Economic Potential of Enhanced Oil Recovery
Summary appeal to investors and industry partners:
Oil production is brought forward earlier and increased (offsetting decline rates);
The percent of recoverable oil/unit spacing is significantly improved;
Higher ultimate recovery rates translate to higher reserves, for a stronger balance sheet and improved bankability; and
Energy and heat losses are minimized, for lower relative Lease Operating Expenses.
WES Technology Applied to Heavy Oil: 30-50% Production Enhancement
In deep Heavy Oil applications, STARS simulations show a 2x potential Production Improvement over conventional steam alone: Simulations of CO2 and O2 with steam in a cold heavy oil reservoir containing 125,000 cp oil: Oil recovered using surface steam alone is less than 40% in ~15 years CO2 + Steam via DHSG produced about the same volume in 30% less time. DHSG Steam + CO2 + 5% O2 produced same volume in 50% less time (40% OOIP in 7.5 yrs.)
WES Technology Applied to Light Tight Shale Oil: 2X Production Enhancement
In Light Tight Shale Oil applications, Bakken STARS simulations show a 2-3x potential production Improvement over conventional hydraulic fracturing alone. The orange curve reflects the production response when high quality steam, flue gasses, and C02 are injected simultaneously, in a managed pressure environment. The EOR regimes also convert the Kerogen to producible oil, and “precondition” the reservoir for further exploitation. Once the reservoir is preconditioned, the improved effective porosity and permeability make the formation more amenable to conventional, relatively low cost EOR approaches, which can now be injected through this two step EOR process, oil recovery is projected to be 2-3X greater than enabled with conventional hydraulic fracturing alone.