DISTINGUISHED AUTHOR SERIES
Improved Oil Recovery by
Low-Salinity Waterflooding
Norman Morrow, SPE, and Jill Buckley, SPE, University of Wyoming
Waterflooding was first practiced for pressure maintenance
after primary depletion and has since become the most
widely adopted improved-oil-recovery (IOR) technique. It
is now commonly applied at the outset of reservoir develop-
ment. The reservoir-connate-water composition usually dif-
fers significantly from the composition of water available for
injection. Parametric laboratory studies of crude-oil recovery
showed that, for connate and injected brines of the same
or different composition, waterflood recoveries could differ
substantially depending on brine composition. However,
Norman R. Morrow, SPE, is the
World Chair of Energy and J.E.
Warren Distinguished Professor of
Chemical and Petroleum Engineering
at the University of Wyoming. He
holds BS and PhD degrees from the
University of Leeds. In 2001, Morrow
Morrow was elected to the National Academy
of Engineering. His main areas of
research include reservoir wettability and improved oil
recovery by waterflooding and spontaneous imbibition.
Morrow has authored more than 165 publications and
has served on several SPE Technical Committees, the
SPE Editorial Review Committee, and served as an SPE
Distinguished Lecturer.
Jill Buckley, SPE, is an Adjunct
Professor in the Chemical and
Petroleum Engineering Department
at the University of Wyoming and
is an Emeritus Senior Scientist in
and former head of the Petrophysics
and Surface Chemistry Group at the
Buckley Petroleum Recovery Research Center
at New Mexico Tech in Socorro, New
Mexico. She holds BS and MS degrees in chemistry from
University of California, Los Angeles and New Mexico
Tech, respectively, and a PhD degree in petroleum engi-
neering from Heriot-Watt University. Buckley is an SPE
Distinguished Member and has served on numerous SPE
committees and as an SPE Distinguished Lecturer.
106
laboratory tests designed to predict waterflood performance
usually have not incorporated the difference in connate and
injected brines.
Low-Salinity Waterflooding
Improved recovery of crude oil by low-salinity waterflooding
(LSW), with only modest increase in resistance to flow, was
reported by Tang and Morrow (1997). Since then, many labo-
ratories and organizations have grappled with the opportuni-
ties and problems associated with identifying, reproducing,
and explaining the low-salinity effect (LSE). Various forms
of LSE and the necessary conditions for its occurrence are
reviewed. The evidence, mounting rapidly from both field
and laboratory studies, is examined with the aim of facilitat-
ing identification of LSW targets and design of the floods.
Necessary conditions for LSE identified by Tang and
Morrow (1999) in Berea-sandstone cores were as follows.
• Significant clay fraction
• Presence of connate water
• Exposure to crude oil to create mixed-wet conditions
Note, however, that while necessary for the types of
sandstones investigated, these conditions are not sufficient;
many outcrop sandstones meeting these conditions have not
shown LSE recovery. The cause of such significant differences
has yet to be identified. Identification of promising LSE proj-
ects requires specific laboratory tests, followed by pilot tests
of increasing scale. It should be noted also that some special
cases of LSE have been identified in which dissolution of
soluble minerals occurs upon injection of the low-salinity
flood water in either carbonates or sandstones.
LSW at Initial Water Saturation (Swi)
The term “LSW at Swi” used here is what has been referred
to as secondary-mode LSW that begins at Swi. Some of
the first observations of LSE for waterflood recoveries are
summarized in Table 1. The table shows a matrix of the
amount of oil recovered as a percent of the original oil in
place (% OOIP) from Berea-sandstone cores with com-
binations of connate and injected compositions ranging
from a full-strength synthetic reservoir brine [high-salinity
Copyright 2011 Society of Petroleum Engineers
This is paper SPE 129421. Distinguished Author Series articles are general, descriptive
representations that summarize the state of the art in an area of technology by describing
recent developments for readers who are not specialists in the topics discussed. Written by
individuals recognized as experts in the area, these articles provide key references to more
definitive work and present specific details only to illustrate the technology. Purpose: to inform
the general readership of recent advances in various areas of petroleum engineering.
JPT • MAY 2011

TABLE 1—LSW AT Swi FOR BEREA SANDSTONE, DAGANG
CRUDE OIL, AND A MATRIX OF CONNATE AND INJECTED
WATERFLOOD IONIC COMPOSITIONS
(TANG AND MORROW 1997)
Oil Recovery, % OOIP
Connate: HS MS
Injected:
HS 50 65
MS 50 71
LS 56
(HS)] to one-tenth-strength [moderate-salinity (MS)] and to
one-hundredth-strength [low-salinity (LS)] dilutions. The
reservoir-brine composition is based on that of a produced
Dagang oilfield brine of 24,168 ppm. Recovery curves are
compared in Fig. 1 for cases in which there is no change in
ionic composition between connate and injected water. The
increase in recovery with reduced salinity clearly shows the
improvements in recovery resulting from the LSE.
For this data set, if the connate water is LS, oil recoveries
by waterflood of either LS or HS are maximized. The case
of LSW at Swi of practical interest is with HS connate brine
and LS injected brine. Recovery was 6% OOIP higher with
LS than for either HS or MS injected. Much larger LSE was
found for reservoir crude oil and rock (Tang and Morrow
1999; Webb et al. 2005).
LSW at Residual-Oil Saturation (Sor)
There is special interest in applying LSW to watered-out res-
ervoirs, nominally at Sor, after HS waterflooding (HSW). The
term “LSW at Sor” used here refers to so called tertiary-mode
LSW. In the laboratory, tests of LSW at Sor after HSW have
the distinct advantage of demonstrating LSE in a single piece
of core. Fig. 2 shows one of the more encouraging examples
for reservoir rock, with recovery increased by 25% over HSW.
When response to LSW at Sor requires injection of many
PVs of water, LSW may seem impractical, because the
amount of injected water seldom exceeds the reservoir PV.
LS However, the well-to-well volume swept by the injected
brine will be only a small fraction of the reservoir PV. For
the most comprehensive available data set, relative increases
80 in recoveries over HS floods averaged 14% for 18 reservoirs
(Lager et al. 2007).
80 Reservoir Tests of LSW
Webb et al. (2004) provided the first field evidence of reduc-
tion in residual oil by LSE. Log/inject/log measurements
showed that the residual oil within approximately 4 in. of a
wellbore was reduced by up to 60% by use of LSW. Single-
well chemical-tracer tests showed that HSW residual oil was
reduced by approximately 13% OOIP within a radius of 13
to 14 ft around the wellbore by LSW (McGuire et al. 2005),
consistent with laboratory core tests. Recovery of residual oil
between wells separated by 1,000 ft was reported recently by
Seccombe et al. (2010). However, a candidate North Sea field
that met the necessary conditions for LSE did not respond to
LSW in either laboratory or pilot tests (Skrettingland et al.
2010). Although this response may have been disappoint-
ing, it provides a further example of consistency between
laboratory and field tests, which is encouraging with respect
to screening LSW candidates. Many of the ongoing LSW
laboratory and field projects within the oil industry are not
reported in open literature. Nevertheless, the growth in
interest is indicated by the recent increase in the number of
LSW-related publications (Fig. 3) and by designation of LSW
100

100 90

90 80
80 LSE
Oil Recovery, OOIP

70
Oil Recovery, OOIP

70
LSE 60
60

50 50

40 40
30 LS displacing LS 30
20
MS displacing MS HSW LSW
HS displacing HS
20
10
10
0
0 2 4 6 8 10 12
0
Injected Brine Volume, PV
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35
Fig. 1—Waterflood recovery vs. pore volume (PV) Brine-Injected, PV
showing LSE for LSW at Swi. Connate and injected
have identical ionic concentrations. Experiments were Fig. 2—Waterflood recovery showing LSE for LSW at
conducted in matched Berea-sandstone core plugs. Sor with reservoir core and fluids.

JPT • MAY 2011 107

DISTINGUISHED AUTHOR SERIES

30

Number of LSE Papers

25

20

15

10

0
96

98

99

00

01

02

03

04

05

06

07

08

09

10
19

19

19

20

20

20

20

20

20

20

20

20

20

20
Year
Fig. 3—Interest in LSW has increased as indicated by the number of publications and presentations focused on
LSE. The bibliography contains the complete list for this figure.

as an IOR process at the SPE/DOE Symposium on Improved
Oil Recovery, Tulsa, since 2006.
LSE Mechanisms
Despite growing interest in LSE, a consistent mechanistic
explanation has not yet emerged. In part, this may be the
result of the use of different materials (especially rocks and
crude oils) and variations in test procedures. The complexity
of the minerals, crude oils, and aqueous-phase compositions
and the interactions among all these phases also may con-
tribute to confusion about the cause of LSE. The variety of
circumstances under which LSE may or may not be observed
suggests that more than one mechanism may be in play.
LSE was first observed in Berea sandstone with perme-
abilities of 500 to 1,000 md. Increased pH of effluent was
noted and ascribed to ion exchange, but the effluent oil/brine
interfacial tensions were too high for increased recovery to
be accounted for by saponification of oil components. It was
suggested that limited release of mixed-wet fine particles,
probably kaolinite, with associated change toward water-
wetness, was responsible for LSE. Exposure to crude oil has
been shown to limit the rate of kaolinite-particle release from
Berea sandstone (Sarkar and Sharma 1990), thus limiting the
amount of formation damage that might be observed under
Oil Recovery, OOIP
wettability changes from less to more water-wet conditions,
oil is released from rock surfaces and recovery is increased.
Evidence for change in wettability, however, is often indirect,
such as from changes in relative permeability curves or cen-
trifuge capillary pressures.
The most direct, but less frequently used, measure of the
wettability of rocks is the rate of spontaneous imbibition
of the wetting fluid. Often, results are scaled to account
for core and fluid properties. Fig. 4 shows scaled rates of
imbibition for HS displacing HS, MS displacing MS, and LS
displacing LS, corresponding to the waterfloods shown in
Fig. 1. Comparable initial rates of imbibition are measured
in all three cases, but the extent of imbibition increases sig-
nificantly with a decrease in salinity. Explaining the increases
in microscopic displacement efficiency observed for both
spontaneous imbibition and waterflooding is key to under-
standing LSE.
100
90 LS displacing LS
MS displacing MS
80 HS displacing HS

70
strongly water-wet conditions. Changes, if any, in pressure
drop associated with LSE usually are modest and transient. 60
There are numerous examples of LSW for which production 50
of fine particles is not observed. However, the number of
submicron-sized particles in sandstone that change location 40
during waterflooding has been demonstrated to increase 30
with a decrease in salinity. Formation of lamellae, possibly
stabilized by fine particles, which redirect flow, has been sug- 20
gested as a possible cause of increase in pressure drop and 10
oil recovery.
Exposure of rocks to crude oil is known to cause wettabil- 0
ity alteration toward decreased water-wetness. Further wet- 1 10 100 1000 10000 100000
tability alteration, usually toward increased water-wetness Dimensionless Time, tD
during the course of LSW, is the most frequently suggested
cause of increased recovery. Note that establishing mixed- Fig. 4—Oil displacement by spontaneous imbibition of
wettability by exposure to water and crude oil was a neces- water. Concentrations of connate and imbibing water
sary condition for LSE. It has been postulated that when are the same.

108 JPT • MAY 2011

 Many interactions are affected by substantial changes
in salinity. LS processes often are in the range where sur-
face forces at charged rock/water and oil/water interfaces,
screened at HS, become important, affecting ion exchange,
fines release, sorption of organics. Mineral solubilities also
are affected; increased recovery has been demonstrated for
cores containing anhydrite, but slow dissolution of less-
soluble minerals from Berea sandstone has been observed
(Meyers and Salter 1984).
Additional contributions that may play a role in LSW
processes in which connate and injected water are not the
same, as always occurs in practice, include mixing, dynamic
ion exchange, and osmotic effects. Identifying a mechanism
or, more likely, a suite of mechanisms responsible for LSE
requires detailed monitoring of waterflood and imbibition
experiments. Oil recovery has been shown to pass through
a maximum at weakly water-wet states for various mixed-
wettability conditions. In more-general studies of oil recov-
ery, special attention must be given to explaining how the
interpreted shifts in wettability associated with LS are related
to IOR.
Mechanistic Laboratory Tests
Each of the tests in Table 1 was made in separate, matched
Berea-sandstone core plugs. This approach ensures that each
core plug undergoes exactly the same sequence of treat-
ments, varying only in the aqueous-phase compositions, as
indicated. However, a reliable supply of a uniform model
rock that shows LSE is required. Experience with LSW on
Berea sandstone has shown that even for outcrop rock, LSE
can be highly variable with sometimes no LSE for either
LSW at Swi or LSW at Sor. The cause for these variations in
response is a key question that has yet to be answered.
Work on reservoir-core samples is always needed for
specific applications, but obtaining matched reservoir-core
plugs is problematic because of both heterogeneity and
limitations on the number of available high-quality cores.
Issues related to core cutting, storage, cleaning, and resto-
ration also must be considered. An alternative approach,
repeated use of individual plugs, would appear to have
distinct advantages with respect to consistent core proper-
ties. However, an unexpected outcome of repeated use of
individual cores in studying LSE was that each test could
alter the outcome of subsequent tests significantly. Increased
recovery could not be ascribed unequivocally to LSE. Only
tests of LSW at Sor can clearly show LSE in a single plug, and
sometimes the effects are smaller than those demonstrated
by LSW at Swi.
Concluding Remarks
To date, improved recovery by LSW has targeted mobilization
of remaining oil for reservoirs that are producing at water/oil
ratios that press economic limits. Increased oil-production
rates would provide direct evidence of successful LSW appli-
cation. Laboratory tests indicate that, as with many recovery
processes, much greater overall improvement in recovery
would derive from application of LSW at the outset of reser-
voir development. However, interpretation of field results for
evidence of success will involve much more ambiguity than
for LSW at Sor. Confidence in the LSW processes continues
JPT • MAY 2011
to depend on laboratory observations and on improvements
in understanding the mechanisms by which brine composi-
tions affect oil recovery.
The LSE has been reported for brine compositions of up
to 5,000 ppm. For LSW at Sor, injection waters with com-
positions in the range of 2,000 to 3,000 ppm have been
used in field tests. If LS water is not readily available, such
as in offshore operations, desalinization will be a major
component of the cost of a project. Extensive laboratory
testing would be needed to obtain indications of how the
injection brine can be optimized. The greatest advances in
LSW will result from development of a broad understand-
ing of the factors that determine waterflood recoveries for
crude-oil/brine/rock combinations for wide ranges of ionic
strength and composition. Identification of the sufficient
conditions for LSE and understanding the circumstances
under which there is little or no LSE remain as outstand-
ing challenges.
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DISTINGUISHED AUTHOR SERIES
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