High-Pressure Gas Injection in Carbonate Reservoirs: A Laboratory Investigation of Oil Displacement

Dairabay Abdeli; Han Dongsheng; Liang Dong; Kazim Nadirov; Ardak Yskak; Manap Zhantasov; Saltanat Baibotayeva

doi:10.48084/etasr.16703

Authors

Dairabay Abdeli Satbayev University, Almaty, Kazakhstan
Han Dongsheng CNLC International Kazakhstan Inc LLP, Almaty, Kazakhstan
Liang Dong CNLC International Kazakhstan Inc LLP, Almaty, Kazakhstan
Kazim Nadirov M. Auezov South Kazakhstan University, Shymkent, Kazakhstan
Ardak Yskak Satbayev University, Kazakhstan
Manap Zhantasov M. Auezov South Kazakhstan University, Shymkent, Kazakhstan
Saltanat Baibotayeva M. Auezov South Kazakhstan University, Shymkent, Kazakhstan

Volume: 16 | Issue: 2 | Pages: 33678-33688 | April 2026 | https://doi.org/10.48084/etasr.16703

Received: 4 December 2025 | Revised: 12 January 2026 and 7 February 2026 | Accepted: 8 February 2026 | Online: 4 April 2026

Corresponding author: Ardak Yskak

Abstract

Oil recovery from carbonate reservoirs is often limited by their heterogeneous permeability and complex fracture networks. This study investigates high-pressure gas injection as a method of enhancing oil displacement and maintaining reservoir pressure. Laboratory experiments were conducted on oil-saturated carbonate cores and sand-packed analogs to simulate flow redistribution and near-wellbore pressure conditions. The results indicate that maintaining elevated pressure within the elastic deformation range of rock and fluids promotes uniform lateral and vertical displacement, reduces preferential flow through high-permeability zones, and mobilizes oil from small pores and capillaries. Nitrogen injection achieved 62–68% oil recovery, with efficiency increasing with pressure and exposure time. The recommended methods for improving gas distribution in heterogeneous reservoirs are the pre-injection of proppant into the near-wellbore zone and well water shutoff via perforation and injection of gel-forming nanofluids and microcement. The findings demonstrate the potential of high-pressure gas injection to enhance sweep efficiency, reduce water and gas breakthrough, and support effective reservoir management.

Keywords:

oil recovery, carbonate reservoir, well, gas injection, matrix, recovery efficiency, Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR)

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

L. Lake, R. T. Johns, W. R. Rossen, and G. A. Pope, Fundamentals of Enhanced Oil Recovery. Society of Petroleum Engineers, 2014. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2118/9781613993286

H. Hawez and Z. Ahmed, "Enhanced Oil Recovery By CO2 Injection In Carbonate Reservoirs," in Energy and Sustainability V, 2015, pp. 547–558. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2495/ESUS140481

L. B. J. Chathurangani and B. M. Halvorsen, "Near Well Simulation of CO2 Injection for Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR)," in Proceedings of the 56th SIMS, Linköping University, Sweden, Oct. 2015, pp. 309–318. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3384/ecp15119309

E. G. Lwisa and A. R. Abdulkhalek, "Enhanced oil recovery by nitrogen and carbon dioxideinjection followed by low salinity water flooding for tight carbonate reservoir: experimental approach," IOP Conference Series: Materials Science and Engineering, vol. 323, 2018, Art. no. 012009. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1088/1757-899X/323/1/012009

S. Ding, Y. Xi, H. Jiang, and G. Liu, "CO2 storage capacity estimation in oil reservoirs by solubility and mineral trapping," Applied Geochemistry, vol. 89, pp. 121–128, Feb. 2018. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apgeochem.2017.12.002

O. Torsæter, "Application of Nanoparticles for Oil Recovery," Nanomaterials, vol. 11, no. 5, Apr. 2021, Art. no. 1063. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/nano11051063

A. Sircar, K. Rayavarapu, N. Bist, K. Yadav, and S. Singh, "Applications of nanoparticles in enhanced oil recovery," Petroleum Research, vol. 7, no. 1, pp. 77–90, Mar. 2022. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ptlrs.2021.08.004

S. Naderi and M. Simjoo, "Numerical study of Low Salinity Water Alternating CO2 injection for enhancing oil recovery in a sandstone reservoir: Coupled geochemical and fluid flow modeling," Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering, vol. 173, pp. 279–286, Feb. 2019. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.petrol.2018.10.009

S. Pancholi, G. S. Negi, J. R. Agarwal, A. Bera, and M. Shah, "Experimental and simulation studies for optimization of water–alternating-gas (CO2) flooding for enhanced oil recovery," Petroleum Research, vol. 5, no. 3, pp. 227–234, Sep. 2020. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ptlrs.2020.04.004

B. Ren and I. J. Duncan, "Maximizing oil production from water alternating gas (CO2) injection into residual oil zones: The impact of oil saturation and heterogeneity," Energy, vol. 222, May 2021, Art. no. 119915. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.energy.2021.119915

S. M. M. Nasser, A. Bera, and V. Ramalingam, "Comparative studies on numerical sensitivity of different scenarios of enhanced oil recovery by water-alternating-gas (CO2) injection," Petroleum Research, vol. 8, no. 4, pp. 505–513, Dec. 2023. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ptlrs.2023.07.001

X. Chen, A. Paprouschi, M. Elveny, D. Podoprigora, and G. Korobov, "A laboratory approach to enhance oil recovery factor in a low permeable reservoir by active carbonated water injection," Energy Reports, vol. 7, pp. 3149–3155, Nov. 2021. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.egyr.2021.05.043

A. Talebi, A. Hasan-Zadeh, Y. Kazemzadeh, and M. Riazi, "A review on the application of carbonated water injection for EOR purposes: Opportunities and challenges," Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering, vol. 214, Jul. 2022, Art. no. 110481. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.petrol.2022.110481

Z. Sakhaei, M. Salehpour, and M. Riazi, "Carbonated water injection," in Gas Injection Methods, Gulf Professional Publishing, 2023, pp. 259–294. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-822302-4.00009-0

Y. Assef, A. Kantzas, and P. Pereira Almao, "Numerical modelling of cyclic CO2 injection in unconventional tight oil resources; trivial effects of heterogeneity and hysteresis in Bakken formation," Fuel, vol. 236, pp. 1512–1528, Jan. 2019. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fuel.2018.09.046

J. Mugisha, S. Al-Rbeawi, and E. Artun, "Analytical modeling of flow regimes during cyclic CO2 injection in hydraulically fractured tight reservoirs for enhanced oil recovery," Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering, vol. 201, Jun. 2021, Art. no. 108385. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.petrol.2021.108385

T. Wang, L. Wang, X. Meng, Y. Chen, W. Song, and C. Yuan, "Key parameters and dominant EOR mechanism of CO2 miscible flooding applied in low-permeability oil reservoirs," Geoenergy Science and Engineering, vol. 225, Jun. 2023, Art. no. 211724. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoen.2023.211724

S. Matkivskyi, O. Kondrat, and O. Burachok, "Investigation of the influence of the carbon dioxide (CO2) injection rate on the activity of the water pressure system during gas condensate fields development," E3S Web of Conferences, vol. 230, 2021, Art. no. 01011. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1051/e3sconf/202123001011

N. B. Zapata, J. M. M. Cárdenas, and J. J. M. Paternina, "Flue gas and nitrogen co-injection during cyclic steam stimulation in heavy oil reservoirs: a numerical evaluation," DYNA, vol. 88, no. 218, pp. 127–135, Aug. 2021. DOI: https://doi.org/10.15446/dyna.v88n218.90341

Q. Wang, J. Shen, P. Lorinczi, P. Glover, S. Yang, and H. Chen, "Oil production performance and reservoir damage distribution of miscible CO2 soaking-alternating-gas (CO2-SAG) flooding in low permeability heterogeneous sandstone reservoirs," Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering, vol. 204, Sep. 2021, Art. no. 108741. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.petrol.2021.108741

A. Hamza, I. A. Hussein, M. J. Al-Marri, M. Mahmoud, R. Shawabkeh, and S. Aparicio, "CO2 enhanced gas recovery and sequestration in depleted gas reservoirs: A review," Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering, vol. 196, Jan. 2021, Art. no. 107685. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.petrol.2020.107685

H.-B. Li et al., "Mechanism of CO2 enhanced oil recovery in shale reservoirs," Petroleum Science, vol. 18, no. 6, pp. 1788–1796, Dec. 2021. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.petsci.2021.09.040

Z.-H. Jia et al., "Effects of CH4/CO2 multi-component gas on components and properties of tight oil during CO2 utilization and storage: Physical experiment and composition numerical simulation," Petroleum Science, vol. 20, no. 6, pp. 3478–3487, Dec. 2023. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.petsci.2023.06.002

S. Du, S. Salasakar, and G. Thakur, "A Comprehensive Summary of the Application of Machine Learning Techniques for CO₂-Enhanced Oil Recovery Projects," Machine Learning and Knowledge Extraction, vol. 6, no. 2, pp. 917–943, 2024. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/make6020043

S. Qin, J. Li, J. Chen, X. Bi, and H. Xiang, "Research on Displacement Efficiency by Injecting CO2 in Shale Reservoirs Based on a Genetic Neural Network Model," Energies, vol. 16, no. 12, Jun. 2023, Art. no. 4812. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/en16124812

Z. H. Zardari and D. F. Mohshim, "Temperature Dependence Evaluation of CO2 Adsorption on Eagle Ford Shale using Isothermal Models: A Comparative Study," Engineering, Technology & Applied Science Research, vol. 15, no. 1, pp. 19959–19965, Feb. 2025. DOI: https://doi.org/10.48084/etasr.9094

S. Masalmeh, S. A. Farzaneh, M. Sohrabi, M. S. Ataei, and M. Alshuaibi, "A Systematic Experimental Study to Understand the Performance and Efficiency of Gas Injection in Carbonate Reservoirs," SPE Reservoir Evaluation & Engineering, vol. 26, no. 4, pp. 1159–1174, Nov. 2023. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2118/200057-PA

B. Khussain et al., "Numerical Simulation of CO2 Storage Potential with Enhanced Sedimentary Basin Characterization: A Case Study in Kazakhstan," Engineering, Technology & Applied Science Research, vol. 15, no. 5, pp. 28179–28193, Oct. 2025. DOI: https://doi.org/10.48084/etasr.13316

J. Iskandarov, S. Ahmed, G. S. Fanourgakis, W. Alameri, G. E. Froudakis, and G. N. Karanikolos, "Predicting and optimizing CO2 foam performance for enhanced oil recovery: A machine learning approach to foam formulation focusing on apparent viscosity and interfacial tension," Marine and Petroleum Geology, vol. 170, Dec. 2024, Art. no. 107108. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpetgeo.2024.107108

M. M. A. Awan and F. U. D. Kirmani, "CO2 injection for enhanced oil recovery: Analyzing the effect of injection rate and bottom hole pressure," Petroleum Research, vol. 10, no. 1, pp. 129–136, Mar. 2025. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ptlrs.2024.08.006

S. Prakash, D. Joshi, K. Ojha, and A. Mandal, "Enhanced Oil Recovery Using Polymer Alternating CO2 Gas Injection: Mechanisms, Efficiency, and Environmental Benefits," Energy & Fuels, vol. 38, no. 7, pp. 5676–5689, Apr. 2024. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.energyfuels.3c04258

B. Ratov et al., "Identifying the operating features of a device for creating implosion impact on the water bearing formation," Eastern-European Journal of Enterprise Technologies, vol. 5, no. 1 (125), pp. 35–44, Oct. 2023. DOI: https://doi.org/10.15587/1729-4061.2023.287447

N. Tileuberdi, B. Nassibullin, A. Yskak, and I. Gussenov, "Permeability Damage Induced by Low and High Molecular Weight Polymer Gels in Porous Media," Engineered Science, no. 29, Jan. 2024, Art. no. 1092.

B. Orinbaev et al., "Comprehensive Use of Electrical Inverse Lateral and Radioactive Logging for Strata Properties Investigation in Cased Wells," ES Materials and Manufacturing, vol. 27, 2025, Art. no. 1417.

B. T. Ratov, R. Y. Bayamirova, V. L. Khomenko, E. A. Kazimov, and A. R. Togasheva, "Determination of the composition and static characteristics of a water shutoff agent for the Kalamkas field," SOCAR Proceedings, no. 1, pp. 67–76, 2025. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5510/OGP20250101045

M.-X. Bai, Z.-C. Zhang, E.-L. Yang, and S.-Y. Du, "Experimental study of microscopic oil production and CO2 storage in low-permeable reservoirs," Petroleum Science, vol. 22, no. 2, pp. 756–770, Feb. 2025. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.petsci.2024.12.015