Typical Oil Well Pump Station
Most oil is produced by one of three distinct methods: primary, secondary, and tertiary, or enhanced oil recovery (EOR). The definition of tertiary or EOR is that something is added to the reservoir after the secondary recovery in order to increase or gain additional production. This can be gases, chemicals, microbes, heat, or even the addition of energy, such as the stimulation of the oil through vibration energy. The purpose of EOR is to increase oil production, primarily through an increase in temperature, pressure, or an enhancement of the oil’s ability to flow through the reservoir within which it is initially contained.
During primary recovery, the natural pressure of the reservoir drives oil into the wellbore (extraction point), and artificial lift techniques (such as pumps) bring the oil to the surface. However, only about 10 percent of a reservoir's original-oil-in-place (OOIP) is typically produced during primary recovery.
Producers have employed secondary recovery techniques to extend the productive life of oilfields since post World War II, by utilizing secondary recovery techniques the productive life of oilfields, usually increases the recovery rate from 10% to 15-40 % of OOIP (original-oil-in-place).
For the most part, such techniques involve injecting water to displace the oil, driving it to the wellbore (extraction point). In some cases, natural gas; often produced simultaneously with the oil; is/was re-injected into the well so as to maintain oil reservoir pressure, thus forcing “stationary” oil to the wellbore or extraction point, thus ideally increasing the recovery rate to the referenced 15 to 40 % of the original-oil-in-place.
You should keep in mind that conventional primary and secondary recovery operations typically leave behind two thirds of OOIP. In some total, more than 600 billion barrels of oil have been discovered in the United States to date. Of that total, about 400 billion barrels are considered un-recoverable by conventional primary and secondary recovery methods; of this figure, about 200 billion barrels lies at less than 5,000 feet below the surface, so 30% to 60 % of the OOIP is now considered recoverable. Currently, that shallow remaining volume is the main target for EOR (Enhanced Oil Recovery).
Most EOR (enhanced oil recovery) efforts involves the injection of gases, chemicals or some type of thermal enhancement; however each of these techniques have been hampered by their relatively high cost and, in some cases, by the unpredictability of their effectiveness. The good news is that gases appear to be the most effective oil recovery injection ‘agent’ and the best gas to use (and this is the other good news) is CO2 which is as almost everyone knows is carbon dioxide.
Carbon dioxide (CO2) is emitted in a number of ways: Naturally through the carbon cycle (as in decay) and via human activities such as the burning of fossil fuels; which of recent date has triggered heated debate in regard to, you guessed it, global warming.
In any event, global warming is a huge topic all of its own, far beyond oil recovery methods, but in this case, we might use the old adage, “kill two birds with one stone”. The ‘old saying’ may very well apply in this particular circumstance for the obvious reasons that both man made CO2 production and oil depletion are serious detriments to man kinds well-being. Some experts believe these duel problems may yet be resolved (at least in part) by utilizing this enhanced oil recovery method.
Carbon dioxide (CO2) for EOR was initially tried back in 1972 in the west Texas county of Scurry, but CO2 injection has been used successfully throughout the West Texas Permian Basin and in eastern New Mexico; the process is now being pursued (primarily enabled by higher oil costs) to a limited extent in Kansas, Mississippi, Wyoming, Oklahoma, Colorado, Utah, Montana, Alaska, and Pennsylvania.
Until recently, most of the CO2 used for EOR has come from naturally-occurring reservoirs. But new technologies are being developed which enable the use of CO2 produced from industrial applications where naturally occurring reservoirs are not available. This action will not only increase oil production dramatically, but will also assist in sequestering the ill effects of CO2 on the environment by placing CO2 deep underground.
There is now an improved process that’s being termed “Next generation CO2-EOR”, which reportedly has the potential to produce over 80 billion barrels of oil by using new techniques which includes the injection of much larger volumes of CO2. Keep in mind that this additional estimated production would derive from existing oil wells throughout the United States, so if you are among the fortunate who have previously had producing oil well(s), be patient, you future may be bright.
According to a recent CNN Money report, the United States is presently undergoing an energy boom. The oil and gas industry says it could be much, much bigger. How much bigger you might ask? A study last year (2011) commissioned by the American Petroleum Institute said that if every piece of federal land (excluding national parks) was opened for drilling, North America could produce an additional 10 million barrels of oil a day as soon as 2030.
In addition the study said that based upon the current consumption levels that such a production ‘program’ would in turn eliminate the need for imported oil into the US. Plus the report estimated that the additional drilling would create 1.4 million jobs and generate $800 billion in tax revenue.
As if to reinforce this train of thought, a new drilling technique is now opening up vast fields of previously out-of-reach oil in the western United States, helping reverse a 20 year decline in domestic production of crude oil.
Oil Companies are investing billions of dollars to obtain oil deposits scattered across North Dakota, Colorado, Texas and California. By 2015, according to oil executives and industry analysts, the new fields could yield as much as 2 million barrels of oil a day, which is more than the entire Gulf of Mexico now produces.
Experts say this new drilling technique alone is expected to raise U.S. production by at least 20 percent within the next five years. And over the next 10 years, it could help reduce oil imports by more than 50%; in fact some experts say that by 2020, oil imports could be slashed by as much as 60 %.
Exactly what are we as typical American oil consumers to make of this news? Well it could mean that the industrial age that is so very dependent upon oil production is not necessarily destined to die a quick but miserable death as most economic forecasters have recently predicted; perhaps a slow miserable death from this date forward is a more accurate description of what we can expect to see develop in the years ahead.
With this foremost in mind, we as consumers should hope that as a nation, we can somehow “get it right the second time” for as most anyone will admit: we (Americans) most certainly have failed quite miserably in our effort to ‘wean’ ourselves from crude the first time.
Sources : http://www.netl.doe.gov/technologies/oil-gas/ep_technologies/improvedrecovery/enhancedoilrecovery/eor.html http://fossil.energy.gov/programs/oilgas/eor/ http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/emissions/co2.html http://money.cnn.com/2012/02/27/news/economy/oil_boom/index.htm http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/02/10/new-drilling-method-opens-vast-oil-fields/ https://www.google.com/search?q=public+domain+images+oil&hl=en&prmd=imvns&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=Mp66T6fXIaGi2gXusq3aDw&ved=0CJABELAE&biw=1138&bih=518
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