University Of Wyoming Participates In Osage Oil Field Test

The University of Wyoming’s Enhanced Oil Recovery Institute participated in a collaborative field demonstration project. The project was conducted in October in the Bradley Unit of the Osage oil field. This was the first collaborative project by UW’s EORI, Osage Partners LLC, TIORCO, and Chemical Tracers Inc.

The project’s purpose was to collect a measurement of residual oil saturation from the reservoir. The single-well chemical tracer test also evaluated the effectiveness of an alkali-surfactant-polymer, or ASP, to mobilize stranded oil.

Initial test results show that about 32 percent of the oil in the reservoir is residual. Because residual oil is immobile, it cannot be produced using conventional techniques. The test, however, indicated that around 20 percent of the residual oil could be mobilized and produced using ASP.

This test is significant because it shows that the use of ASP can significantly reduce residual oil saturation. This could ultimately improve oil recovery from the Newcastle Formation.

For more information, contact the EORI at (307) 766-2791 or go to http://www.uwyo.edu/eori/.