This week's DACO Library selection is Methods for Enhanced Oil Recovery, one of the latest specialized references in reservoir engineering, published by John Wiley & Sons (Wiley-VCH) in 2025. The book provides a comprehensive examination of technologies designed to enhance oil recovery from hydrocarbon reservoirs.
Bridging scientific principles with practical field applications, the book offers a clear perspective on the role of Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) in the sustainable development of the petroleum industry. It demonstrates that, as reservoirs mature and natural production declines due to pressure depletion, advanced EOR technologies have become one of the industry's most effective strategies for increasing production and maximizing the economic value of mature oil fields.
Organized into twelve chapters, the authors begin by introducing the fundamentals of reservoir engineering, including fluid flow through porous media, reservoir rock characteristics, oil displacement mechanisms, and the key factors influencing production efficiency. The book then traces the evolution of primary, secondary, and tertiary recovery methods, explaining the role of EOR technologies within the reservoir development lifecycle while discussing the technical and economic criteria for selecting the most appropriate recovery method.
A substantial portion of the publication is devoted to the principal EOR technologies. It examines thermal recovery methods, including steam injection and in-situ combustion; gas injection processes, such as carbon dioxide (CO₂), hydrocarbon gas, and nitrogen injection; chemical EOR techniques, including polymer flooding, surfactant flooding, and alkaline flooding; as well as Microbial Enhanced Oil Recovery (MEOR). Each technology is evaluated in terms of its operating mechanisms, field applications, advantages, limitations, and documented field experience.
Beyond conventional recovery techniques, the book also explores the next generation of EOR technologies, including smart polymers, flow-control gels, low-salinity water flooding, nanotechnology, and other emerging innovations that have the potential to further improve recovery efficiency in mature reservoirs.
One of the publication's distinguishing strengths is its balanced treatment of both the engineering and operational aspects of EOR projects. The authors discuss laboratory methods for evaluating rock and fluid properties, core analysis, pilot project design, production monitoring, and reservoir data interpretation, while explaining how EOR technologies should be selected and implemented according to geological characteristics, reservoir conditions, and economic considerations.
The final chapters focus on the economic evaluation, risk management, and feasibility assessment of EOR projects, emphasizing the importance of cost-benefit analysis in selecting the most suitable recovery technology for a given reservoir.
What distinguishes this book from many comparable references is its integrated and practical perspective on Enhanced Oil Recovery. Rather than merely describing individual technologies, the authors demonstrate how successful EOR projects rely on the effective integration of reservoir characterization, engineering design, laboratory investigations, field implementation, and economic evaluation. As a result, the book serves not only as an excellent academic resource for petroleum engineering students and researchers, but also as a practical reference for reservoir engineers, production engineers, field development specialists, and project managers seeking to maximize hydrocarbon recovery while supporting sustainable field development.
Authors: Bagir Ali Suleymanov and Elchin Valiyev
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons (Wiley-VCH)
Publication Year: 2025
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