Ecuador Technical Presentation: GreenZyme for Latin American Oil Fields (November 2018)
Updated: Aug 18
Enhanced Oil Recovery in Ecuador's Mature Reservoirs and Underperforming Wells Using GreenZyme
Monday, November 12, 2018 – 8:30am, FIGEMPA Auditorium, Universidad Central del Ecuador
The objective of this report is to identify the Enzyme EOR potential of the Ecuadorian Amazon Region also known as Oriente Basin. This study first evaluates the type of EOR method applicable to the oilfields located in the Ecuadorian Amazon Region, also known as screening.
The reservoirs analyzed for all the oilfields were:
Basal Tena
Napo M-1 Sand
Napo M-2 Sand
Napo U Upper, Middle, and Lower
Napo T Arena
Hollin
The necessary inputs or reservoir data for this evaluation came from the Petroleum Information Databank or BIPE, a project from Secretariat of Hydrocarbons of Ecuador (SHE). The evaluation is not detailed since the objective of this study is to provide a first guide of the theoretical potential of Enzyme EOR methods in Ecuador. The first target field is Shushufindi oil field. Due to the reservoir characteristics in the Ecuadorian Amazon Region, the most applicable EOR methods are immiscible gas followed by chemicals (Polymers and surfactants).
The CO2 miscible flood could work, but there are no near natural or anthropogenic sources. The proposed Enzyme EOR is environmental friendly approach already tested in similar formations and reservoir conditions in China, Venezuela, Canada, Indonesia and elsewhere.
EOR potential in Ecuador gives a range of values between 700 to 750 million barrels with half of the potential realized with the immiscible gas (HC) which has a significant value and can be monetized.
This is the first time Enzyme EOR is proposed for Ecuadorian Oil Fields. The pilot if successful followed by the routine application with acid jobs can un-locked significant reserves for the Ecuador and generate significant revenue.
2019 Follow-Up: Steam and GreenZyme at Pungarayacu
A year after this screening study, Ecuador's heavy oil got its first hands-on test of the idea. Santiago Cortez and Christian Lema's 2019 master's thesis at the Universidad Central del Ecuador built a physical SAGD (steam-assisted gravity drainage) model to evaluate additive-assisted heavy oil recovery at the Pungarayacu field, one of the largest heavy-oil accumulations in the Ecuadorian Amazon.
Steam alone struggled below a critical temperature: at low pressure, the rig recovered essentially no oil. Adding GreenZyme to the steam changed that — even at that same low pressure, the enzyme's effect on wettability and capillary forces pulled out roughly 400 cc of oil, about a 4.5% recovery factor, from a system where steam alone produced nothing.
At higher pressure, where steam alone already worked (1,700 cc recovered, ~19% recovery factor), adding GreenZyme pushed that to 2,700 cc and a 30% recovery factor — a 60% increase in oil produced and a 12-percentage-point jump in recovery factor from the enzyme alone. The thesis's own conclusion: viscosity reduction does most of the work in SAGD, but GreenZyme's wettability effect adds a real, measurable increment on top of it.
Sources & Credits
Cortez Navas, S.J., & Lema Sarabia, C.F. (2019). Evaluación en un modelo físico experimental de la técnica SAGD combinada con aditivos para la recuperación de crudo pesado del campo Pungarayacu [Master's thesis]. Universidad Central del Ecuador. Tutor: José Manuel Álvarez Martínez, PhD. A related peer-reviewed article, "Estudio experimental de aplicación de SAGD convencional vs. SAGD con uso de aditivos (CO2 y enzima) para la recuperación de crudo extrapesado del campo Pungarayacu," was published in FIGEMPA: Investigación y Desarrollo.
