Estimations and prospects of secondary recovery through conventional gas and waterflooding

Conventional waterflooding and/or gas injection have been used extensively for the production of additional hydrocarbons, preferably in light and medium oil reservoirs, and in a lesser extent in heavy oil reservoirs. There are 182 active projects of secondary recovery distributed in Venezuela as follows: 113 projects of gas injection, 64 of waterflooding, and 5 projects of simultaneous injection of gas and water. The daily production by using these methods is 800,000 bpd (40% of national production), and it is expected that 6,000 million bbl of additional oil will be recovered. An objective estimation of the active projects of gas injection and/or waterflooding performed at the present in Venezuela is presented based on statistical data and relevant results. The future prospects also are predicted and quantified.