Enhanced Oil Recovery

October 2025

On this page, following performance data are provided:

Enhanced oil recovery (EOR) improves hydrocarbon recovery by injecting fluids into a hydrocarbon reservoir to increase or maintain reservoir pressure, displace hydrocarbons to production wells, or alter reservoir fluids to improve hydrocarbon flow.

There are two types of EOR projects:

  • conventional, which extracts crude oil
  • nonthermal in situ, which extracts heavy oil or bitumen

In most EOR schemes, water is used as the only injection fluid to carry additives, such as polymers or surfactants, or as a chase fluid that follows the primary fluid to help push remaining oil towards the production wells. In situ EOR may also use fluids other than nonsaline water to enhance production, such as polymers, noncondensable gases, or hydrocarbon gases.

Make-up Water for an EOR Project

Make-up water is added to replace water that does not return from the oil reservoir. It supplements recycled water because some of the water returned to the surface cannot be treated for further reuse and must be disposed of as wastewater.

Make-up water sources include high-quality nonsaline, alternative nonsaline, and other alternative water.

Water Performance Measurement

The primary metric for comparing nonsaline water use performance is water use intensity (calculated as the volume of nonsaline water used in barrels divided by the barrels of oil equivalent [BOE] produced in a calendar year). Nonsaline water use intensity varies based on the fluid type injected, the scheme age, and the reservoir’s geology and characteristics.

All EOR schemes active in 2024 are considered in this report, regardless of their nonsaline water use.

Water Use Intensity Throughout the Project Life Cycle

Nonsaline water use intensity is closely related to the age of the EOR project. After start-up, EOR projects quickly transition from using mostly make-up water to mostly recycled produced water. As schemes age and hydrocarbon production declines, nonsaline water use intensity increases. In general, the longer an EOR project operates, the higher its nonsaline water intensity.

Older EOR schemes may have higher nonsaline water intensity for reasons not related to their life-cycle stage:

  • The scheme may have been built when nonsaline water use was of less concern. Consequently, infrastructure may have been built to standards unsuitable for handling alternatives to nonsaline water.
  • Over time, as hydrocarbon production typically decreases, so does revenue. Converting to alternative water sources may be cost-prohibitive.
  • Companies may have water licences that do not expire and allow for ongoing use of nonsaline water sources.
  • As a scheme matures, more water is needed to maintain the reservoir pressure to sustain hydrocarbon production.
  • The type of EOR scheme (e.g., polymer floods) may require some nonsaline water, as some polymers are very sensitive to water quality. Highly saline water can degrade polymers. The degraded polymers are less effective, affecting polymer mixing and dispersion and resulting in lower recovery rates.

Using nonsaline water for EOR instead of other alternative water can be a practical choice when abundant nonsaline water sources nearby can sustain the operation with little risk to the local environment.

Companies have made efforts to use less nonsaline water across all ages of EOR schemes.

Enhanced Oil Recovery Water Use – Sector Summary

EOR operators used about 8% of their nonsaline water allocation in 2024 (see the following figure).

Note:
HQNS = high-quality nonsaline
ANS = alternative nonsaline

The following map shows where enhanced oil recovery operators in Alberta are using nonsaline water as a source of make-up water. Zoom in to reveal more.

Total Water Use

In 2024, there were 853 EOR schemes in Alberta, of which 679 were injecting water. Only 99 (15% of the 679) schemes used nonsaline water. Like other extraction technologies, EOR requires make-up water because not all water used during operations is recoverable.

Directive 065: Resources Applications for Oil and Gas Reservoirs and Manual 025: Applications under the Water Conservation Policy for Upstream Oil and Gas Operations outline nonsaline water use requirements. Before using nonsaline water, operators must investigate nonsaline water alternatives and submit information to the AER confirming that no practical sources of other alternative water are available. Operators must also submit environmental net effects assessments and risk assessments outlined in Manual 025. However, other alternative water sources are not always available, and some older projects cannot handle saline or recycled water. Also, highly saline water can lower a product's quality. Some EOR operations use specialized polymers that are very sensitive to water quality. In those cases, using other alternative water sources is not always feasible. These factors can affect the amount of nonsaline water an operation uses.

In 2024, EOR operations used more than 185 million cubic metres (m3) of water to produce about 100 million BOE (see the following figure). Of the total water used, over 94% (175 million m3) was recycled, and the rest was make-up water.

Total water use has declined by 35% since 2013.

Make-up Water

In 2024, EOR companies used just over 10 million m3 of make-up water. Companies used about 8 million m3 of nonsaline water (79% of total make-up water) and almost 2 million m3 of other alternative water (20% of total make-up water). Other alternative make-up water includes saline groundwater and produced water from other nearby EOR schemes.

Overall, make-up water use has declined by 53% since 2013, corresponding with the decline in total water use.

Water Use Intensity

Water use intensity refers to the amount of nonsaline water used to produce one BOE. In 2024, EOR companies used about 8% (8 million m3) of the nonsaline water allocated to the energy industry to produce over 100 million BOE. EOR nonsaline water use intensity was 0.51 bbl/BOE.

Between 2013 and 2024, high-quality and alternative nonsaline make-up water usage for EOR decreased by 53%, while production decreased by 23%, resulting in a 35% improvement in nonsaline water use intensity. These changes are primarily due to reduced EOR activity across the province and a reduction in nonsaline water use.

Enhanced Oil Recovery Water Use – Company Performance

In the following figures, operations that do not use nonsaline water will show a zero nonsaline water use intensity. These operations may still use recycled water or other alternative water.

To make meaningful comparisons, we compare the data of companies with similar experiences and expertise based on their annual hydrocarbon production. In the figures below, companies may be sorted by their production over the calendar year. The default view of the figures is to display all companies, which can be changed using the "Company size" filter.

Use the tool below to find the company size by production volume for a specific company.

Water Use Intensity

A small number of operations can influence the EOR sector's overall performance. For example, two projects accounted for 36% of the total nonsaline make-up water volume for EOR in 2024, likely because of their large scale, including the large number of injection wells they have.

We also see this reflected in the nonsaline water use intensity of companies operating multiple schemes. A single scheme with a high nonsaline water use intensity can disproportionally affect a company's overall water use intensity, overshadowing the company's schemes with low water use intensities.

The following figure shows the overall nonsaline water use intensity for EOR by company.

The figures below show that an EOR scheme's age has a noticeable effect on nonsaline water use intensity. Select a company size, company name, or scheme type from the filters, and you will see the nonsaline water use intensity in the right-hand figure below based on your selection. This makes it possible to compare the water use intensity for specific sizes, companies, or scheme types to the average for the EOR sector.

The following figure provides details on water use and hydrocarbon production by company. Select a company size, company name, scheme type, or age from the filters, and you will see the water use, production, and intensity in the figure below based on your selection. The figure may be sorted by company name or fields (water use intensity, production, or water volumes).

Trend Data

The following figures show eleven-year trend data on water use, hydrocarbon production, and nonsaline water use intensity.