An Extra 600 Billion Barrels of Recoverable Oil from Just One Technology?

The quickest and cheapest way to find "new" oil is to look in old oilfields. As better technologies for recovery of oil from existing fields mature, new billions and hundreds of billions of barrels of oil suddenly become recoverable.

The potential prize of improving ultimate oil recovery with pulsed injection is considerable. A 1% increase in recovery equals 2 billion barrels of additional reserves globally; a 5% increase in recovery-a conservative increase thought to be achievable-would produce an extra 300 to 600 billion barrels. Ultimately, the use of pulsed injection can result in enhanced oil recovery from a field of between 5 and 10 percent depending on reservoir conditions.

...Since their first application in 1998, Wavefront's pulsed injection processes-which create a pulsating injection stream with typically 20 to 40 pulses per minute, at speeds of up to 100 meters per second-are administered via tools that it leases to oil companies for use on their wells. The company reports that it has consistently delivered successful results for optimized oil well stimulation and secondary oil recovery. In some cases, its technology has reportedly increased the production of individual wells by greater than 300%. To date, its pulsed injection system for oil recovery-which the company markets under the name Powerwave-has been used in more than two dozen fields in Canada and the U.S. The company has also recently implemented its process in major oil production operations around the world, including Argentina and the Middle East.

In a recent quarter, Wavefront secured four key contracts for Powerwave totaling 24 tools: A six-tool contract with the largest oil production company in the Sultanate of Oman; contracts with Pluspetrol in Argentina and Clayton Williams in Texas; and an 11-tool, three-field contract with a major Calgary-based oil producer. _AOLEnergy

This is just one aspect of "spare capacity" and "new replacement reserves" which are not considered by the famous oil depletion graphs which are bandied about by the peak oil punkocracy. There are many other aspects -- some technological, some geological, some geo-political -- which are studiously avoided by peak oil true believers.

That is why those who want to see beyond currently published numbers reflecting the status of oil markets, must avoid any taint of ideological thinking, superstitious thinking, or quasi-religious thinking such as peak oil.