Polymer Flooding for a Sustainable Future: Case Studies of Low-Carbon EOR in Greater Burgan Field – South-East Kuwait

Unofficial AI-generated summary based on the public title and abstract. Not an official translation.

🔬研究者:Provides a real-field case study of carbon footprint assessment for EOR, useful for benchmarking and methodology development.

🏢実務担当者:Oil and gas companies can use the approach to evaluate low-carbon EOR options and communicate emissions reductions to stakeholders.

🏛政策担当者:Highlights how EOR can be part of a net-zero strategy, informing policy on hydrocarbon development and carbon management.

Abstract This study investigated the impact of Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) by Polymer Flooding on carbon emissions in the Greater Burgan field, located in South-East Kuwait (SEK), where three large-scale polymer expansions are planned. The objective is to enhance oil recovery while reducing the associated carbon footprint. Polymer flooding builds upon conventional waterflooding by adding polymer (partially hydrolyzed polyacrylamide in the cases investigated) to the injected water, thereby increasing its viscosity. This enhances sweep efficiency and enables more uniform oil displacement, ultimately leading to higher recovery rates. By accelerating oil production and reducing water production, it also has a significant impact on carbon emissions reduction. To meet energy demand while minimizing CO2 emissions, evaluating the environmental impact of different field development scenarios and incorporating carbon footprint estimates alongside economic indicators for strategic decision-making is important. The impact of polymer injection compared to waterflood was evaluated based on the results of three long-term polymer injectivity tests that were performed in the field earlier, with reservoir simulations carried out in 3 km × 3 km sectors around the wells. The incremental/accelerated recovery and reduction in water-cut compared to water injection was evaluated and scaled-up to the projected expansion scenarios. At the same time, the carbon footprint of each element of the proposed development – from polymer manufacturing to wells and surface facilities – was evaluated. The main challenge of the study was the need to adapt the polymer and waterflood forecasts to the final areas selected for the polymer flood expansion which were different from the areas where the reservoir simulations were run. This was done using the actual injection and production data for each expansion area. In addition, detailed work was required to evaluate the carbon footprint of each element of the wells and surface facilities as well as of the polymer manufacturing and transport. Findings indicate that, despite the energy needed for preparation and injection of the polymer, net energy intensity of oil production is lower in Polymer Flooding than Waterflooding, mainly because of less water circulation, a better injectivity control, and lower liquid volume to lift. For a given amount of oil produced, this translates into a significantly lower CO2 footprint in the Polymer Flooding scenario The novelty of the present study lies in demonstrating the way in which Polymer Flooding EOR can play a role in the net-zero approach of Kuwait on a real field case, and how the recovery goals may be aligned with sustainable production processes. Burgan Field case provides valuable insights on how to incorporate the best EOR technologies in the long-term strategy of Kuwait on low-carbon hydrocarbons development and can serve as a guide for similar projects.

• openalex https://doi.org/10.2118/232591-msfirst seen 2026-05-19 04:59:32 · last seen 2026-06-17 07:12:15