The 2016 SPE EOR Conference, which was held alongside OGWA recently in Muscat, saw extremely encouraging participation and discussion by global experts in all forms of EOR techniques. The theme of the conference was ‘The EOR Paradigm Shift’ and it saw the professionals in the field present, share and discuss their ideas, initiatives and findings of the latest advances in EOR systems.

The Executive Plenary Session on The EOR Paradigm Shift witnessed industry leaders sharing experiences and perspectives on the EOR paradigm shift, various strategies and approaches employed to bring EOR development to the current stage, measures required to take the big step forward, projected challenges, potential opportunities ahead, the required resources and capabilities in this highly dynamic technology-driven oil industry.

The first Panel Session was titled EOR Collaboration Strategies and was moderated by Hisham Zubari, Deputy Chief Executive Officer, Tatweer Petroleum Bahrain and Adnan Al Lawati, Vice President Operations Mukhaizna, Oxy.

This panel session explored the challenges faced by regions and companies in optimising EOR oil production from maturing reservoirs in the face of declining production to volatile oil prices and increasing world demand for fuel. The eminent panel comprised of Hisham Zubari – Deputy Chief Executive Officer, Tatweer Petroleum; Yingcheng Li – Director Key Lab of Surfactants for EOR, SINOPEC; Stuart Clayton – VP Hydrocarbon Recovery Technologies, Shell Innovation, Research & Development; Osama A. Al-Shaarawy – Senior Vice President for Technology, Kuwait Energy and Steve Webb – Full Field Development Advisor, Occidental Petroleum.

The panellists explained the existing strategies of their respective organisations in the field of EOR and emphasised the need for concerted attempts to focus on EOR technology development. “EOR is an integral part of Shell’s strategy, R & D, development and deployment. From the business perspective, affordability and integration are key in the current environment and a refocus is essential in EOR technology development,” stated Stuart Clayton.

Many reservoirs in the region have already started approaching the end of their primary or secondary stages, evidently increasing water and gas production problems. This is a natural process caused by maturation whereby an oil reservoir loses its natural energy which results in oil productivity decline associated with intrusion of aquifer water and gas cap gas, when present. The session went on to explore tactics that governments and organisations will need to develop to ensure a clear roadmap to safeguard a successful transformation.