Polymer-Surfactant Flooding in Low-Permeability Reservoirs: An Experimental Study

Chemical flooding technology has been widely applied in medium- and high-permeability reservoirs. However, it is rarely applied in low-permeability reservoirs, which is mainly limited by reservoir physical properties, chemical agents, injection capacity, and so forth. In this paper, a novel chemical formula used in low-permeability reservoirs was developed. In response to the low-permeability reservoir geological characteristics, fluid properties, and water flooding development of the target block, some experimental studies and field project studies of polymer-surfactant flooding were carried out. The surfactant structure and polymer molecular weight were determined from laboratory experiments. The polymer-surfactant binary system was synthesized. It had good injectivity in low-permeability reservoirs, and its oil recovery efficiency increased over 10% in the laboratory experiment. The result was higher than that of single chemical flooding. After field implementation, initial results have been achieved with an increase in injection pressure. The chemical formula can effectively alleviate intra-layer and inter-layer contradictions in the reservoir. The project has increased oil output by 77,700 t and the recovery factor by 3.5%. The experience and lessons were of great significance for the development of chemical flooding in high-temperature, high-salinity, and low-permeability reservoirs.