Enclosed Solar Enhanced Oil Recovery (ESEOR)

Abstract

Enhanced oil recovery (EOR) or tertiary oil recovery is a process used in the oil industry to extract remaining crude oil from partially-exploited reservoirs by changing the characteristics of the underground oil to improve its mobility. The current study focuses on solar thermal projects in the Sultanate of Oman at the Amal oil field located in the southern Omani governorate of Dhofar. This oil field is fully owned and operated by Petroleum Development Oman (PDO), a leading oil and gas exploration and production company in the Sultanate of Oman. In these projects, enclosed parabolic troughs are used to generate steam for thermal enhanced oil recovery, using solar thermal heating. These projects are: Amal I pilot project, Amal II pilot project, and Miraah flagship project. If combined, these three projects can supply annually about two trillion Btu (British thermal units) of heat, and can produce daily up to 2,100 tonnes of steam. The conventional heating method of burning natural gas may release annually more than 100 kilotonnes of carbon dioxide. The newly added solar steam generation system is combined with an existing natural gas combustion steam generation system, leading to a favorable reduction in the natural gas consumption by about 25%. These enhanced oil recovery projects are briefly discussed here as examples of successful sustainable practices in the oil production business and engineering.