Fatema Alelg
Reservoir Engineer
Saudi Aramco
Fatema Alelg graduated with honors in Petroleum Engineering from the Colorado School of Mines in 2023 and is currently with Aramco’s EXPEC Advanced Research Center, focusing on nano-fluid technology for Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) and digital rock physics. She previously worked in Reservoir Management on development planning and production forecasting, and in Reservoir Description on advanced petrophysical modeling. Her core expertise encompasses Petrophysical Modeling, data analysis, and innovative subsurface solutions.
Participates in
TECHNICAL PROGRAMME | Primary Energy Supply
Opportunities for Oil & Gas Supply Growth - Shales, Oil Sands, New Basins Other Unconventionals
Forum 02 | Digital Poster Plaza 1
28
April
12:30
14:30
UTC+3
Objective/Scope:
Permeability is an important parameter for production prediction of a source rock reservoir as permeability decreases with production (i.e. the increase of effective stress) and it is indispensable to extract a reliable poroelastic coefficient of the formation in order to accurately characterize the permeability-effective stress relationship. This work outlines a new workflow to extract the poroelastic coefficient of a source rock reservoir using a set of permeability measurements.
Methods, Procedures, Process:
Several series permeability measurements of a source rock sample are carefully designed with increasing effective stress given a predetermined, estimated range of poroelastic coefficients, each series are with a constant differential pressure between the confining pressure and pore pressure, and all measurements are carried with pore pressure higher than the supercritical pressure of the measuring gas to minimize the effect of Knudsen diffusion and gas slippage. Each series of data are analyzed separately and results of subsets of the series of data are combined.
Results, Observations, Conclusions:
The data of each series of permeability measurements have a small range of effective stress thus have a uniform poroelastic coefficient and the changes of poroelastic coefficient within a large range of effective stress can be evaluated using several series of permeability measurements. Previous hypothesis postulated that the poroelastic coefficient may change with effective stress as the pore types are progressively affected, more microfractures and slit-shaped pores play a dominant role at low effective stress and round- or equant-dimensional pores play a dominant role at high effective stress. The results are compliant with this hypothesis that poroelastic coefficient starts from 1 when the microfractures and slit-shaped pores in source rock samples are dominant and decreases as more effective stress is applied.
Novel/Additive Information:
This study develops a practical method to extract the poroelastic coefficient for permeability of source rock samples within a large effective stress range.
Permeability is an important parameter for production prediction of a source rock reservoir as permeability decreases with production (i.e. the increase of effective stress) and it is indispensable to extract a reliable poroelastic coefficient of the formation in order to accurately characterize the permeability-effective stress relationship. This work outlines a new workflow to extract the poroelastic coefficient of a source rock reservoir using a set of permeability measurements.
Methods, Procedures, Process:
Several series permeability measurements of a source rock sample are carefully designed with increasing effective stress given a predetermined, estimated range of poroelastic coefficients, each series are with a constant differential pressure between the confining pressure and pore pressure, and all measurements are carried with pore pressure higher than the supercritical pressure of the measuring gas to minimize the effect of Knudsen diffusion and gas slippage. Each series of data are analyzed separately and results of subsets of the series of data are combined.
Results, Observations, Conclusions:
The data of each series of permeability measurements have a small range of effective stress thus have a uniform poroelastic coefficient and the changes of poroelastic coefficient within a large range of effective stress can be evaluated using several series of permeability measurements. Previous hypothesis postulated that the poroelastic coefficient may change with effective stress as the pore types are progressively affected, more microfractures and slit-shaped pores play a dominant role at low effective stress and round- or equant-dimensional pores play a dominant role at high effective stress. The results are compliant with this hypothesis that poroelastic coefficient starts from 1 when the microfractures and slit-shaped pores in source rock samples are dominant and decreases as more effective stress is applied.
Novel/Additive Information:
This study develops a practical method to extract the poroelastic coefficient for permeability of source rock samples within a large effective stress range.
Nanomaterials offer promising solutions for many challenges encountered throughout the oil-and-gas value chain, from exploration to production. Nevertheless, their performance can be compromised by the extreme temperatures and salinity conditions typical of subsurface reservoirs. This study reports a novel route to synthesize stable nanomaterials at a scale utilizing In-Kingdom chemicals, which is a significant breakthrough in the development of locally sourced materials for Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) applications. Furthermore, we compared the stability and efficacy of locally produced Nanosurfactants (NS) with imported commercial ones for EOR applications, aiming to reduce reliance on outsourced materials and improve economics.
Our results indicate that locally sourced surfactants showed comparable results to the commercial imported Petronate-HL/L in terms of density, stability, and interfacial tension reduction. Notably, the local NS formulations achieved reductions of 96.67% and 99.86% in interfacial tension, similar to Petronate-HL/L's 99.73% reduction. The local NS also demonstrated excellent stability under high temperatures and salinity environment. Moreover, spontaneous imbibition experiments also demonstrate that both formulations are effective in enhancing the recovery of oil, further proving the possibility to utilize In-Kingdom synthesized nanomaterials for EOR applications. These findings suggest that the locally produced NS can be a viable alternative to imported materials, which can help reduce costs and improve the economic viability of EOR projects.
Novel/Additive Information:
This study demonstrates the feasibility of using Saudi-produced nanomaterials NS to replace imported ones for EOR treatments, aligning with Saudi Vision 2030's goal of reducing reliance on imported materials. The successful development and testing of locally sourced nanomaterials can have a significant impact on the oil and gas industry, enabling the country to become self-sufficient in oil and gas technologies.
Co-author/s:
Abdullah Boqmi, Lead Lab Technician, Saudi Aramco.
Amr Abdel-Fattah, Petroleum Engineering Consultant, Saudi Aramco.
Ahmed Alsmaeil, Senior Petroleum Engineer Gas and Unconventional Focus Area Champion, Saudi Aramco.
Our results indicate that locally sourced surfactants showed comparable results to the commercial imported Petronate-HL/L in terms of density, stability, and interfacial tension reduction. Notably, the local NS formulations achieved reductions of 96.67% and 99.86% in interfacial tension, similar to Petronate-HL/L's 99.73% reduction. The local NS also demonstrated excellent stability under high temperatures and salinity environment. Moreover, spontaneous imbibition experiments also demonstrate that both formulations are effective in enhancing the recovery of oil, further proving the possibility to utilize In-Kingdom synthesized nanomaterials for EOR applications. These findings suggest that the locally produced NS can be a viable alternative to imported materials, which can help reduce costs and improve the economic viability of EOR projects.
Novel/Additive Information:
This study demonstrates the feasibility of using Saudi-produced nanomaterials NS to replace imported ones for EOR treatments, aligning with Saudi Vision 2030's goal of reducing reliance on imported materials. The successful development and testing of locally sourced nanomaterials can have a significant impact on the oil and gas industry, enabling the country to become self-sufficient in oil and gas technologies.
Co-author/s:
Abdullah Boqmi, Lead Lab Technician, Saudi Aramco.
Amr Abdel-Fattah, Petroleum Engineering Consultant, Saudi Aramco.
Ahmed Alsmaeil, Senior Petroleum Engineer Gas and Unconventional Focus Area Champion, Saudi Aramco.
