In recent years, domestic oil and gas production has shown a natural declining trend due to objective factors such as major oil fields reaching the end of their production lifecycle, newly discovered reserves being mostly small and marginal, and increasingly challenging extraction conditions. As a result, research and application of technologies to improve oil recovery have become an urgent necessity.

The VPI SP chemical system is the outcome of a national-level research cluster entitled: “Research, solution selection, development, and application of technology to enhance oil recovery factor for terrigenous sediments in oil fields of the Cuu Long Basin, Vietnam’s continental shelf.” The project cluster was funded by the Ministry of Science and Technology and led by the Vietnam Petroleum Institute (VPI)—a member of the Vietnam National Industry - Energy Group (Petrovietnam)—with the participation of 50 leading oil and gas scientists from both Vietnam and abroad.

The research focused on selecting and developing feasible technological solutions to improve oil recovery factor tailored to each field and reservoir located in the terrigenous sedimentary formations of the Cuu Long Basin. It included lab-scale development of the chemical system for representative formations, experimental validation of EOR (Enhanced Oil Recovery) solutions, construction of exploitation models, and simulation of recovery-enhancing strategies.

The project also involved designing and retrofitting pilot-scale production equipment to manufacture 100 tons of the VPI SP chemical system for field trials.

This research has undergone industrial-scale pilot testing with results meeting expectations. It forms a critical foundation for VPI to develop a comprehensive strategy for widespread application of oil recovery-enhancing technology across the entire Cuu Long Basin.

All research activities have been completed on schedule, meeting technical and quality standards. Innovations in the project include the application of cutting-edge Industry 4.0 technologies in reservoir simulation, including integrated simulation, multi-component modeling, and streamline simulation to model recovery mechanisms.

Dr. Nguyen Minh Quy - Deputy Director of VPI, Head of the Project Cluster emphasized that VPI leveraged modern simulation tools, AI, and machine learning throughout the VPI SP development process to enhance predictive modeling and optimize EOR strategies. The solution integrates production technology and equipment, ensuring high operational compatibility and ease of deployment. Notably, the VPI SP chemical system is non-toxic, environmentally friendly, and suitable for use in high-temperature, high-pressure offshore reservoirs.

He also reaffirmed that this marks the first time Vietnam has executed a scientifically robust and globally aligned approach to EOR technology—identifying viable solutions that deliver both technical and economic benefits, contributing to the optimization of hydrocarbon recovery in Vietnam’s offshore Cuu Long Basin.

The results achieved from VPI SP show a great potential to expand the application of advanced oil recovery technology solutions in the future by using VPI SP chemical injection pump researched and developed by Vietnam Petroleum Institute, including exploitation objects in Bach Ho field as well as oil and gas fields being exploited in Cuu Long basin, Vietnam's continental shelf. At that time, the efficiency brought about both in terms of optimizing resource exploitation and economics of oil and gas exploitation projects in Vietnam is very potential.

VPI's research has opened up the direction of producing VPI SP oil recovery enhancing chemicals on an industrial scale as well as promoting the application of this chemical to oil fields in Vietnam; helping to increase Petrovietnam's crude oil production, while making an important contribution to the country's socio-economic development. Moreover, this research result is an important basis for attracting domestic and foreign investment capital to build production lines and apply oil recovery enhancing chemicals in Vietnam, thereby creating more jobs, promoting growth and economic development of Vietnam.

VPI has also developed a detailed plan to develop the VPI SP product system and is submitting it to Petrovietnam for consideration of investment of resources and funds to continue researching and developing the commercial VPI SP chemical system suitable for areas with high temperature and reservoir pressure conditions, complex geological structures, and heterogeneity of reservoirs.