Geoffrey Thyne, Vladimir Ulyanov, Brandon Skinner and Salem Thyne, ESal, USA, describe how simple technology could double the recoverable reserves in many fields while reducing operating costs.
UNLOCKING STRANDED RESERVES T
he oil and gas industry faces unprecedented pressure from demand changes, bans on drilling on federal lands in the US under a new White House administration and rising costs for drilling and production. New technologies in all phases of exploration, drilling and production have led to incremental production increases – but the average field still strands 65% of reserves after all available production techniques have been exhausted. New discoveries regarding the connection between the chemistry of wettability and enhanced oil recovery (EOR)
show promise for unlocking another 35% of reserves in approximately half of the world’s oilfields. As further data adds to understanding of the issue, there is hope that using salinity to improve wettability could boost production in up to 75% of fields.
Background ESal founder Geoffrey Thyne began this study of salinity and wettability almost by accident when assigned to prove the opposite of what was ultimately proven to be the case.
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