Micellar/Polymer flood shows success in Bell Creek Field

In February, 1981, a 179-acre micellar-polymer project was initiated in the Bell Creek Unit 'A' Muddy Sand reservoir, Powder River County, Montana. Employing nine injector-centered 20-acre five-spot patterns and utilizing Union Oil Company's Uniflood micellar-polymer process, the ''TIP'' project is projected to recover 39.6% of the post line-drive waterflood oil-in-place, with a total project tertiary recovery of 1.574 million barrels of oil. It is further expected to generate $14 million in total net profit for the Unit 'A' Working Interest Owners prior to reaching its economic limit in 1988. Installed under the U.S. Department of Energy's ''Tertiary Incentive Program,'' the TIP project provided a second chance to test the micellar-polymer technology in the Bell Creek Field, and was able to improve dramatically on the marginal performance of the original 160-acre Micellar-Polymer Pilot located 3.6 miles to the north. The remainder of this paper discusses in some detail the history, the design and implementation, the operat