Research needs to maximize economic producibility of the domestic oil resource

NIPER was contracted by the US Department of Energy Bartlesville (Okla.) Project Office (DOE/BPO) to identify research needs to increase production of the domestic oil resource, and K A Energy Consultants, Inc. was subcontracted to review EOR field projects. This report summarizes the findings of that investigation. Professional society and trade journals, DOE reports, dissertations, and patent literature were reviewed to determine the state-of-the-art of enhanced oil recovery (EOR) and drilling technologies and the constraints to wider application of these technologies. The impacts of EOR on the environment and the constraints to the application of EOR due to environmental regulations were also reviewed. A review of well documented EOR field projects showed that in addition to the technical constraints, management factors also contributed to the lower-than-predicted oil recovery in some of the projects reviewed. DOE-sponsored projects were reviewed, and the achievements by these projects and the constraints which these projects were designed to overcome were also identified. Methods of technology transfer utilized by the DOE were reviewed, and several recommendations for future technology transfer were made. Finally, several research areas were identified and recommended to maximize economic producibility of the domestic oil resource. 14 figs., 41 tabs.