New oil recovery technique to be put to the test

CASPER — In the world of oil drilling, only a small portion of reserves flow naturally to the earth’s surface, which means producers must force most of it up by other means.

Increasingly, developers are relying on enhanced oil recovery techniques, which pressure fossil fuels to the surface by injecting water, gas and chemical cocktails into underground reservoirs. These “tertiary” recovery practices have been used for decades, but now one of its oldest techniques is on the verge of a makeover, which could add a new tool to the industry’s arsenal and boost production across the state in years to come.

The Wyoming Energy Authority has nominated a unique enhanced oil recovery pilot project to receive as much as $9.8 million in Energy Matching Funds, an earmark set aside by lawmakers to spur innovation in the state.

Texas-based development company ATR Funding has proposed a pilot-scale “enriched air” oil recovery project in the Powder River Basin, which would test a new method of “in-situ combustion” recovery at two wells with the goal of extracting an additional 4.8 million barrels of crude.

Unlike conventional in situ recovery — which works by shooting oxygen-based gasses into underground reservoirs, where it produces a chemical thermal reaction and pushes oil to the surface — the ATR process would inject “enriched air,” or highly concentrated oxygen, not unlike pressurized oxygen used in hospital settings.

The concept was first attempted at a California oil field in 2009. And while the technique proved successful, the project’s economics were not, as it required trucking 20 tons of liquid oxygen to the site each day.

ATR now believes it has found a way to make enriched air recovery economically viable using modular air separators able to produce and deploy concentrated oxygen on site.

The ATP system resembles the prevailing enhanced oil recovery method —CO2 well injection — in that the oxygen is ultimately converted to carbon dioxide underground through chemical reactions.

The challenge with conventional CO2 recovery techniques is that it often requires the transport of carbon dioxide long distances via a pipeline.

If ATR’s pilot is greenlit and proves feasible, far flung fields would not be limited by pipeline access, and a host of new plays could open up.

The system would also collect, redeploy and ultimately sequester the process-based CO2 emissions underground.

The Wyoming Energy Authority’s recommendation must be signed off by the governor, whose approvals are under a leery eye from state senators who threatened to slash Energy Matching Funds during last month’s budget session.

The grant application marks something of a reveal for a technology that’s previously been kept quiet. If realized, it would be the first long-term enriched air enhanced oil recovery pilot in the nation, the company says.

“The goal is to push this towards industry adoption. And if we can get proof of concept, the industry starts to look more seriously at this new concept,” said Scott Dobson, project manager. “With those WEA funds we can do more, and faster.”

This story was published on April 4, 2024.