Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR)/ Improved Oil Recovery (IOR) Consulting
A&A's Complete Consulting Practice for Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) and Improved Oil Recovery (IOR) — Conventional and Unconventional Reservoirs, Worldwide
Assign your company's most challenging EOR/IOR projects — from initial candidate screening and method selection, through pilot testing and full-field implementation, to day-to-day project operations — to A&A, and let the high-level, seasoned consultants of the A&A Consulting Team bring the full depth of A&A's EOR/IOR practice to bear on your project, of any recovery method, from conventional or unconventional reservoirs, anywhere around the world.
Avasthi & Associates, Inc. (A&A) is an independent petroleum engineering consulting firm. A&A does not sell EOR/IOR chemicals, CO₂, nitrogen, polymers, or steam-generation or injection equipment — our only business is expert technical consulting, which means A&A's EOR/IOR method recommendations are never influenced by a stake in any particular vendor or technology.
Most of the world's remaining oil resides not in undiscovered fields, but in reservoirs already found and produced — where primary and secondary (waterflood) recovery typically leaves the majority of the original oil in place behind. Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) and Improved Oil Recovery (IOR) methods are what target that remaining oil, and choosing the right method for a given reservoir — and then executing it well — can be the difference between a marginal project and a highly profitable one. The high-level, seasoned consultants of the A&A Consulting Team are available to help on your company's challenging EOR/IOR projects, of all types, from conventional or unconventional reservoirs, around the world.
A&A's EOR/IOR Consulting Services
A&A's EOR/IOR consulting practice is organized into the following consulting services, each with its own dedicated page describing A&A's methodology, project experience, and deliverables in depth. A typical EOR/IOR project draws on several of these services in sequence — from secondary-recovery (waterflood) optimization and tertiary-method screening, through pilot testing, to full-field implementation and operations:
1. Waterflood Design & Optimization IOR Consulting
Pattern design, injection conformance, and streamline-based flow-redesign studies to improve sweep efficiency and recovery from waterdrive and waterflooded reservoirs — the secondary-recovery method most EOR/IOR projects build on, and often the fastest, lowest-cost place to find additional recoverable oil before a tertiary method is warranted.
2. CO₂ Flooding EOR Consulting
Project design, reservoir surveillance, and optimization of CO₂ enhanced oil recovery floods, from candidate screening through field-wide implementation. A&A's CO₂ EOR consultants have worked on major CO₂ EOR projects since the 1970s across the Permian Basin, the Gulf Coast, the Rocky Mountain region, and the Williston Basin, as well as internationally in Canada, Argentina, Indonesia, and Vietnam.
3. Hydrocarbon Gas EOR/IOR Consulting
Miscible hydrocarbon-gas injection and pressure-maintenance design for gas-condensate and volatile-oil reservoirs — the injectant of choice when CO₂ isn't available for a project. Includes injectant-selection studies and PVT/compositional reservoir simulation to determine the optimum injectin scheme and expected recovery.
4. Nitrogen (N₂) EOR/IOR Consulting
Nitrogen injection for miscible/immiscible EOR and pressure maintenance of gas-condensate and volatile-oil reservoirs — an alternative to CO₂ or hydrocarbon gas that preserves marketable gas for sale, is often available on-site at scale, and is inert and non-corrosive.
5. Chemical/Polymer EOR Consulting
Polymer, surfactant-polymer (SP), and alkali-surfactant-polymer (ASP) flooding — reservoir engineering, laboratory-to-field simulation, and field implementation. A&A's chemical EOR project experience spans stratified, faulted, and heterogeneous fractured reservoirs across Europe, Canada, and Argentina.
6. Steam EOR Consulting
Cyclic Steam Stimulation (CSS), steamflooding, and SAGD (steam-assisted gravity drainage), with decades of experience dating back to the 1990s — including special focus on the rejuvenation, redevelopment, and reactivation of mature, idle, and abandoned heavy- and extra-heavy-oil fields around the world.
7. History-Matching Consulting
Calibrating the production-pressure performance of reservoir simulation models — the step every EOR/IOR method above, and every new field development, depends on for a defensible forecast. Includes advanced/assisted history-matching (AHM) techniques, with particular experience on mature, idle, and abandoned heavy-oil fields around the world.
8. EOR/IOR Field Pilot-Testing Consulting
Designing, conducting, analyzing, interpreting, and scaling up EOR/IOR pilot tests — for any of the methods above — bringing more than five decades of pilot-test experience to de-risk the step between a promising screening study and full-field commitment.
9. EOR/IOR Project Operations Consulting
Full field review and acquisition-and-divestiture (A&D) support, facilities engineering, large-scale project management, and day-to-day field-operations leadership — the operational backbone that turns an approved EOR/IOR project into a running, profitable field.
Choosing the Right EOR/IOR Method
Which EOR/IOR method — or combination of methods — fits a given reservoir depends on rock and fluid properties, injectant availability, and project economics. A&A's consultants routinely help clients navigate this choice, including, but not limited to:
• Waterflood optimization: pattern design, injection conformance, and streamline-based sweep-efficiency improvement of an existing or new waterdrive/waterflooded reservoir — often the fastest, lowest-cost recovery gain, and a natural first step before a tertiary method is considered
• Miscible/immiscible gas injection: CO₂, hydrocarbon gas, or nitrogen, selected on minimum miscibility pressure (MMP), injectant availability and cost, and whether preserving marketable hydrocarbon gas matters to project economics
• Chemical EOR: polymer, SP, or ASP flooding, typically for reservoirs in the later stages of waterflooding where improved mobility control or reduced interfacial tension can access bypassed oil
• Thermal EOR: CSS, steamflooding, or SAGD, for heavy- and extra-heavy-oil reservoirs where viscosity reduction is the primary recovery mechanism
• Pressure maintenance: nitrogen or hydrocarbon-gas injection for gas-condensate and volatile-oil reservoirs for pressure maintenance, to prevent losing liquid hydrocarbons into the formation — a distinct objective from oil-recovery flooding, though it uses similar injectants
A&A's EOR/IOR Track Record
A&A's EOR/IOR consultants bring more than fifty years of combined, hands-on experience across the full range of recovery methods — waterflood pattern design and conformance improvement; CO₂, hydrocarbon-gas, and nitrogen injection; chemical/polymer flooding; and thermal recovery — on projects across the Permian Basin, the Gulf Coast, the Rocky Mountain region, and the Williston Basin in the United States, and internationally in Canada, Argentina, Indonesia, Vietnam, and Venezuela, among other locations. This breadth means A&A's recommendation on which EOR/IOR method fits your reservoir is grounded in direct project experience with the alternatives, not just the method being proposed.
What A&A Delivers
An EOR/IOR consulting engagement with the A&A Consulting Team is built around the practical decisions your company needs to make, including, but not limited to:
• A ranked screening of candidate fields and reservoirs, by estimated EOR/IOR potential and expected recovery uplift
• A recommended EOR/IOR method, or combination of methods, supported by reservoir-simulation and technical justification
• A calibrated, history-matched reservoir simulation model your EOR/IOR forecast can be trusted to rest on
• Pilot design and monitoring plans to de-risk full-field implementation
• Facilities engineering, project management, and operations support to execute the recommended project
• Economic evaluation and reserves-booking support, and presentation-ready recommendations for your company's management, partners, and investors
Frequently Asked Questions
Which EOR/IOR method is right for our reservoir?
It depends on your reservoir's rock and fluid properties, available injectants, and project economics — there is rarely one obvious answer. A&A's EOR/IOR Consulting engagement typically starts with a candidate-screening study comparing the viable methods (gas injection, chemical, thermal, or pressure maintenance) for your specific reservoir, before recommending — and then designing — the method that fits best.
Can A&A support just one phase of our EOR/IOR project, or the whole lifecycle?
Both. Many A&A clients engage A&A across the full lifecycle — from method screening through pilot testing, full-field implementation, and ongoing operations — while others engage A&A for a single phase, such as a history-matching study or pilot-test design. A&A's nine EOR/IOR services are designed to work together, but each stands on its own.
Does A&A have experience with heavy-oil field rejuvenation, including in Venezuela?
Yes. A&A's Steam EOR Consulting and History-Matching Consulting services both include special focus on the rejuvenation, redevelopment, and reactivation of mature, idle, and abandoned heavy- and extra-heavy-oil fields in Venezuela, built on decades of Cyclic Steam Stimulation (CSS), steamflooding, and SAGD experience dating back to the 1990s.
How does History-Matching Consulting relate to the EOR/IOR recovery methods above?
History matching is the calibration step that makes any EOR/IOR forecast trustworthy — it is not a recovery method itself, but the foundation each method's reservoir-simulation forecast depends on. A&A's History-Matching Consulting page covers this methodology in depth, and applies to CO₂, hydrocarbon-gas, nitrogen, chemical, and thermal EOR projects alike, as well as to new field developments.
Does A&A sell EOR/IOR chemicals, CO₂, nitrogen, or injection equipment?
No. A&A is an independent consulting firm and does not sell EOR/IOR chemicals, CO₂, nitrogen, polymers, or steam-generation or injection equipment, so A&A's method recommendations are never influenced by a stake in any particular vendor or technology.
If you need consulting support on your company's challenging EOR/IOR projects — to optimize oil production rate and recovery, and maximize project profitability, from conventional or unconventional reservoirs, around the world — please contact us.
