Public Resources Invested in Management and Extraction PRIME

1. Public Resources Invested in Management and ExtractionPRIME National Energy Technology Laboratory Office of Fossil Energy Office

2. PRIME Goal • Develop new approaches that can lead to enhanced production of oil resources found on public lands • Reduce costs, risks and environmental impacts associated with finding and producing U. S. petroleum resources • Preserve a vial aspect of future energy security • Focus on Research that is: • Longer-term • Higher-risk

3. Research Approach • Fundamental applied research • 5-10 year timeframe for expected R&D products • Breakthrough technologies • New systems • New approached • Radical changes to existing systems and approaches • Collaboration among industry, universities, national labs and others • Minimum non-DOE cost sharing of 20%

4. Public Resources Invested in Management and Extraction‘High-Level Review’ Solicitation: • #02NT15375.000 – 2001-2007 • Total of 10 projects awarded • DOE investments of $8,601 (74%) • Performers $3,064K (26%) • Total combined $11,665K investment

5. Technical Areas for Research • New technologies for oil and gas recovery • Innovative drilling technology • New materials • New downhole fluids • Revolutionary approached for finding and developing new oil and gas fields in the United States New high speed coring bit, Terra Tek

6. Projects Awarded

7. Projects Awarded – continued

8. Basin Analysis Interior Salt Basin, Gulf of Mexico Performer: University of Alabama Goal: • Develop the concept that petroleum systems can be identified through basin modeling • Demonstrate how petroleum systems in the North Louisiana Salt Basin and the Mississippi Interior Salt Basin can be used to target stratigraphic traps and facies Results: • Reservoirs are associated with salt-supported anticlinal and domal features • Reservoirs are Upper Jurassic and Lower Cretaceous fluvial-deltaic sandstones • Source rock is Upper Jurassic Smackover limestone • Generation of hydrocarbons was from Early Cretaceous into the Tertiary • Potential undiscovered reservoirs: Triassic Eagle Mills sandstone • Underdeveloped reservoirs: Lower and Upper Cretaceous sandstones and limestone Benefits: • Application of transgressive-regressive cycles for reservoir characterization is a new concept for exploration strategies

9. Elastic-Wavefield Seismic Stratigraphy Performer: University of Texas at Austin Goal: • Demonstrate the value of elastic-wavefield seismic stratigraphy, a new seismic interpretation method Results: • Documented examples in which shear (S) wave data provides geologic information than cannot be extracted from con-ventional compressional (P) wave data • Documented examples in which P-wave data provides information that is not present in S-wave data Benefits: • Introduced a new seismic technology that will aid in search for subtle stratigraphic oil trap A unique P-SV amplitude facies follows the trend of productive stratigraphic-trap wells (right): The P-P amplitude faces does not (left)

10. Interwell Connectivity and Diagnostic Correlation of Production and Injection Rates Performer: Texas A & M University Goal: • Develop a method that will predict interwell connectivity from water-flood production and injection well rate fluctuations • Represents a new low-cost method of data analysis to refine geological and engineering models Results: • Improvements pair two statistical components in a method that accommodates variations in compressibility and swept volume • Found a strong correlation with tracer breakthrough times in field demonstration in Texas Benefits: • Increased economically producible reserves. • Aid economic field development • Software package publicly available to map and quantify interwell connectivity Effects of fractures between well pairs

11. Smaller Footprint DrillingUltra-High Speed Diamond Drilling Performer: Terra Tek, Inc. Goal: • Develop significant improvements in drilling deep, hard rock by applying ultra-high (50,000 rpm) rotational speeds • Feasibility of concept research and test results to drill “faster and deeper” • Demonstration of diamond bits rotating at >10,000 rpm, to achieve high rate of penetration with lower weight on bit Results: • Tests of 7/7” diamond bits at 50,000 rpm produced significant increase in rate of penetration • Determined that rock failure mechanism changes at ultra-high rotation Benefits: • Ability to drill rock with very low bit weights and specific energy while maintaining and exceeding conventional penetration rates Ultra-high speed rotary drilling system coring at 50,000 rpm.

12. Statistically Based Real-Time Flowing Measurements Performer: University of Texas at Austin Goal: • Develop a procedure (intelligent-well design) to allow the determination of inflow profile (rates or oil, gas and waster as a function of distance) in horizontal and deviated multilateral wells Results: • Near-wellbore model of temperature changes completed in 2005 • The wellbore model completed to run simultaneous with near-wellbore model • Minor temperature differences can be used to characterize inflow profiles Benefits: • Intelligent well technology will allow remediation of flow problems in horizontal wells by shutting off flow in specific sections as indicated by downhole values. The models will identify and isolate the problems Calculations of water holdup (left) and temperature profile (right) for a high-rate horizontal well.

13. Next Generation Multiphase Pipe flow Prediction Tools Performer: University of Tulsa Goal: • Develop multiphase flow prediction for hydrocarbon recovery from deep water • Revolutionary next-generation predictive tools for simultaneous flow of gas-oil-water in pipes Results: • Three phase model developed for hydrodynamics of flow behavior during production and transportation Benefits: • Novel software will help design production and transportation systems for deep water recovery • Improved predictive tools will save time loss on production platforms Three-phase separator, oil and water tanks and oil and water pumps at U. Tulsa

14. High-Resolution simulator of In-Situ Combustion Combustion tube used in lab work. Performer: Standard University Goal: • Study the dynamics of in-situ combustion to determine how dynamics may be altered to expand recovery • Develop process simulation methodologies and capabilities to improve in-situ combustion Results: • Found that metallic additives improve combustion of light oil • New simulation tool was designed, which allows higher grid densities than current simulators Benefits: • In-situ combustion is suited for recovery of unconventional oil resources • In-situ combustion is environmentally friendly Original vs. burned oil samples.

15. Surfactant-Based Enhanced Oil Recovery and Foam Mobility Control Performer: William Marsh Rice University Goal: • Develop advanced, surfactant-based enhanced oil recovery processes based upon new high-performance and cost-effective surfactant molecules for specific crude oils Results: • Developed surfactant-polymer for use in carbonate reservoir that has too low pressure for CO2 flooding • When brine is replaced by alkaline surfactant solution, oil is spontaneously displaced by gravity drainage Benefits: • Surfactant EOR is being developed for use by independent operators who do not have in-house research capability • Efficient EOR processes will result in increased oil recovery from mature oil reservoirs Oil spontaneously displaced by gravity drainage Using alkaline surfactant solution is lab experiments.

16. Smart Multifunctional Polymers Performer: University of Southern Mississippi Goal: • Synthesize, characterize and evaluate stimuli-responsive polymer systems to formulate “smart” fluids for chemical enhanced recovery Results: • Synthesis of several novel chain-transfer agent. • “Smart” fluids have rheological and interfacial properties superior to current chemical formulas Benefits: • Stimuli-responsive polymeric surfactants have not previously been field tested. • Smart polymers will greatly improve sweep efficiency and improve cost-effectiveness of chemical EOR projects Outline of how uni-molecular micelles will entrap and Release oil.

17. Wettability, Capillary Action and Oil Recovery from Fractured Reservoirs by Spontaneous Imbibition Performer: University of Wyoming Goal: • Improve oil recovery from fractured reservoirs through fundamental understanding of the process of how spontaneous imbibition displaces oil from the rock matrix into the fractures Results: • Data from novel pressure measurement used to estimate pressures during imbibition. • Extensive new imbibition data sets of brines with glycerol and different oils added to alter viscosity • Mathematical models developed as analytic models for spontaneous imbibition Benefits: • Results will improve understanding of how imbibition process can improve recovery from fractured low-permeability oil-wet reservoirs Lab measurement of spontaneous imbibition

18. PRIME Benefits • Increased understanding and level of knowledge of enhanced oil recovery through spontaneous imbibition, in-situ combustion and chemical recovery processes • More efficient EOR processes will result in increased oil recovery from mature oil reservoirs • Improved predictive modeling for identifying strategic targets, using innovative seismic techniques and reservoir characterization • Increased knowledge and improved monitoring techniques for interwell connectivity, real-time response, and hydrodynamics of pipe flow • Significant improvement of speed and efficiency of ultra-high speed rotational drilling for hard rock application