Abstract
Currently available enhanced oil recovery (EOR) and advanced secondary recovery (ASR) technologies could produce a significant amount of the remaining oil resource in the major oil reservoirs of the United States. The potential recovery can be even greater with a well designed, properly focused research, development, and demonstration (RD&D) program and technology transfer effort. However, if low oil prices persist and technology advancement is delayed, a significant portion of the remaining resource could be abandoned before the recovery potential can be realized.
This paper presents the results of a study by the Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission (IOGCC) to evaluate the impact of RD&D and technology transfer on future oil recovery in the United States. Major findings of the study include: (1) at the conclusion of conventional recovery operations, over 350 billion barrels will remain in known domestic oil reservoirs; (2) a significant portion (35% to 45%) of the remaining oil resource has already be abandoned, and an even greater portion is at risk of abandonment by the turn of the century; (3) wider application of currently available improved oil recovery technologies could stimulate as much as 7 to 9 billion barrels of incremental reserves in the $16/B to $20/B oil price range; (4) technology advances resulting from a focused RD&D program could stimulate an additional 5 to 8 billion barrels of incremental reserves for a total potential of 12 to 17 billion barrels at these oil prices; and (5) an aggressive and focused RD&D and technology transfer effort on improved recovery technologies needs to be undertaken in order to capitalize on the massive remaining oil resources in the U.S.
