A short review of recent studies on applying low salinity water injection in unconventional reservoirs: An experimental approach

The primary production from unconventional reservoirs remains almost low, so applying enhanced oil recovery (EOR) methods is inevitable. Due to the different structures of these reservoirs from conventional resources, implementing of various EOR methods will be complicated. Waterflooding (as the type of low salinity water (LSW) or smart water flooding) has been comprehensively investigated in the literature for sandstone and carbonate formations. Water injection in the context of conventional formations generally is not practical due to the low injectivity of unconventional resources, and few studies have examined the potential of these methods for these types of reservoirs. In this review, I try to summarize the studies conducted in this field.