DISTINGUISHED AUTHOR SERIES

Improved Oil Recovery by Low-Salinity Waterflooding

Norman Morrow, SPE, and Jill Buckley, SPE, University of Wyoming

Waterflooding was first practiced for pressure maintenance after primary depletion and has since become the most widely adopted improved-oil-recovery (IOR) technique. It is now commonly applied at the outset of reservoir development. The reservoir-connate-water composition usually differs significantly from the composition of water available for injection. Parametric laboratory studies of crude-oil recovery showed that, for connate and injected brines of the same or different composition, waterflood recoveries could differ substantially depending on brine composition. However,

laboratory tests designed to predict waterflood performance usually have not incorporated the difference in connate and injected brines. Low-Salinity Waterflooding Improved recovery of crude oil by low-salinity waterflooding (LSW), with only modest increase in resistance to flow, was reported by Tang and Morrow (1997). Since then, many laboratories and organizations have grappled with the opportunities and problems associated with identifying, reproducing, and explaining the low-salinity effect (LSE). Various forms of LSE and the necessary conditions for its occurrence are reviewed. The evidence, mounting rapidly from both field and laboratory studies, is examined with the aim of facilitating identification of LSW targets and design of the floods. Necessary conditions for LSE identified by Tang and Morrow (1999) in Berea-sandstone cores were as follows. Significant clay fraction Presence of connate water Exposure to crude oil to create mixed-wet conditions Note, however, that while necessary for the types of sandstones investigated, these conditions are not sufficient; many outcrop sandstones meeting these conditions have not shown LSE recovery. The cause of such significant differences has yet to be identified. Identification of promising LSE projects requires specific laboratory tests, followed by pilot tests of increasing scale. It should be noted also that some special cases of LSE have been identified in which dissolution of soluble minerals occurs upon injection of the low-salinity flood water in either carbonates or sandstones. LSW at Initial Water Saturation (Swi) The term LSW at Swi used here is what has been referred to as secondary-mode LSW that begins at Swi. Some of the first observations of LSE for waterflood recoveries are summarized in Table 1. The table shows a matrix of the amount of oil recovered as a percent of the original oil in place (% OOIP) from Berea-sandstone cores with combinations of connate and injected compositions ranging from a full-strength synthetic reservoir brine [high-salinity
Copyright 2011 Society of Petroleum Engineers This is paper SPE 129421. Distinguished Author Series articles are general, descriptive representations that summarize the state of the art in an area of technology by describing recent developments for readers who are not specialists in the topics discussed. Written by individuals recognized as experts in the area, these articles provide key references to more definitive work and present specific details only to illustrate the technology. Purpose: to inform the general readership of recent advances in various areas of petroleum engineering.

Norman R. Morrow, SPE, is the World Chair of Energy and J.E. Warren Distinguished Professor of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering at the University of Wyoming. He holds BS and PhD degrees from the University of Leeds. In 2001, Morrow was elected to the National Academy Morrow of Engineering. His main areas of research include reservoir wettability and improved oil recovery by waterflooding and spontaneous imbibition. Morrow has authored more than 165 publications and has served on several SPE Technical Committees, the SPE Editorial Review Committee, and served as an SPE Distinguished Lecturer. Jill Buckley, SPE, is an Adjunct Professor in the Chemical and Petroleum Engineering Department at the University of Wyoming and is an Emeritus Senior Scientist in and former head of the Petrophysics and Surface Chemistry Group at the Petroleum Recovery Research Center Buckley at New Mexico Tech in Socorro, New Mexico. She holds BS and MS degrees in chemistry from University of California, Los Angeles and New Mexico Tech, respectively, and a PhD degree in petroleum engineering from Heriot-Watt University. Buckley is an SPE Distinguished Member and has served on numerous SPE committees and as an SPE Distinguished Lecturer.

106

JPT MAY 2011

TABLE 1LSW AT Swi FOR BEREA SANDSTONE, DAGANG CRUDE OIL, AND A MATRIX OF CONNATE AND INJECTED WATERFLOOD IONIC COMPOSITIONS (TANG AND MORROW 1997) Oil Recovery, % OOIP Connate: Injected: HS MS LS 50 50 56 65 71 80 80 HS MS LS

the distinct advantage of demonstrating LSE in a single piece of core. Fig. 2 shows one of the more encouraging examples for reservoir rock, with recovery increased by 25% over HSW. When response to LSW at Sor requires injection of many PVs of water, LSW may seem impractical, because the amount of injected water seldom exceeds the reservoir PV. However, the well-to-well volume swept by the injected brine will be only a small fraction of the reservoir PV. For the most comprehensive available data set, relative increases in recoveries over HS floods averaged 14% for 18 reservoirs (Lager et al. 2007). Reservoir Tests of LSW Webb et al. (2004) provided the first field evidence of reduction in residual oil by LSE. Log/inject/log measurements showed that the residual oil within approximately 4 in. of a wellbore was reduced by up to 60% by use of LSW. Singlewell chemical-tracer tests showed that HSW residual oil was reduced by approximately 13% OOIP within a radius of 13 to 14 ft around the wellbore by LSW (McGuire et al. 2005), consistent with laboratory core tests. Recovery of residual oil between wells separated by 1,000 ft was reported recently by Seccombe et al. (2010). However, a candidate North Sea field that met the necessary conditions for LSE did not respond to LSW in either laboratory or pilot tests (Skrettingland et al. 2010). Although this response may have been disappointing, it provides a further example of consistency between laboratory and field tests, which is encouraging with respect to screening LSW candidates. Many of the ongoing LSW laboratory and field projects within the oil industry are not reported in open literature. Nevertheless, the growth in interest is indicated by the recent increase in the number of LSW-related publications (Fig. 3) and by designation of LSW
100 90 80

(HS)] to one-tenth-strength [moderate-salinity (MS)] and to one-hundredth-strength [low-salinity (LS)] dilutions. The reservoir-brine composition is based on that of a produced Dagang oilfield brine of 24,168 ppm. Recovery curves are compared in Fig. 1 for cases in which there is no change in ionic composition between connate and injected water. The increase in recovery with reduced salinity clearly shows the improvements in recovery resulting from the LSE. For this data set, if the connate water is LS, oil recoveries by waterflood of either LS or HS are maximized. The case of LSW at Swi of practical interest is with HS connate brine and LS injected brine. Recovery was 6% OOIP higher with LS than for either HS or MS injected. Much larger LSE was found for reservoir crude oil and rock (Tang and Morrow 1999; Webb et al. 2005). LSW at Residual-Oil Saturation (Sor) There is special interest in applying LSW to watered-out reservoirs, nominally at Sor, after HS waterflooding (HSW). The term LSW at Sor used here refers to so called tertiary-mode LSW. In the laboratory, tests of LSW at Sor after HSW have
100 90

Oil Recovery, OOIP

80

Oil Recovery, OOIP

70 60 50 40 30 20 10

LSE

70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 0 2 4 6 8 10 12

LSE

LS displacing LS MS displacing MS HS displacing HS

HSW

LSW

Injected Brine Volume, PV

0 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35

Fig. 1Waterflood recovery vs. pore volume (PV) showing LSE for LSW at Swi. Connate and injected have identical ionic concentrations. Experiments were conducted in matched Berea-sandstone core plugs.

Brine-Injected, PV Fig. 2Waterflood recovery showing LSE for LSW at Sor with reservoir core and fluids.

JPT MAY 2011

107

DISTINGUISHED AUTHOR SERIES

30 25 20 15 10 5 0

Number of LSE Papers

20 03

19 96

19 98

20 04

20 05

19 99

20 00

20 06

20 07

20 08

20 02

20 09

Year
Fig. 3Interest in LSW has increased as indicated by the number of publications and presentations focused on LSE. The bibliography contains the complete list for this figure.

as an IOR process at the SPE/DOE Symposium on Improved Oil Recovery, Tulsa, since 2006. LSE Mechanisms Despite growing interest in LSE, a consistent mechanistic explanation has not yet emerged. In part, this may be the result of the use of different materials (especially rocks and crude oils) and variations in test procedures. The complexity of the minerals, crude oils, and aqueous-phase compositions and the interactions among all these phases also may contribute to confusion about the cause of LSE. The variety of circumstances under which LSE may or may not be observed suggests that more than one mechanism may be in play. LSE was first observed in Berea sandstone with permeabilities of 500 to 1,000 md. Increased pH of effluent was noted and ascribed to ion exchange, but the effluent oil/brine interfacial tensions were too high for increased recovery to be accounted for by saponification of oil components. It was suggested that limited release of mixed-wet fine particles, probably kaolinite, with associated change toward waterwetness, was responsible for LSE. Exposure to crude oil has been shown to limit the rate of kaolinite-particle release from Berea sandstone (Sarkar and Sharma 1990), thus limiting the amount of formation damage that might be observed under strongly water-wet conditions. Changes, if any, in pressure drop associated with LSE usually are modest and transient. There are numerous examples of LSW for which production of fine particles is not observed. However, the number of submicron-sized particles in sandstone that change location during waterflooding has been demonstrated to increase with a decrease in salinity. Formation of lamellae, possibly stabilized by fine particles, which redirect flow, has been suggested as a possible cause of increase in pressure drop and oil recovery. Exposure of rocks to crude oil is known to cause wettability alteration toward decreased water-wetness. Further wettability alteration, usually toward increased water-wetness during the course of LSW, is the most frequently suggested cause of increased recovery. Note that establishing mixedwettability by exposure to water and crude oil was a necessary condition for LSE. It has been postulated that when
108

wettability changes from less to more water-wet conditions, oil is released from rock surfaces and recovery is increased. Evidence for change in wettability, however, is often indirect, such as from changes in relative permeability curves or centrifuge capillary pressures. The most direct, but less frequently used, measure of the wettability of rocks is the rate of spontaneous imbibition of the wetting fluid. Often, results are scaled to account for core and fluid properties. Fig. 4 shows scaled rates of imbibition for HS displacing HS, MS displacing MS, and LS displacing LS, corresponding to the waterfloods shown in Fig. 1. Comparable initial rates of imbibition are measured in all three cases, but the extent of imbibition increases significantly with a decrease in salinity. Explaining the increases in microscopic displacement efficiency observed for both spontaneous imbibition and waterflooding is key to understanding LSE.
100 90 80 LS displacing LS MS displacing MS HS displacing HS

Oil Recovery, OOIP

70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 1 10 100 1000 10000 100000

Dimensionless Time, tD

Fig. 4Oil displacement by spontaneous imbibition of water. Concentrations of connate and imbibing water are the same.

20 10

20 01

JPT MAY 2011

Many interactions are affected by substantial changes in salinity. LS processes often are in the range where surface forces at charged rock/water and oil/water interfaces, screened at HS, become important, affecting ion exchange, fines release, sorption of organics. Mineral solubilities also are affected; increased recovery has been demonstrated for cores containing anhydrite, but slow dissolution of less-soluble minerals from Berea sandstone has been observed (Meyers and Salter 1984). Additional contributions that may play a role in LSW processes in which connate and injected water are not the same, as always occurs in practice, include mixing, dynamic ion exchange, and osmotic effects. Identifying a mechanism or, more likely, a suite of mechanisms responsible for LSE requires detailed monitoring of waterflood and imbibition experiments. Oil recovery has been shown to pass through a maximum at weakly water-wet states for various mixedwettability conditions. In more-general studies of oil recovery, special attention must be given to explaining how the interpreted shifts in wettability associated with LS are related to IOR. Mechanistic Laboratory Tests Each of the tests in Table 1 was made in separate, matched Berea-sandstone core plugs. This approach ensures that each core plug undergoes exactly the same sequence of treatments, varying only in the aqueous-phase compositions, as indicated. However, a reliable supply of a uniform model rock that shows LSE is required. Experience with LSW on Berea sandstone has shown that even for outcrop rock, LSE can be highly variable with sometimes no LSE for either LSW at Swi or LSW at Sor. The cause for these variations in response is a key question that has yet to be answered. Work on reservoir-core samples is always needed for specific applications, but obtaining matched reservoir-core plugs is problematic because of both heterogeneity and limitations on the number of available high-quality cores. Issues related to core cutting, storage, cleaning, and restoration also must be considered. An alternative approach, repeated use of individual plugs, would appear to have distinct advantages with respect to consistent core properties. However, an unexpected outcome of repeated use of individual cores in studying LSE was that each test could alter the outcome of subsequent tests significantly. Increased recovery could not be ascribed unequivocally to LSE. Only tests of LSW at Sor can clearly show LSE in a single plug, and sometimes the effects are smaller than those demonstrated by LSW at Swi. Concluding Remarks To date, improved recovery by LSW has targeted mobilization of remaining oil for reservoirs that are producing at water/oil ratios that press economic limits. Increased oil-production rates would provide direct evidence of successful LSW application. Laboratory tests indicate that, as with many recovery processes, much greater overall improvement in recovery would derive from application of LSW at the outset of reservoir development. However, interpretation of field results for evidence of success will involve much more ambiguity than for LSW at Sor. Confidence in the LSW processes continues to depend on laboratory observations and on improvements in understanding the mechanisms by which brine compositions affect oil recovery. The LSE has been reported for brine compositions of up to 5,000 ppm. For LSW at Sor, injection waters with compositions in the range of 2,000 to 3,000 ppm have been used in field tests. If LS water is not readily available, such as in offshore operations, desalinization will be a major component of the cost of a project. Extensive laboratory testing would be needed to obtain indications of how the injection brine can be optimized. The greatest advances in LSW will result from development of a broad understanding of the factors that determine waterflood recoveries for crude-oil/brine/rock combinations for wide ranges of ionic strength and composition. Identification of the sufficient conditions for LSE and understanding the circumstances under which there is little or no LSE remain as outstanding challenges.
JPT MAY 2011

History Matching & Forward Modeling

Fight Inefciency with the Number 1 in Reservoir Optimisation

Complete integrated solution for: Sensitivity studies Assisted history matching Production forecasting Uncertainty quantication Simulation analysis Production optimisation Visit us at: European Association of Geoscientists & Engineers (EAGE) Vienna 23-26 May Stand 2122

www.sptgroup.com

be dynamic

DISTINGUISHED AUTHOR SERIES

References
Lager, A., Webb, K.J., Black, C.J.J. 2007. Impact of Brine Chemistry on Oil Recovery. Paper A24 presented at the 14th EAGE Symposium on Improved Oil Recovery, Cairo, 2224 April. McGuire, P Chatham, J.R., Paskvan, F .L., .K., Sommer, D.M., and Carini, F 2005. Low-Salinity Oil Recovery: An Exciting New .H. EOR Opportunity for Alaskas North Slope. Paper SPE 93903 presented at the SPE Western Regional Meeting, Irvine, California, USA, 30 March1 April. doi: 10.2118/93903-MS. Meyers, K.O. and Salter, S.J. 1984. Concepts Pertaining to Reservoir Pretreatment for Chemical Flooding. Paper SPE 12696 presented at the SPE/DOE Enhanced Oil Recovery Symposium, Tulsa, 1518 April. doi: 10.2118/12696-MS. Sarkar, A.K. and Sharma, M.M. 1990. Fines Migration in Two-Phase Flow. J Pet Technol 42 (5): 646652; Trans., AIME, 289. SPE17437-PA. doi: 10.2118/17437-PA. Seccombe, J., Lager, A., Jerauld, G., Jhaveri, B., Buikema, T., Bassler, S., Denis, J., Webb, K., Cockin, A., and Fueg, E. 2010. Demonstration of Low-Salinity EOR at Interwell Scale, Endicott Field, Alaska. Paper SPE 129692 presented at SPE/DOE Improved Oil Recovery Symposium, Tulsa, 2428 April. Skrettingland, K., Holt, T., Tweheyo, M.T., and Skjevrak, I. 2010. Snorre Low Salinity Water InjectionCore Flooding Experiments And Single Well Field Pilot. Paper SPE 129877 presented at the SPE/DOE Improved Oil Recovery Symposium, Tulsa, 2428 April. doi: 10.2118/129877-MS. Tang, G.Q. and Morrow, N.R. 1997. Salinity, Temperature, Oil Composition, and Oil Recovery by Waterflooding. SPE Res Eng 12 (4): 269276. doi: 10.2118/36680-PA. Tang, G.Q. and Morrow, N.R. 1999. Influence of Brine Composition and Fines Migration on Crude Oil/Brine/Rock Interactions and Oil Recovery. J. Pet. Sci. Eng 24 (24): 99111. doi: 10.1016/ S0920-4105(99)00034-0. Webb, K.J., Black, C.J.J., and Al-Ajeel, H. 2004. Low Salinity Oil RecoveryLog-Inject-Log. Paper SPE 89379 presented at the SPE/DOE Symposium on Improved Oil Recovery, Tulsa, 1721 April. doi: 10.2118/89379-MS. Webb, K.J., Black, C.J.J., and Edmonds, I.J. 2005. Low salinity oil recovery: The role of reservoir condition corefloods. Paper C18 presented at the 13th EAGE Symposium on Improved Oil Recovery, Budapest, Hungary, 2527 April.

Tarek Ahmed
Taking Petroleum Engineering Training to a New Level
Experience the Difference
For dates & descriptions of our courses held worldwide, please visit us at

Associates Ltd.

&

All our courses are taught by instructors who are leaders in their fields

www.TarekAhmedAssociates.com
110 JPT MAY 2011

Bibliography
Agbalaka, C.C., Dandekar, A.Y., Patil, S.L., Khataniar, S., and Hemsath, J.R. 2009. Coreflooding Studies to Evaluate the Impact of Salinity and Wettability on Oil Recovery Efficiency. Transport in Porous Media 76 (1): 7794. doi:10.1007/s11242-008-9235-7. Alagic, E. and Skauge, A. 2010. Combined Low Salinity Brine Injection and Surfactant Flooding in Mixed-Wet Sandstone Cores. Energy & Fuels 24 (6): 35513559. doi:10.1021/ef1000908. Alotaibi, M.B. and Nasr-El-Din, H.A. 2009. Chemistry of Injection Water and its Impact on Oil Recovery in Carbonate and Clastic Formations. Paper SPE 121565 presented at the SPE International Symposium on Oilfield Chemistry, The Woodlands, Texas, USA, 2022 April. doi: 10.2118/121565-MS. Alotaibi, M.B., Azmy, R.M., and Nasr-El-Din, H.A. 2010. A Comprehensive EOR Study Using Low Salinity Water in Sandstone Reservoirs. Paper SPE 129976 presented at the SPE Improved Oil Recovery Symposium, Tulsa, 2428 April. doi: 10.2118/129976-MS. Ashraf, A., Hadia, N.J., Torster, O., and Tweheyo, M.T. 2010. Laboratory investigation of low salinity waterflooding as secondary recovery process: effect of wettability. Paper SPE 129012 presented at the SPE Oil and Gas India Conference and Exhibition, Mumbai, India, 2022 January. doi: 10.2118/129012-MS. Austad, T., RezaeiDoust, A., and Puntervold, T. 2010. Chemical Mechanism of Low Salinity Water Flooding in Sandstone Reservoirs. Paper SPE 129767 presented at the SPE Improved Oil Recovery Symposium, Tulsa, 2428 April. doi: 10.2118/129767MS. Ayirala, S., Uehara-Nagamine, E., Matzaos, A., Chin, R., Doe, P and ., van Den Hoek, P 2010. A Designer Water Process for Offshore . Low Salinity and Polymer Flooding Applications. Paper SPE 129926 presented at the SPE Improved Oil Recovery Symposium, Tulsa, 2428 April. doi: 10.2118/129926-MS. Batias, J., Hamon,G., Lalanne, B., and Romero, C. 2009. Field and Laboratory Observations of Remaining Oil Saturations in a Light Oil Reservoir Flooded by a Low Salinity Aquifer. Paper SCA200901 presented at the 23rd International Symposium of the Society of Core Analysts, Noordwijk aan Zee, The Netherlands, 2730 September. Berg, S., Cense, A.W., Jansen, E., and Bakker, K. 2009. Direct Experimental Evidence of Wettability Modification by Low Salinity. Paper SCA 2009-12 presented at the 23rd International Symposium of the Society of Core Analysts, Noordwijk aan Zee, The Netherlands, 2730 September. Boussour, S., Cissokho, M., Cordier, P Bertin, H., and Hamon, G. ., 2009. Oil Recovery by Low-Salinity Brine Injection: Laboratory Results on Outcrop and Reservoir Cores. Paper SPE 124277 presented at the SPE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition, New Orleans, 47 October. doi: 10.2118/124277-MS. Buckley, J.S. and Morrow, N. 2010. Improved Oil Recovery by Low Salinity Waterflooding: A Mechanistic Review. Paper presented at 11th International Symposium on Evaluation of Wettability and Its Effect on Oil Recovery, Calgary, 69 September. Chen, Q., Mercer, D., and Webb, K. 2010. NMR Study on Pore Occupancy and Wettability Modification during Low Salinity Waterflooding. Paper SCA 2010-27 presented at the 24th International Symposium of Core Analysts, Halifax, Canada, 47 October. Cissokho, M., Boussour, S., Cordier, Ph., Bertin, H., and Hamon, G. 2009. Low Salinity Oil Recovery on Clayey Sandstone:

Experimental Study. Paper SCA 2009-05 presented at the 23rd International Symposium of the Society of Core Analysts, Noordwijk aan Zee, The Netherlands, 2730 September. Fathi, S.J., Austad, T., and Strand, S. 2010. Smart Water as a Wettability Modifier in Chalk: The Effect of Salinity and Ionic Composition. Energy & Fuels 24 (4): 25142519. doi:10.1021/ ef901304m. Jerauld, G.R., Lin, C.Y., Webb, K.J., and Seccombe, J.C. 2008. Modeling Low-Salinity Waterflooding. SPE Res Eval & Eng 11 (6): 10001012. SPE-102239-PA. doi: 10.2118/102239-PA. Jerauld, G.R., Mohammadi, H., and Webb, K.J. 2010. Interpreting Single Well Chemical Tracer Tests. Paper SPE 129724 presented at the SPE Improved Oil Recovery Symposium, Tulsa, 2428 April. doi: 10.2118/129724-MS. Kumar, M. and Fogden, A. 2010. Patterned Wettability of Oil and Water in Porous Media. Langmuir 26 (6): 40364047. doi:10.1021/la903478q. Kumar, M., Fogden, A., Morrow, N.R., and Buckley, J.S. 2010. Mechanisms of Improved Oil Recovery from Sandstone by Low Salinity Flooding. Paper SCA 2010-25 presented at the 24th International Symposium of Core Analysts, Halifax, Canada, 47 October. Lager, A., Webb, K.J., and Black, C.J.J. 2007. Impact of Brine Chemistry on Oil Recovery. Paper A24 presented at the 14th EAGE Symposium on Improved Oil Recovery, Cairo, 2224 April. Lager, A., Webb, K.J., Black, C.J.J., Singleton, M., and Sorbie, K.S. 2008a. Low-Salinity Oil RecoveryAn Experimental Investigation. Petrophysics 49 (1): 2835. Lager, A., Webb, K.J., Collins, I.R., and Richmond, D.M. 2008b. LoSal Enhanced Oil Recovery: Evidence of Enhanced Oil Recovery at the Reservoir Scale. Paper SPE 113976 presented at the SPE/DOE Improved Oil Recovery Symposium, Tulsa, 1923 April.doi: 10.2118/113976-MS. Lebedeva, E., Senden, T.J., Knackstedt, M., and Morrow, N.R. 2009. Improved Oil Recovery from Tensleep Sandstone: Studies of Brine-Rock Interactions by Micro-CT and AFM. Presented at the 15th European Symposium on IOR, Paris, 2729 April. Lebedeva, E.V Fogden, A., Senden, T.J., and Knackstedt, M.A. ., 2010. Kaolinite WettabilityThe Effect of Salinity, pH and Calcium. Paper SCA 2010-11 presented at the 24th International Symposium of Core Analysts, Halifax, Canada, 47 October. Lee, S.Y., Webb, K.J., Collins, I.R., Lager, A., Clarke, S.M., OSullivan, M., Routh, A.F and Wang, X. 2010. Low Salinity Oil Recovery ., Increasing Understanding of the Underlying Mechanisms. Paper SPE 129722 presented at the SPE Improved Oil Recovery Symposium, Tulsa, 2428 April. doi: 10.2118/129722-MS. Liegthelm, D.J., Gronsveld, J., Hofman, J.P Brussee, N., Marcelis, ., F and van der Linde, H.A. 2009. Novel Waterflooding Strategy ., by Manipulation of Injection Brine Composition. Paper SPE 119835 presented at the EUROPEC/EAGE Annual Conference and Exhibition, Amsterdam, 811 June. doi: 10.2118/119835MS. Loahardjo, N., Xie, X., and Morrow, N.R. 2010. Oil Recovery by Sequential Waterflooding of Mixed-Wet Sandstone and Limestone. Energy & Fuels 24 (9): 50735080. doi:10.1021/ef100729b. Loahardjo, N., Xie, X., Winoto, W., Buckley, J., and Morrow, N. 2010. Mechanism of Improved Oil Recovery by Sequential Waterflooding. Paper presented at 11th International Symposium on Evaluation of Wettability and Its Effect on Oil Recovery, Calgary, 69 September.

JPT MAY 2011

DISTINGUISHED AUTHOR SERIES

Loahardjo, N., Xie, X., Yin, P and Morrow, N.R. 2007. Low Salinity ., Waterflooding of a Reservoir Rock. Paper SCA 2007-29 presented at the 2007 SCA International Symposium, Calgary, 1012 September. Maas, J.G., Wit, K., and Morrow, N.R. 2001. Enhanced Oil Recovery by Dilution of Injection Brine: Further Interpretation of Experimental Results. Paper SCA 2001-13 presented at the 2001 International Symposium of the Society of Core Analysts, Edinburgh, UK, 1719 September. McGuire, P .L., Chatam, J.R., Paskvan, F .K., Sommer, D.M., and Carini, F 2005. Low Salinity Oil Recovery: An Exciting New .H. EOR Opportunity for Alaskas North Slope. Paper SPE 93903 presented at the SPE Western Regional Meeting, Irvine, California, USA, 30 March1 April. doi: 10.2118/93903-MS. Meyers, K.O. and Salter, S.J. 1984. Concepts Pertaining to Reservoir Pretreatment for Chemical Flooding. Paper SPE 12696 presented at the SPE/DOE Enhanced Oil Recovery Symposium, Tulsa, 1518 April. doi: 10.2118/12696-MS. Morrow, N.R., Tang, G-Q., Valat, M., and Xie, X. 1998. Prospects of improved oil recovery related to wettability and brine composition. J. Pet. Sci. Eng. 20 (34): 267276. doi: 10.1016/S09204105(98)00030-8. Okasha, T.M. and Al-Shiwaish, A.-J. 2009. Effect of Brine Salinity on Interfacial Tension in Arab-D Carbonate Reservoir, Saudi Arabia. Paper SPE 119600 presented at the SPE Middle East Oil and Gas Show and Conference, Bahrain, 1518 March. doi: 10.2118/119600-MS. Omekeh, A., Fjelde, I., Sarnowska, A, Evje, S., and Hiorth, A. 2010. Interaction Between Minerals and Brines During Low Salinity Water Flooding: Experiments and Simulations. Presented at 11th International Symposium on Evaluation of Wettability and Its Effect on Oil Recovery, Calgary, 69 September. Patil, S., Dandekar, A.Y., Patil, S.L., and Khataniar, S. 2008. Low Salinity Brine Injection for EOR on Alask North Slope (ANS). Paper IPTC 12004 presented at the International Petroleum Technology Conference, Kuala Lumpur, 35 December. doi: 10.2523/12004-MS. Pu, H., Xie, X., Yin, P and Morrow, N.R. 2008. Application ., of Coalbed Methane Water to Oil Recovery by Low Salinity Waterflooding. Paper SPE 113410 presented at the SPE/DOE Symposium on Improved Oil Recovery, Tulsa, 1923 April. doi: 10.2118/113410-MS. Pu, H., Xie, X., Yin, P and Morrow, N.R. 2010. Low Salinity ., Waterflooding and Mineral Dissolution. Paper SPE 134042 presented at the SPE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition, Florence, Italy, 1922 September. doi: 10.2118/134042-MS. RezaeiDoust, A., Puntervold, T., and Austad, T. 2010a. A Discussion of the Low Salinity EOR Potential for a North Sea Sandstone Field. Paper SPE 134459 presented at the SPE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition, Florence, Italy, 1922 September. doi: 10.2118/134459-MS. RezaeiDoust, A., Puntervold, T., and Austad, T. 2010b. Low Salinity Flooding in Sandstones: Experimental evidence for a chemically induced pH gradient at the water-clay interface. Presented at 11th International Symposium on Evaluation of Wettability and Its Effect on Oil Recovery, Calgary, 69 September. RezaeiDoust, A., Puntervold, T., Strand, S., and Austad, T. 2009. Smart Water as Wettability Modifier in Carbonate and Sandstone: A Discussion of Similarities/Differences in the Chemical Mechanisms. Energy & Fuels 23 (9): 44794485. doi:10.1021/ef900185q. Rivet, S.M., Lake, L.W., and Pope, G.A. 2010. A Coreflood Investigation of Low-Salinity Enhanced Oil Recovery. Paper SPE 134297 presented at the SPE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition, Florence, Italy, 1922 September. doi: 10.2118/134297-MS. Robertson, E.P 2007. Low-Salinity Waterflooding to Improve Oil . RecoveryHistorical Field Evidence. Paper SPE 109965 paper presented at the Annual Technical Conf. and Exhibition, Anaheim, California, USA, 1114 November. doi: 10.2118/109965-MS. Robertson, E.P 2010. Oil Recovery Increases by Low-Salinity . Flooding: Minnelusa and Green River Formations. Paper SPE 132154 presented at the SPE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition, Florence, Italy, 1922 September. doi: 10.2118/132154-MS. Robertson, E.P Thomas, C.P Zhang, Y., and Morrow, N.R. 2003. ., ., Improved Waterflooding through Injection-Brine Modification. Report No. INEEL/EXT-02-01591, DOE Contract No. DE-AC0799ID13727, Idaho National Laboratory, Idaho Falls, Idaho (January 2003), 169. Sarkar, A.K. and Sharma, M.M. 1990. Fines Migration in Two-Phase Flow. J Pet Technol 42 (5): 646652; Trans., AIME, 289. SPE17437-PA. doi: 10.2118/17437-PA. Seccombe, J., Lager, A., Jerauld, G., Jhaveri, B., Buikema, T., Bassler, S., Denis, J., Webb, K., Cockin, A., and Fueg, E. 2010. Demonstration of Low-Salinity EOR at Interwell Scale, Endicott Field, Alaska. Paper SPE 129692 presented at SPE/DOE Improved Oil Recovery Symposium, Tulsa, 2428 April. Seccombe, J.C., Lager, A., Webb, K., Jerauld, G., and Fueg, E.S. 2008. Improving Wateflood Recovery: LoSal EOR Field Evaluation. Paper SPE 113480 presented at the SPE/DOE Symposium on Improved Oil Recovery, Tulsa, 2023 April. doi: 10.2118/113480MS. Sharma, M.M. and Filoco, P 2000. Effect of Brine Salinity and .R. Crude-Oil Properties on Oil Recovery and Residual Saturations. SPE J. 5 (3): 293300. SPE-65402-PA. doi: 10.2118/65402-PA. Skrettingland, K., Holt, T., Tweheyo, M.T., and Skjevrak, I. 2010. Snorre Low Salinity Water InjectionCore Flooding Experiments And Single Well Field Pilot. Paper SPE 129877 presented at the SPE/DOE Improved Oil Recovery Symposium, Tulsa, 2428 April. doi: 10.2118/129877-MS. Sorbie, K.S. and Collins, I.R. 2010. A Proposed Pore-Scale Mechanism for How Low Salinity Waterflooding Works. Paper SPE 129833 presented at the SPE Improved Oil Recovery Symposium, Tulsa, 2428 April. doi: 10.2118/129833-MS. Tang, G. and Morrow, N.R. 2002. Injection of Dilute Brine and Crude Oil/Brine/Rock Interactions. In Environmental Mechanics: Water, Mass and Energy Transfer in the Biosphere, ed. P .A.C. Raats, D. Smiles, and A.W. Warrick, No. 129, 171179. Washington, DC: Geophysical Monograph, American Geophysical Union. Tang, G.Q. and Morrow, N.R. 1997. Salinity, Temperature, Oil Composition, and Oil Recovery by Waterflooding. SPE Res Eng 12 (4): 269276. SPE-36680-PA. doi: 10.2118/36680-PA. Tang, G.-Q. and Morrow, N.R. 1999a. Influence of brine composition and fines migration on crude oil/brine/rock interactions and oil recovery. J. Pet. Sci. Eng. 24 (24): 99111. doi:10.1016/S09204105(99)00034-0. Tang, G.-Q. and Morrow, N.R. 1999b. Oil Recovery by Waterflooding and Imbibition Invading Brine Cation Valency and Salinity. Paper SCA-9911 presented at the 1999 International Symposium of the Society of Core Analysts, Golden, Colorado, USA, 14 August.

JPT MAY 2011

Tong, Z., Yin, P Morrow, N.R., and Brabec, D.J. 2006. Improvement ., of Water Flood Performance of Low-Permeability Sandstone Reservoirs. Paper 107246 presented at the AAPG Rocky Mountain Section Annual Meeting, Billings, Montana, USA, 1013 June. Vledder, P Fonseca, J.C., Wells, T., Gonzalez, I., and Ligthelm, ., D. 2010. Low Salinity Water Flooding: Proof of Wettability Alteration On a Field Wide Scale. Paper SPE 129564 presented at the SPE Improved Oil Recovery Symposium, Tulsa, 2428 April. doi: 10.2118/129564-MS. Webb, K.J., Black, C.J.J., and Al-Ajeel, H. 2004. Low Salinity Oil RecoveryLog-Inject-Log. Paper SPE 89379 presented at the SPE/DOE Symposium on Improved Oil Recovery, Tulsa, 1721 April. doi: 10.2118/89379-MS. Webb, K.J., Black, C.J.J., and Edmonds, I.J. 2005. Low salinity oil recovery: The role of reservoir condition corefloods. Paper C18 presented at the 13th EAGE Symposium on Improved Oil Recovery, Budapest, Hungary, 2527 April. Webb, K.J., Lager, A., and Black, C. 2008. Comparison of High/ Low Salinity Water/Oil Relative Permeability. Presented at the International Symposium of the Society of Core Analysts, Abu Dhabi, UAE, 29 October2 November. Wickramathilaka, S., Morrow, N.R., and Howard, J. 2010. Effect of Salinity on Oil Recovery by Spontaneous Imbibition. Paper SCA 2010-12 presented at the 24th International Symposium of Core Analysts, Halifax, Canada, 47 October. Wideroee, H.C., Rueslaatten, H., Boassen, T., Crescente, C.M., Raphaug, M., Soerland, G.H., and Urkedal, H. 2010. Investigation

of Low Salinity Water Flooding by NMR and CRYOESEM. Paper SCA 2010-26 presented at the 24th International Symposium of Core Analysts, Halifax, Canada, 47 October. Wu, Y.-S. and Bai, B. 2009. Efficient Simulation for Low-Salinity Waterflooding in Porous and Fractured Reservoirs. Paper SPE 118830 presented at the SPE Reservoir Simulation Symposium, The Woodlands, Texas, USA, 24 February. doi: 10.2118/118830MS. Xie, X., Pu, H., and Morrow, N.R. 2007. Aspects of Coalbed Natural Gas Water and Oil Recovery. Presented at the 24th National Meeting of the American Society of Mining and Reclamation, Gillette, Wyoming, USA, 26 June. Yousef, A., Al-Saleh, S., Al-Kaabi, A., and Al-Jawfi, M. 2010. Laboratory Investigation of Novel Oil Recovery Method for Carbonate Reservoirs. Paper SPE 137634 presented at the Canadian Unconventional Resources and International Petroleum Conference, Calgary, 1921 October. doi: 10.2118/137634-MS. Zhang, Y. and Morrow, N.R. 2006. Comparison of Secondary and Tertiary Recovery With Change in Injection Brine Composition for Crude Oil/Sandstone Combinations. Paper SPE 99757 presented at the SPE/DOE Symposium on Improved Oil Recovery, Tulsa, 2226 April. doi: 10.2118/99757-MS. Zhang, Y., Xie, X., and Morrow, N.R. 2007. Waterflood performance by injection of brine with different salinity for reservoir cores. Paper SPE 109849 presented at the SPE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition, Anaheim, California, USA, 1114 November. doi: 10.2118/109849-MS. JPT

JPT MAY 2011