DOE Selects Eight Advanced Recovery Projects, Seeks Cost-Effective Methods to Produce Domestic Oil

As part of its continuing effort to develop advanced technologies that can recover crude oil left behind by conventional methods, the Department of Energy (DOE) today announced its selection of eight new research projects — seven with universities and one with a newly privatized petroleum research laboratory. Each of the winning proposers will share the costs of the advanced oil recovery projects.

The research effort is targeted toward the great majority of U.S. oil fields that are in danger of being abandoned even though they retain one-half to two-thirds of their original oil. The high capital cost of drilling wells, and the difficulty in restoring production leases, make it unlikely that abandoned fields will ever be reopened, even if future oil prices increase sharply. Premature abandonment, in effect, permanently cuts off access to valuable oil assets.

One way to avoid this situation is to develop better ways to flood an oil-bearing formation with gas, chemicals, or microbes to move hard-to-produce oil through the reservoir rock to producing wells. Seven projects will examine innovative techniques for accomplishing this, while the eighth project will develop improved computer-generated models of these advanced recovery methods.

The seven universities and one industry research group selected to conduct this research are:

• University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, for research on how to prevent the chemical properties of the oil in Chevron Production Company's Rangely Field in Colorado from breaking down during carbon dioxide (CO2) flooding, yielding a sticky, asphalt-like substance that clogs the reservoir and the production equipment. This research will investigate how the separating asphaltene molecules alter the effectiveness of the gas flooding process.

• University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, will focus on improving control of the gas flooding process by increasing carbon dioxide's (CO2) viscosity, or resistance to flow, to a level comparable to the oil being displaced.

• New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, Petroleum Recovery Research Center, Socorro, NM, will look for ways to optimize control of chemical gels in fractured reservoirs to reduce salt water production during oil field operations.

• The University of Southern Mississippi, Hattiesburg, MS, for research on developing a new class of "smart" copolymers — natural or synthetic chemical compounds — to control fluid movement during chemical flooding.

• Columbia University, New York, NY, for research to design innovative surfactant flooding methods that can increase oil production by reducing the tendency of surfactants to cling to reservoir rocks while allowing increased oil production.

• University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, to develop microbial strains that can consistently produce high levels of biosurfactants under simulated reservoir conditions and to develop biosurfactants with improved properties that can be used under a wider range of conditions.

• BDM Petroleum Technologies, Bartlesville, OK, for research on a combined microbial-surfactant, polymer-surfactant system for improved oil recovery.

• The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, to extend the capability of an existing mainframe or supercomputer simulator to model advanced oil recovery methods that use surfactants, polymers, gels, alkaline chemicals, microorganisms and foam as well as various combinations of these.

The eight projects were selected from proposals received in response to an April 15, 1997 Program Research and Development Announcement soliciting research projects that develop or improve cost-effective processes for extracting domestic oil reserves.

Each one of the selected projects will last an estimated 36 months, with a total cost for the combined eight projects of $7,433,912. The researchers will provide $1,725,768 (23 percent), and DOE will fund $5,708,144 (77 percent). The projects will be managed by the National Petroleum Technology Office, the Energy Department's Office of Fossil Energy's lead field office for petroleum research, located in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Following is a more detailed description of the four research areas and each of the eight selected projects:

GAS FLOODING RESEARCH: When conventional production techniques, such as water flooding, result in low production levels, injecting carbon dioxide (CO2) -- or other gases -- into the reservoir under pressure can significantly improve the oil production. One of the major challenges to improving the oil recovery from CO2 flooding is to reduce the amount of oil bypassed due to the poor sweep of CO2. The ability to conduct CO2, natural gas, or nitrogen floods effectively below the miscibility pressure -- the reservoir pressure at which gas and oil can more easily mix -- would greatly increase the benefits of these processes in shallow oil reservoirs.

• University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah
  Lead Researcher: Dr. Milind D. Deo, (801) 581-7629
  Project: Enhancing the Effectiveness of Carbon Dioxide Flooding by Managing Asphaltene Precipitation - The University of Utah has been selected to receive $425,297 from DOE for a three-year project to enhance the effectiveness of CO2 flooding at Chevron's Rangely Field in Colorado. During the flooding operations at Rangely, asphaltene separates from the oil, forming a black, tarry asphalt-like substance on rock surfaces, wellbore, tubing, and pipes, clogging the reservoir and the production equipment. This research will investigate how the separating asphaltene molecules affect the ability of the CO2 and oil to mix, thereby altering the effectiveness of the flooding. The researchers will test various temperatures, pressures and CO2 concentrations on the rate and amount of asphaltene clogging the well. They will also test different surfaces, additives or coatings to inhibit or minimize asphaltene buildup. The University of Utah will provide a $106,324 cost share.

• University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA
  Lead Researcher: Robert M. Enick, (412) 624-9649
  Project: Novel CO2-Thickeners for Improved Mobility Control - The University of Pittsburgh has been selected to receive $740,903 from DOE for a three year project to develop CO2-thickeners, a chemical substance added to the CO2 to make it more viscous or slow-moving, to improve control during gas flooding. During miscible flooding, CO2 with its low resistance to movement tends to "finger" through already swept reservoir zones, bypassing oil rather than remaining behind the oil bank as it sweeps through the reservoir. This research will improve control of the CO2 during the flooding process by using dilute concentrations of "thickeners" in the CO2 to increase its viscosity. After determining the CO2 solubility of each thickening candidate, the viscosity of the CO2-thickened solutions will also be determined. The University of Pittsburgh will provide a $267,868 cost share. Yale University is a project participant.

CHEMICAL FLOODING RESEARCH: Chemical flooding involves injecting environmentally safe chemicals into an oil field to free oil left behind by conventional production methods. The technology is made up of a family of processes that include polymers, which divert oil recovery processes away from depleted areas of a reservoir and into more oil-rich zones, and surfactants - or detergent-like chemicals - which break the surface tension that makes oil droplets cling to reservoir rock. Proposals are sought for the development of low-cost polymers and surfactants. Surfactant flooding involves injection of a chemical that is partially oil-soluble and partially water-soluble. Polymer flooding is an augmented water flood that uses synthetic or biologically produced polymers to thicken the injected water and increase its viscosity relative to that of the reservoir fluids, thus improving recovery efficiency.

• New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, Petroleum Recovery Research Center, Socorro, NM
  Lead Researcher: Randall S. Seright, (505) 835-5571
  Project: Using Chemicals to Optimize Conformance Control in Fractured Reservoirs - The New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology has been selected to receive $900,000 from DOE to optimize the efficiency of chemical flooding processes to sweep oil through fractured reservoirs. This research project has three objectives: 1) to be able to predict and make the best use of gels to reduce water flow while allowing oil or gas to move through the reservoir; 2) to develop procedures for most effectively blocking hydraulic fractures which cause channeling problems; and 3) to develop procedures to most effectively use a blocking-agent in naturally fractured reservoirs. These procedures will provide industry with the technologies to significantly reduce the amount of salt water - more than 20 billion barrels - produced each year during oil field operations. For each one percent decrease in water production, the cost-savings to the oil industry could be between $50 million and $100 million per year. A substantial positive environmental impact could also be realized by reducing salt water production. The New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology will provide a $420,984 cost share.

• The University of Southern Mississippi, Hattiesburg, MS
  Lead Researchers: Dr. Charles L. McCormick and Dr. Roger D. Hester, (601) 266-4872
  Project: Innovative Copolymer Systems for In Situ Rheology Control in Advanced Recovery - The University of Southern Mississippi has been selected to receive $844,224 from DOE for a three year project to develop a new class of "smart" copolymers for cost-effective advanced oil recovery processes to control fluid mobility in the reservoir by changing the oil's resistance to flow and/or the permeability of the reservoir rock. The researchers will adjust fluid acidity, salt content, or temperature "triggers" to alter the movement of reservoir fluids. Flow properties of the synthesized copolymer systems will be measured to tailor the final copolymers to achieve the best control under reservoir conditions. The University of Southern Mississippi will provide a $212,413 cost share.

• Columbia University, New York, NY
  Lead Researcher: Dr. P. Somasundaran, (212) 854-2926
  Project: Optimization of Surfactant Mixtures and Their Interfacial Behavior for Advanced Oil Recovery - Columbia University has been selected to receive $607,614 from DOE to study interfacial tension between rock surfaces and fluids and how it controls the way oil flows through the reservoir. Surfactants are used to alter this tension to achieve optimal flow characteristics. The advantage of using surfactant mixtures is that their interfacial tension can be synergistic and can be manipulated by adjusting their properties. This research will develop innovative surfactant flooding methods that can effectively reduce interfacial tension between oil and the flooding-phase fluids, as well as lower the adsorption of surfactants on reservoir rocks. Columbia University will provide a $161,518 cost share.

MICROBIAL FLOODING RESEARCH: Microbial flooding uses certain bacterial strains to thin oil so that it will move more easily through the reservoir rock. Other types of microbes can form gels to change the flow paths of water and oil through the formation. Microbial techniques consist of injecting microbes into the reservoir where they generate surfactants, gas, or polymers which will increase oil recovery.

• University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK
  Lead Researcher: Dr. Michael J. McInerney, (405) 325-6050
  Project: Development of More Effective Biosurfactants for Enhanced Oil Recovery - The University of Oklahoma has been selected to receive $548,413 from DOE to develop microbial strains that can consistently produce high levels of biosurfactants under simulated reservoir conditions. Microbial enhanced oil recovery has several unique advantages: it does not consume large amounts of energy as do thermal processes; it does not depend on the price of crude oil as do many chemical processes; and because microbial growth occurs at exponential rates, it should be possible to produce large amounts of useful products rapidly from inexpensive and renewable resources. Recombinant DNA techniques will be used in this project to develop biosurfactants with improved properties that can be used under a wider range of conditions, and nutrient manipulation strategies will be devised to selectively enhance their in situ production. This work is designed to not only improve the technical performance of biosurfactant-flooding technologies but also make these technologies more cost effective. The University of Oklahoma will provide a $146,512 cost share.

• BDM Petroleum Technologies, of Bartlesville, OK
  Lead Researcher: Rebecca S. Bryant, (918) 338-4445
  Project: Combined Microbial Surfactant - Polymer System for Improved Oil Mobility and Conformance Control - BDM Petroleum Technologies has been selected to receive $792,240 from DOE to design and evaluate a combined microbial- surfactant, polymer-surfactant system for advanced oil recovery. The system will use bacteria that are capable of both biosurfactant production and metabolically controlled biopolymer production. Current microbial improved oil recovery technologies are affordable and cost effective, and the demonstrated versatility of microorganisms can be used to design advanced microbial systems to treat multiple production problems in complex, heterogeneous reservoirs. This novel technology combines complementary mechanisms to extend the life of marginal fields and is applicable to a large number of domestic reservoirs. The project will consist of a detailed laboratory investigation of the microbial processes, followed by economic evaluation and scale-up. This research will be performed jointly by BDM Petroleum Technologies and Prairie View A&M University, an Historically Black University. BDM Petroleum Technologies will provide a $175,590 cost share.

COMPUTER SIMULATION RESEARCH: The original solicitation asked researchers to develop or make major extensions to mainframe or supercomputer simulators as well as developing scaled-down simulators that would be adequate for desktop or workshop systems for the smaller oil producer.

• The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX
  Lead Researcher: Dr. Gary A. Pope, (512) 471-3235
  Project: Development of an Improved Simulator for Chemical and Microbial IOR Methods - The University of Texas at Austin has been selected to receive $849,452 from DOE to extend the capability of an existing University computer simulator - called UTCHEM - to process advanced oil recovery methods that use surfactants, polymers, gels, alkaline chemicals, foam and microorganisms as well as various combinations of these. "User friendly" operational improvements and a mechanistic foam model will be added to UTCHEM's current wide range of modeling features. In addition to targeting conventional oil reservoirs, the use of chemical methods in naturally fractured oil reservoirs will be evaluated. Almost no research on advanced oil recovery using chemicals has been done to address this important problem. The University of Texas at Austin will provide a $211,305 cost share.

- End of TechLine -

For more information, contact:
Hattie Wolfe, U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Fossil Energy Headquarters, (202) 586-6503 e-mail address: hattie.wolfe@hq.doe.gov

Technical Contact:
Herb Tiedemann, Technology Transfer Office, National Petroleum Technology Office, (918) 699-2017, e-mail address: htiedema@npto.doe.gov