DOE to fund 10 new E&P research projects

Oct. 11, 1999
Bill Richardson, US Secretary of Energy, has announced 10 new demonstration projects for helping US independent producers acquire new tools for recovering oil that might otherwise be left in the ground.

Bill Richardson, US Secretary of Energy, has announced 10 new demonstration projects for helping US independent producers acquire new tools for recovering oil that might otherwise be left in the ground. He made the announcement at the Society of Petroleum Engineers Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition in Houston last week.

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"The oil industry in the US is increasingly an industry of smaller companies, many of which are family-owned businesses. These companies account for nearly half the oil produced in Lower 48," Richardson said.

"Our support will help them develop and deploy technologies that otherwise would probably never make it into the oil field, certainly not on a widespread basis," he added. "Our hope is that these projects will show hundreds of other small companies ways to keep their wells flowing."

The US Department of Energy plans to provide $23 million in funding for the Reservoir Class Revisit Program projects, while industry will contribute an additional $46 million (see table).

The 10 projects are an extension of 29 Class projects awarded during 1992-94. As application of the technologies extends to other similar oil accumulations, DOE expects an additional 500 million bbl to be produced. Nineteen projects are continuing and are to be completed by 2002.

DOE estimates the 10 new projects will eventually lead to recovery of an additional 150 million bbl of oil.