what is enhanced oil recovery (EOR)
How ESR Works
The company operates using three distinct phases of oil recovery which are standard in North American oil and gas production. They are: Primary, Secondary and Tertiary (or enhanced) recovery.
Primary Recovery
Primary recovery produces oil and gas using the natural pressure of the reservoir as the driving force to push the material to the surface. Wells are often 'stimulated' through the injection of fluids, which fracture the hydrocarbon-bearing formation to improve the flow of oil and gas from the reservoir to the wellhead. Other techniques, such as pumping and gas lift help production when the reservoir pressure dissipates.
Tertiary Recovery
Tertiary recovery involves injecting other gases (such as carbon dioxide), or heat (steam or hot water) to further stimulate oil and gas flow to produce remaining fluids that were not extracted during primary or secondary recovery phases.
Secondary Recovery
Secondary recovery uses other mechanisms - such as gas reinjection and water flooding - to produce residual oil and gas remaining after the primary recovery phase.
Why EOR
As much as eighty percent or more of the oil still in the ground. Oil fields were abandoned, towns died off and workers moved elsewhere, all with as much as eighty percent of the oil still underground, yet untouchable. Now with enhanced tertiary recovery methods another twenty percent or more can be extracted, or up to sixty percent of the oil is a reservoir, effectively doubling or tripling the amount of oil produced from the field.
