Adnoc and Total unite to map out difficult-to-access oil and gas reserves in region

The Digital Rock Physics project will archive the varying carbonate reserves found in areas deep under the earth’s surface where oil and gas is difficult to recover.

Above, an aerial view of Abu Dhabi. Adnoc wants to increase its current oil recovery rates of about 30 per cent to as high as 70 per cent on maturing fields. Razan Alzayani / The National

The Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) has partnered with the French oil major Total to create a map that could help increase extraction of oil and gas in the UAE and region.

The Digital Rock Physics (DRP) project will archive the varying carbonate reserves found in areas deep under the earth's surface where oil and gas is difficult to recover. About 70 per cent of oil and 90 per cent of gas reserves in the Middle East are held within these deep formations.

The map will assist in the further examination of how easy it will be for these fuels to flow through the soil.

Dr Steve Griffiths, Masdar Institute’s executive director of institute initiatives, said this process is an integral part of enhanced oil recovery (EOR). “This is one of the most key factors on how easy it is to put fluid in, and how easy it is to get it out,” he said.

EOR refers to injecting substances – usually gas – to increase crude oil extraction.

The state-owned Adnoc wants to increase its current oil recovery rates of about 30 per cent to as high as 70 per cent on maturing fields. “To get 70 per cent means more sophisticated technology is required,” Dr Griffiths said.

As the first programme of its kind in the Middle East, it will also use expertise and technology from the Petroleum and Masdar institutes. The aim is to learn more about these formations so that Adnoc and others can make better predictions on the ease or difficulty of extracting oil and gas, which will ultimately cuts costs and maximise recovery rates.

It also allows for digital simulations to help companies test methods in a laboratory before work at an oil or gasfield.

“It’s really about trying to understand what is the true structure of these soils down to the nano-scan level so you know how oil and gas interacts with these soils and structures,” Dr Griffiths said. “You have to get to that level to do your business.”

In keeping with its EOR ambitions, Adnoc has also partnered with Masdar Institute in a pilot project that will inject carbon dioxide (CO2) to increase oil production at one of its onshore fields. The two announced a joint venture for the scheme covering carbon, capture, usage and storage (CCUS).

Adnoc exploration and production director Mohamed Butti Al Qubaisi said that if the pilot was successful, it could have major benefits for Abu Dhabi in the long term. “We are keen to move ahead to better realise the mechanisms of CO2 injection and production in our fields,” he said.

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