Assessing EOR strategies for application in Brazilian pre-salt reservoirs

Abstract

Petroleum is a fossil energy source massively used in our society, even with the rise of renewable sources. Therefore, oil production demand is predicted to increase in future years to attend population needs. On contrary with this scenario, the discovery of new oil reservoirs is scarce and new technologies have been developed to improve oil recovery from existing reservoirs. These technologies referred to tertiary oil recovery or Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) methods, which consist of techniques used to alter either reservoir or oil characteristics on site to recover an additional content of petroleum. Conventional EOR methods are mainly classified as chemical, gas, and thermal methods, but newer strategies have been developed. EOR methods are selected depending on appropriate suitability of reservoirs characteristics, taking into consideration for example high salinity and temperature, permeability, difficult localization, and so on. In Brazil, pre-salt reserve discovery shed light on the potential of this area in the country, now pointed to be one of the world's biggest oil and gas producers. These reservoirs are located offshore, under a deep salt layer, challenging engineers to prospect oil and gas in those conditions. With these circumstances, the present work is a literature review regarding EOR methods and their suitability for application in Brazilian pre-salt reservoirs.