Oil India plans 'carbonated water' EOR at Dikom

Vol 22, PW 18 (27 Jun 19) Exploration & Production

Soda is often consumed in bars, mixed with whiskey.

But for the first time in India carbonated water is about to be used to make oil flow more freely at Oil India's ageing DIKOM field in upper Assam. Oil India wants to hire a contractor to build facilities to store up to 150 t/d of CO2 sourced from GAIL's Brahmaputra Cracker and Polymer (BCPL) petrochemical complex at Lepetkata, around 30-km from DIKOM.

Whoever wins must liquefy and store captured CO2 and transport it to the 1500 kilolitre/day water injection facility under construction at DIKOM. They must then mix up to 10% of CO2 with water and pump it into wells.

The aim: to boost current DIKOM production of around 1000 b/d. Oil India invited EoIs for the five-year contract with an optional two-year extension on May 19.

An initial June 13 deadline for responses was later extended to June 22. "Since we are only at the EoI stage," says an Oil India source, "we will be flexible and accept them (EoIs) even after June 22."

Contacted by this report, oilfield service providers Schlumberger, Baker Hughes and Halliburton all confirm they will respond to the EoIs. So too, surprisingly, did inexperienced Assam Petroleum which would need to find a foreign partner before bidding.

"Linde and Air Liquide are among the companies with expertise handling industrial gases," adds a likely bidder. "Any new company could join them."

Whoever participates in the EoI process must be equipped to source, construct and commission CO2 injection facilities within nine months from the date of award. To qualify, they will need to submit their audited financial statements for the last three years and a list of CO2 injection projects completed in the last three years. Oil India first invited EoIs for the DIKOM CO2 injection project in March 2017 but at the time only Schlumberger showed interest. "Availability of CO2 was the main problem then," says a second likely bidder. "But now Oil India has arranged it (CO2) from BCPL." Oil India sources tell us DIKOM produces as much as 40% water with oil at present. But the field, put on production in 1991, was once prolific, accounting for more than 9% of the company’s total production when it produced 5.69m barrels in 1999, or around 15,600 b/d. Extensive carbonated water injection studies have been carried out by Heriot Watt University in Edinburgh and the University of Texas.

Oil India plans 'carbonated water' EOR at Dikom

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