American Oil and Gas Reporter - April 2016 - 25

TECHCONNECTIONS
Tight Oil Begins
To Have An Impact On
IOR Conference
The Mid-Continent Section of the Society of Petroleum Engineers was to host its 20th Improved Oil Recovery Conference,
April 9-13 in Tulsa. The biennial event has been showcasing improved and enhanced oil recovery technology for 40 years, and
since 1978 has boasted the world's largest gathering of individuals interested in the subject. The theme of this year's event is "New
Challenges, New Solutions," highlighting the industry's response to challenges spawned in part from developing successful IOR technology.
Over the years, the Improved Oil Recovery Conference has been
focused largely on what many would call traditional approaches to secondary and tertiary oil recovery. According to IORC organizers, for the most part, these traditional approaches will remain the focus in 2016, however, the addition of improved and
enhanced oil recovery in unconventional reservoirs has emerged
as an important topic since its introduction to the event in 2012.
According to Michael Wiggins, chairman of the 2016 SPE IOR
Committee, improved oil recovery has undergone a huge shift with
advances in horizontal drilling and multistage hydraulic fracturing technology. However, as the industry moves forward, EOR
should not be overlooked as a subset of IOR. Wiggins most recently served as president and chief engineer of Mid-Con Energy Group, and has more than 30 years of experience in academia
and the upstream oil and gas industry.
He asserts that only a long-term commitment to understanding reservoir behavior, and to developing technologies around that
behavior, will maximize ultimate recovery of the country's massive resources. In an SPE planning meeting, Wiggins discussed
how embracing horizontal drilling and multistage fracturing in unconventional reservoirs had shifted industry's focus to large initial production rates in the short term, while stifling efforts aimed
at long-term reservoir management. Wiggins encourages engineers
and managers to take a long-term approach to their wells, and not
be so focused on the short-term payout of high producing wells,
which may yield only 10-15 percent of the original oil in place.
In recent years, enhanced oil recovery generally has been bypassed for large IPs and the quick return-on-investment cycles of
horizontal drilling and multistage fracturing in unconventional
reservoirs. Wiggins worries that the total reliance on these
short-term results by managers and young engineers eventually
may damage the industry, unless well operators also have a good
understanding of managing a reservoir over its entire production
life cycle.
When looking at the application of enhanced oil recovery practices in unconventional reservoirs, Wiggins states that thus far there
has been no set answer for which approach works best. He encourages continued research and field work in the area. Wiggins
notes that traditionally, companies have injected fluid to displace
hydrocarbons from rock, but says it remains to be seen whether
injecting water or chemicals will have any significant impact on
low-permeability reservoirs.
There are additional questions around carbon dioxide's ability to interact with enough oil to make CO2 injection economic.

"Improved oil recovery has undergone a
huge shift with advances in horizontal
drilling and multistage hydraulic

"

fracturing.

Wiggins encourages continued research in this area, pointing out
that if operators are recovering only 10-15 percent of the total oil
in place in unconventional reservoirs, the industry is missing out
on a tremendous oil target that should not be ignored.
Addressing CO2 for enhanced oil recovery, Wiggins recognizes
the perception of carbon capture and sequestration, and that injecting CO2 into an oil-bearing reservoir for enhanced recovery
while disposing of the CO2 is seen as a win-win for industry. But
he cautions that only a small portion of these projects actually have
been implemented. Additionally, continued negative public perceptions of the oil and gas industry may impact its ability to successfully apply this technology in a large number of reservoirs.
Wiggins also discussed the role of the U.S. Department of Energy in funding oil and gas research. Once a longtime supporter of the Improved Oil Recovery Conference, funding from the
DOE has faded for many oil and gas initiatives in favor of renewable energy research, and projects related to clean-coal CO2
sequestration. Wiggins says he firmly believes in DOE support
for fundamental research related to exploring and producing the
United States' vast oil and gas resources, specifically in the areas of reservoir characterization and the recovery process. He says
he believes that overall, the oil and gas industry has lagged in creating the right research environment for long-term enhanced oil
recovery growth. Wiggins encourages practitioners to emphasize
the research aspects of operations to realize the future payoff.
This year's Improved Oil Recovery Conference was being held
at the Cox Business Center in downtown Tulsa, and featured more
than 100 papers devoted to the science of improved oil recovery.
The event also was to include exhibitors from around the country, showcasing their products and technologies.
❒

JEREMY VISCOMI is the di-

rector of technology transfer
for the University of Kansas
Tertiary Oil Recovery Program and the PTTC Midcontinent Region office. He has
more than a decade of experience in developing and organizing technical conferences
and special events.
APRIL 2016 25



American Oil and Gas Reporter - April 2016

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of American Oil and Gas Reporter - April 2016

Contents
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