EXCLUSIVE: Adnoc collaborating with local and foreign universities for EOR

04 February 2018
UAE oil major conducting research with educational institutions to develop customised enhanced oil recovery methodologies for conducting pilot projects

The Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) has collaborated with foreign universities and the Khalifa University in Abu Dhabi to conduct research on enhanced oil recovery (EOR) methodologies for its fields.

The research work Adnoc has undertaken with Harvard University, Norway’s Bergen University, Rice University in Texas, and Imperial College, London, along with Khalifa University is directed towards developing customised EOR techniques to deploy for the pilot projects MEED reported Adnoc will start performing in 2021.

According to Ayesha Abdul Rahman al-Marzouqi, manager at the Enhanced Oil Recovery Department at Adnoc, the UAE oil giant is working with Harvard on solutions based on low salinity EOR and carbonated water EOR; with Khalifa University Bergen University on polymer flooding; with Rice University on foam injection; and with Imperial College London on Digital Rock Physics (DRP).

Marzouqi revealed that Adnoc has “achieved results” in its research with Bergen University on polymer flooding EOR, adding that the polymer developed is stable “in our (climatic) conditions”. Polymer flooding is a common EOR method, although the technique adopted has to be suitable to the environment in which the field is located, especially conditions of high temperature and high salinity which are typical to Adnoc’s assets.

“You cannot compare our (Adnoc’s) conditions to others. The others may have done polymer injection but not in conditions similar to ours, especially the high temperature and high salinity. I am proud to say that Adnoc is leading in the EOR sector,” she said.

Marzouqi also mentioned that, “We have a total of 10 Emirati PhD students currently working on those projects (with the universities), hand-in-hand with the professors to mature those concepts to the level that we require for Adnoc to implement.”

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