal well in the mixed arrays resulted in more oil recovery than vertical injector and parallel placed horizontal well. Parallel placed horizontal well resulted in a higher unswept area by the biopolymer which reduced oil recovery

Testing of Saudi Sandstones for Potential Use in Hydraulic Fracturing of Hydrocarbon Reservoirs

This paper presents the results of testing four Saudi sandstone containing formations namely; Dammam, Al-Biyad and Al-Wassia, Al-Manjour, and Durma to be used as propping agents for hydraulic fracturing operations. A review of Saudi oil reservoirs showed that about 35% of these reservoirs have permeabilities lower than 0.05 darcy and may need hydraulic fracturing operations in the future to increase oil productivity.The analysis showed that the Saudi sandstones are friable and composed mainly of quartz. The sands can produce four proppant mesh sizes: 30/50, 40/70, 60/120 and 70/140, which are common in hydraulic fracturing operations. The physical properties meet or exceed the recommended API values. The proppants produced from Dammam and Al-Manjour sands can be used in hydraulic fracturing with acid attack. The other proppants are to be used in hydraulic fracturing without acid attack. Also, the proppant mesh sizes are to be recommended for fracturing shallow and medium depth Saudi reservoirs, depth down to 8000 feet, and can be produced economically