MXNL03000050A

MXNL03000050A - Process for the recovery of oil from a natural oil reservoir.

Info

Publication number: MXNL03000050A
Application number: MXNL03000050A
Authority: MX
Inventors: Roger Johansen
Original assignee: Petroleoum Oil And Gas Corp Of
Priority date: 2002-06-12
Filing date: 2002-06-12
Publication date: 2004-10-29

Abstract

A method for recovering oil (24) from a natural oil reservoir (18) includes the steps of separating air to produce an oxygen rich stream (40) and a nitrogen rich stream (34) , providing a natural gas stream (12) and feeding at least part of the oxygen rich stream (40) and the natural gas stream (12) into a gas to liquid or GTL conversion installation (42) to produce hydrocarbon products (44) and heat. The heat produced in the gas to liquid conversion installation is used to produce energy (20) to pressurize (16) the nitrogen in the nitrogen rich stream (34) to produce a pressurized nitrogen rich stream (22). The pressurized nitrogen rich stream (22) is passed into a natural oil reservoir (18) to enhance the recovery of oil (24) from the reservoir.

Claims

CLAIMS 1. A method to recover oil from a natural oil field, in which the method comprises the steps of separating the air to produce an oxygen-rich stream and a nitrogen-rich stream; provide a stream of natural gas and supply at least part of the oxygen-rich stream and the natural gas stream to a liquefying conversion or GTL facility to obtain hydrocarbon and heat products; use the heat produced in the liquefaction installation to obtain energy and compress the nitrogen of the nitrogen-rich stream to obtain a current rich in nitrogen under pressure; Pass the nitrogen-rich current under pressure to a natural oil field to improve oil recovery from the deposit.
2. A method according to claim 1, wherein the energy is in a form that is selected from electrical energy and high pressure steam.
A method according to claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the air is separated to produce an oxygen-rich stream containing about 0-5% nitrogen and a nitrogen-rich stream containing about 0 -5% oxygen 4.
A method according to claim 3, wherein the nitrogen-rich stream contains less than 10 ppm of oxygen.
A method for recovering oil from a natural oil field, as claimed in any of the preceding claims, in which the natural gas is obtained from the natural oil field in which the improved oil recovery is taking place.
6. A method for recovering oil from a natural oil field, according to claim 5, wherein the nitrogen is separated from natural gas before supplying the natural gas to the liquefaction facility.
7. A method for modifying an improved oil recovery process, of the type at which natural gas is supplied to the natural oil field to improve oil recovery, and which comprises diverting at least part of the natural gas to the liquefaction facility (GTL) which is linked to an air separation plant that produces a current rich in oxygen and a current rich in nitrogen; supply the oxygen-rich stream to the liquefaction facility; and to pass at least part of the nitrogen-rich stream to the oil field, to replace the natural gas that has been diverted.
A method according to claim 7, comprising using at least part of the heat produced in the liquefaction facility to generate energy and thereby raise the pressure of the nitrogen-rich stream.
9. A method for modifying an improved oil recovery facility of the type in which the natural gas is supplied to the natural oil field and which comprises at least one natural gas supply line to feed the natural gas within the deposit, in that the method comprises: providing a liquefaction plant (GTL) and an air separation plant capable of producing an oxygen-rich stream and a nitrogen-rich stream, in which the separation plant has an oxygen outlet and an outlet of nitrogen and links the oxygen outlet to the liquefaction facility, so that oxygen can be supplied to the liquefaction conversion facility; connect the natural gas supply line to the liquefaction facility with a gas flow line, so that at least part of the natural gas can be diverted to the liquefaction facility; provide a nitrogen compression facility and connect it to the nitrogen outlet of the air separation plant, so that the nitrogen can flow to the compression facility to be compressed; and provide a flow line that extends from the nitrogen compression facility to the natural oilfield, so that the compressed nitrogen can flow to the oil field.
A method according to claim 9, which comprises providing an energy converter and connecting it to the nitrogen compression plant and the liquefaction facility, so that the heat generated in the liquefaction plant can be converted into energy for the compression installation.
11. A method for modifying an improved oil recovery facility of the type in which natural gas is supplied to the natural oil field and comprising at least one natural gas supply line and a natural gas compression plant for feeding natural gas to the deposit, in which the method comprises: providing a liquefying conversion facility (GTL) and an air separation plant capable of producing an oxygen-rich stream and a nitrogen-rich stream, in which the separation plant of air has an oxygen outlet and a nitrogen outlet and in which the oxygen outlet is connected to the liquefaction installation, so that the oxygen can be supplied to the liquefaction conversion facility; connect the natural gas supply line to the liquefaction facility with a gas flow line, so that at least part of the natural gas can be diverted to the liquefaction facility; provide a nitrogen compression facility and connect it to the nitrogen outlet of the air separation plant, so that the nitrogen can flow to the compression facility to be compressed; and providing a flow line that extends from the nitrogen compression facility to the natural oil field, so that the compressed nitrogen can flow into the oilfield.
12. A method according to claim 11, wherein the compression facility comprises at least one natural gas compressor and wherein the method comprises modifying the compressor for a natural gas service.
13. A method according to claim 11 or claim 12, which comprises propping up an energy converter and connecting it to the nitrogen compression facility and the liquefaction facility, so that the heat generated in the liquefaction facility can be converted into energy for the compression installation.
14. In a method of recovering oil from a natural oil field, in which pressurized nitrogen is pumped to the natural oil field to improve the recovery of oil from the field, in which nitrogen is produced in an air separation plant that produces a waste oxygen stream (surplus) having a purity of 70-100% and a stream of high purity nitrogen, in which the improvement is provided by providing a stream of natural gas and feeding the natural gas stream together with the waste oxygen stream in a liquefaction plant to obtain hydrocarbon and heat products; and using at least part of the heat produced in the liquefaction facility to generate energy, which is used to compress the nitrogen stream.
15. A method according to claim 14, wherein the waste oxygen stream has a purity of 90-100%.
16. An installation for the production of liquefied products and the improved recovery of petroleum from a natural oil field, in which the installation comprises a compression plant to raise the nitrogen pressure, for the improved recovery of oil; an air separation plant capable of producing nitrogen having an oxygen content of less than 10 ppm; a liquefaction plant; flow lines arranged to supply natural gas to the liquefaction plant and nitrogen from the air separation plant, to the compression facility; and a scrap heat converter arranged to convert the waste heat produced in the liquefaction plant into energy that is operatively connected to the compression facility, to provide energy for the handling of the compression facility.
17. An installation according to claim 13, wherein the converter is a waste heat boiler that generates high pressure steam.
18. A modified facility for obtaining GTL liquefied products and improved oil recovery from a natural oil field, in which the facility comprises a compression facility; an air separation plant capable of producing nitrogen having an oxygen content of less than 10 ppm; a liquefaction plant; flow lines and control valves arranged to divert at least part of the natural gas from an improved oil recovery service, to the liquefaction plant and, the nitrogen from the air separation plant to the compression facility; and a waste heat converter arranged to convert the waste heat produced in the liquefaction plant into energy, which is operatively connected to the compression facility to provide the energy that drives the compression facility.
19. In a process in which pressurized gas is used for improved oil recovery, a method is provided to replace at least part of the natural gas with nitrogen, so that the volume of the nitrogen is from 1.5 to 2.5. times greater than the natural gas it replaces, in which the method involves diverting at least part of the natural gas to the liquefaction facility (GTL) that is connected to an air separation plant that produces a current rich in oxygen and a current rich in nitrogen; supply an oxygen-rich stream to the liquefaction facility; and pass at least part of the nitrogen-rich stream to the oil field, to replace the natural gas that has been diverted.
20. A method according to claim 17, comprising using at least part of the heat produced in the liquefaction facility to generate energy and use it to raise the pressure of the nitrogen-rich stream.
21. In a process in which natural gas under pressure is transferred to a natural oil field for improved oil recovery, a method is provided to reduce the volume of natural gas required for the recovery of improved oil by 20%. % and 60%, in which the method involves diverting at least part of the GTL liquefaction facility that is connected to the air separation plant that produces the oxygen-rich stream and the nitrogen-rich stream; and passing at least part of the nitrogen-rich stream to the oil field to replace the natural gas that has been diverted.
22. A method according to claim 19 comprising using at least part of the heat produced in the liquefaction facility to generate energy, using said energy to raise the pressure of the nitrogen-rich stream. PROCESS FOR THE OIL RECOVERY OF A NATURAL PETROLEUM OIL. SUMMARY A method is described for recovering oil from a natural oil field, comprising the steps of separating the air in its main components, to produce a current rich in oxygen and a current rich in nitrogen, also providing a natural gas stream and supply at least part of the oxygen-rich stream and the natural gas stream to a gas-to-liquid GTL conversion (liquefaction) facility from gas to liquid, that is, a GTL conversion facility, to produce hydrocarbons and heat . The heat produced in the gas-to-liquid conversion facility is used to produce energy to compress the nitrogen from the nitrogen-rich stream to produce a stream under nitrogen-rich pressure. The pressurized stream rich in nitrogen is passed to a natural oil field, to improve the recovery of oil from the field.