Saudi Arabian Oil Company

Schlumberger Technology Corporation

King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals

Ahmed Gmira

Ali Abdallah Al-Yousef

Subhash Chandrabose Ayirala

Dong Kyu Cha

Salah Hamad Al-Saleh

Ali Abdullah Al-Yousef

Mohammed Ali AlGeer

Wael Abdallah

Adrian Cesar Cavazos Sepulveda

Abdulkareem AlSofi

Mikhail Stukan

Theis Solling

Mohammed Badri AlOtaibi

Johannes J M Buiting

Ali Yousef

Mohammed Badri AIOtaibi

Ali Binabdi

Fatty acid salts may be used in subterranean reservoirs for conformance control. For example, methods may include: introducing a fatty acid salt including a fatty acid and a metal cation including a transition metal or a lanthanide metal to a subterranean reservoir, wherein the subterranean reservoir includes oleaginous hydrocarbons; contacting the fatty acid salt with the oleaginous hydrocarbons, wherein the fatty acid salt and the oleaginous hydrocarbons form a precipitant; and recovering oleaginous hydrocarbons from the subterranean reservoir.

Enhanced oil recovery using fatty acid salts

A method for determining interfacial tension of a hydrocarbon in a brine fluid, the method including injecting a first brine fluid into a test cell, the first brine fluid having an initial ionic composition, injecting a hydrocarbon fluid into the test cell, contacting the hydrocarbon fluid with the first brine fluid, forming a droplet, measuring the interfacial tension of the hydrocarbon fluid in contact with the first brine fluid, at least partially displacing the first brine fluid with an inert gas, measuring a ionic composition salinity of the displaced first brine fluid in an ionic chromatograph, and comparing the measured ionic composition salinity to the initial ionic composition.

Method of measurement of interfacial tension (IFT) of two immiscible fluids at reservoir conditions: an in situ gas buffered injection

A solution for injection to a formation containing hydrocarbons includes an ionic liquid and a brine having a salinity of at least 60,000 ppm total dissolved solids (TDS). The ionic liquid is configured to lower an interfacial tension between the solution and the hydrocarbons in the formation.

Reuse of hypersaline brine with ionic liquids

A method of making a portion of a microfluidic channel includes lithographically patterning a first pattern into a first layer of photoresist disposed on a substrate, the first pattern representative of morphology of a reservoir rock; etching the first pattern into the substrate to form a patterned substrate; disposing a second layer of photoresist onto the patterned substrate; lithographically patterning a second pattern into the second layer of photoresist to reveal portions of the patterned substrate; and depositing calcite onto the exposed portions of the patterned substrate.

Calcite channel structures with heterogeneous wettability

A method includes flowing an inlet solution having an inlet salinity and an inlet ion concentration from an inlet to a membrane filtration system, dynamically adjusting the salinity or ion concentration of the inlet solution in situ as the inlet solution flows to an inlet of a microfluidic cell, and determining a wettability alteration in situ while dynamically adjusting the salinity or ion concentration of the inlet solution. A system includes a fluid inlet, a microfluidic cell fluidly coupled to the fluid inlet, the microfluidic cell having a surface representative of a reservoir rock, and a membrane filtration system coupled between the microfluidic cell and the fluid inlet.

In-situ salinity and ionic concentration control for calcite coated microfluidic cell

A method for determining a contact angle of a hydrocarbon on a rock surface, the method including injecting a first brine fluid into a test cell, the first brine fluid having an initial ionic composition, injecting a hydrocarbon fluid into the test cell, contacting the hydrocarbon fluid with the first brine fluid, forming a droplet, measuring the contact angle of the hydrocarbon fluid, at least partially displacing the first brine fluid with an inert gas, measuring a ionic composition of the displaced first brine fluid in an ionic chromatograph, and comparing the measured ionic composition to the initial ionic composition.

Method for screening EOR agents effects on reservoir rock wettability: an in-situ contact angle measurement

Techniques for determining a rock wettability alteration include circulating a first brine fluid into a test cell that includes a rock sample and a hydrocarbon fluid disposed on a surface of the rock sample, the first brine fluid having a property at a first value; contacting the rock sample and the hydrocarbon fluid with the first brine fluid; measuring a first contact angle between the rock sample and the hydrocarbon fluid in contact with the first brine fluid; at least partially displacing the first brine fluid with a second brine fluid in the test cell, the second brine fluid having the property at a second value; contacting the rock sample and the hydrocarbon fluid with the second brine fluid; measuring a second contact angle between the rock sample and the hydrocarbon fluid in contact with the second brine fluid; and determining a wettability alteration of the rock sample based on at least one of the measured first or second contact angles.

Dynamically determining a rock wettability alteration

An instrument (and corresponding method) performs AFM techniques to characterize properties of a sample of reservoir rock. The AFM instrument is configured to have a probe with a tip realized from reservoir rock that corresponds to the reservoir rock of the sample. The AFM instrument is operated to derive and store data representing adhesion forces between the tip and the sample at one or more scan locations in the presence of a number of different fluids disposed between the tip and the sample. The AFM instrument is further configured to perform computational operations that process the data representing the adhesion forces for a given scan location in order to characterize at least one property of the rock sample at the given scan location. The properties can include total surface energy of the rock sample as well as wettability of the rock sample.

Growing community of inventors

Al-Khobar, Saudi Arabia

Ahmed Gmira