Optimizing Oil Recovery With Minimal Environmental Impact: Importance in Nigeria’s Brownfields

Abstract

The Nigerian Oil and Gas industry is faced with a dual faceted challenge: a need to increase oil production in depleting mature brownfields and as well ensuring environmental sustainability during its exploitation processes. With brownfields, comprising 60-70% of the nation's remaining proven reserves, these assets exhibit significant volumes of bypassed, unrecovered hydrocarbons due to high reservoir compartmentalization and declining pressures. This paper explores the intersection of production engineering and environmental management to develop a strategic framework for sustainable Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR). A comprehensive evaluation of EOR techniques reveals that while conventional thermal recovery is physically unsuited for the light sweet crudes of the Agbada Formation, advanced miscible gas injection (such as CO₂-WAG), with integration of Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage (CCUS) and green chemical flooding offer substantial promise. Furthermore, the study highlights the transformative role of digital optimization technologies in facilitating real-time decision-making and performance forecasting. Despite favorable laboratory and simulation outcomes, full-scale implementation remains bottlenecked by acute technical, economic, and regulatory barriers. To overcome these constraints, this paper proposes an integrated screening framework tailored to the Niger Delta, alongside recommendations for brownfield readiness assessments, targeted tax credits, streamlined inter-agency approvals, and robust local capacity development. Ultimately, this research provides the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) and local operators with evidence-based benchmarks to operationalize sustainable asset management, bridging the gap between national energy security and environmental stewardship.