Management of Oil Recovery Mechanisms: 5-Day Professional Training Course

Course Overview

This intensive 5-day training program delivers essential knowledge of oil recovery mechanisms and field management strategies for maximizing hydrocarbon recovery. Designed for professionals in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), Oman, GCC countries, and Africa, this course covers primary recovery optimization, waterflooding, enhanced oil recovery (EOR), and integrated reservoir management for improving recovery factors across diverse reservoir types.

Target Audience

• Reservoir and production engineers

• EOR specialists and field managers

• Asset managers and development planners

• Petroleum engineers in mature field operations

• Technical professionals from Saudi Aramco, PDO, ADNOC, and African operators

• Graduate engineers specializing in reservoir management

Prerequisites: Basic reservoir engineering knowledge or 2+ years upstream experience.

Day 1: Fundamentals of Recovery Mechanisms

Morning Session: Natural Drive Mechanisms

Module 1.1: Recovery Fundamentals

• Primary, secondary, and tertiary recovery definitions

• Recovery factor concepts and global benchmarks

• Drive mechanism selection and economics

• Regional recovery challenges in Middle East and Africa

Module 1.2: Reservoir Drive Systems

• Solution Gas Drive: mechanics, recovery 5-30%, optimization strategies

• Gas Cap Drive: expansion physics, recovery 20-40%, gas coning control

• Water Drive: aquifer types, recovery 35-60%, water breakthrough management

• Combination drives and Saudi Arabian examples

• Gravity drainage and compaction drive mechanisms

Afternoon Session: Performance Analysis

Module 1.3: Material Balance and Drive Index

• Material balance equation applications

• Drive mechanism identification from production data

• OOIP determination and aquifer modeling

• Havlena-Odeh analysis techniques

Module 1.4: Production Forecasting

• Decline curve analysis: exponential, hyperbolic, harmonic

• EUR calculation and economic limits

• Drive mechanism impact on decline behavior

• Oman mature field decline examples

Day 2: Waterflooding Management

Morning Session: Waterflood Design

Module 2.1: Waterflooding Theory

• Displacement and sweep efficiency fundamentals

• Buckley-Leverett fractional flow theory

• Mobility ratio and heterogeneity effects

• Pattern design: line drive, five-spot, seven-spot, nine-spot

• Injection water quality and compatibility

Module 2.2: Implementation Strategies

• Injection well design and facilities requirements

• Voidage replacement and pressure maintenance

• Startup procedures and rate optimization

• Saudi Aramco waterflooding best practices

Afternoon Session: Performance Optimization

Module 2.3: Surveillance and Monitoring

• Production and injection data analysis

• Water cut prediction and breakthrough timing

• Hall plot analysis for injectors

• Tracer studies and 4D seismic monitoring

• Production logging for conformance assessment

Module 2.4: Waterflood Enhancement

• Infill drilling and pattern balancing

• Water shutoff treatments

• Profile modification techniques

• Simulation-based optimization

• Kuwait Burgan field waterflood case study

Day 3: Chemical Enhanced Oil Recovery

Morning Session: Polymer Flooding

Module 3.1: Polymer Flooding Fundamentals

• Mobility control mechanisms

• Polymer types: HPAM, xanthan, associative

• Rheology and viscosity behavior

• Screening criteria and economics

• Incremental recovery estimation

Module 3.2: Polymer Implementation

• Polymer selection and quality control

• Injection strategy and slug design

• Injectivity management

• Surface facilities and mixing systems

• Oman PDO Marmul and Harweel projects

Afternoon Session: Surfactant and ASP

Module 3.3: Advanced Chemical Methods

• Surfactant flooding: IFT reduction, microemulsion behavior

• Alkaline flooding: in-situ soap generation

• ASP flooding: synergistic effects and design

• Laboratory testing and pilot design

Module 3.4: Chemical EOR Optimization

• Coreflooding experiments and scale-up

• Simulation of chemical floods

• Economic evaluation frameworks

• Middle East and African opportunities

Day 4: Gas Injection and Thermal EOR

Morning Session: Gas Injection Methods

Module 4.1: Miscible Gas Flooding

• CO2 flooding: miscibility, MMP determination, phase behavior

• Hydrocarbon gas injection: vaporizing vs. condensing drive

• Nitrogen injection: pressure maintenance applications

• Saudi Arabia Uthmaniyah CO2 EOR project

Module 4.2: Gas Injection Management

• WAG (Water-Alternating-Gas) optimization

• Gas breakthrough control strategies

• Conformance improvement techniques

• Simulation of miscible displacement

• UAE nitrogen injection examples

Afternoon Session: Thermal Recovery

Module 4.3: Steam-Based Methods

• Cyclic steam stimulation (CSS): huff-n-puff mechanics

• Steam flooding: continuous injection principles

• SAGD: horizontal well configuration and optimization

• Oman Mukhaizna heavy oil steamflood

Module 4.4: Advanced Thermal Methods

• In-situ combustion processes

• Hot water flooding

• Electromagnetic heating

• Thermal recovery economics

• Kuwait heavy oil thermal opportunities

Day 5: Integrated Management and Emerging Technologies

Morning Session: Integrated Asset Management

Module 5.1: Reservoir Management Integration

• Multidisciplinary workflow and team collaboration

• Static-dynamic model integration

• Production optimization under constraints

• Real-time reservoir management

• Digital oilfield integration in GCC

Module 5.2: Advanced Surveillance

• Permanent downhole monitoring systems

• 4D seismic for recovery management

• Intelligent well systems for conformance

• Production allocation optimization

• Fiber optic distributed sensing

Afternoon Session: Emerging Technologies

Module 5.3: Advanced EOR Technologies

• Nanotechnology: nanoparticles for IFT and wettability alteration

• Low salinity waterflooding mechanisms and applications

• Foam flooding for mobility control

• Microbial EOR (MEOR) methods

• Field implementation examples

Module 5.4: Digitalization and AI

• Machine learning for production forecasting

• AI-assisted history matching

• Big data analytics for optimization

• Digital twin applications

• Automated well control systems

Module 5.5: Carbon Management

• CCUS (Carbon Capture, Utilization, Storage)

• CO2-EOR with permanent sequestration

• Reservoir engineering for storage

• Saudi Arabia’s circular carbon economy

• Integration with energy transition

Case Studies Workshop

Regional Applications:

Saudi Arabia: Ghawar pressure maintenance, Shaybah peripheral injection, Uthmaniyah CO2 EOR

Oman: Yibal recovery challenges, Marmul polymer flooding, Mukhaizna steamflood

UAE: Bu Hasa waterflood, ADNOC EOR roadmap, offshore optimization

Kuwait: Greater Burgan waterflood, heavy oil recovery evaluation

Qatar: North Field pressure maintenance, gas condensate optimization

Africa: Nigeria water drive management, Angola deepwater injection, Egypt EOR opportunities

Interactive Exercises:

• Recovery mechanism identification

• Waterflood design simulation

• EOR screening workshop

• Economic evaluation exercise

• Strategy development presentation

Learning Outcomes

Participants will gain:

• Comprehensive understanding of recovery mechanisms

• Waterflood design and optimization expertise

• EOR screening and implementation knowledge

• Surveillance and monitoring capabilities

• Economic evaluation skills

• Integration and decision-making frameworks

• Regional expertise in KSA, Oman, GCC, and Africa

Regional Focus

KSA: Super-giant field management, CO2 EOR, carbonate optimization, Aramco practices

Oman: Mature field rejuvenation, polymer flooding excellence, PDO systematic EOR

GCC: Offshore challenges, sour gas management, ADNOC recovery strategies

Africa: Water drive optimization, deepwater production, marginal field economics

Training Details

Duration: 5 days (40 hours)
Delivery: In-person, virtual, or hybrid
Language: English (Arabic support available)
Materials: Technical handouts, simulation tools, calculation templates
Certification: Professional development certificate

Keywords: oil recovery mechanisms training, EOR course KSA, waterflooding Oman, enhanced oil recovery GCC, polymer flooding Africa, CO2 EOR Middle East, thermal recovery, reservoir management, Saudi Aramco recovery, PDO EOR, waterflood optimization, chemical flooding, gas injection, mature field management