Recovery of Oil from Underground Drill Sites

Abstract

Abstract A significant quantity of oil is left in reservoirs after conventional oil recovery techniques have been applied. In West Virginia and Pennsylvania alone, this oil has been estimated at over 4.5 billion barrels (0.72 billion m3). Conventional recovery methods are already being used when applicable. But a new recovery method is needed for use in reservoirs that have been abandoned. One alternative method for recovery of the residual oil is known as ‘oil recovery from underground drill site’ This recovery technology is a combination of proven methods and equipment from the petroleum, mining, and civil construction industries. Underground oil recovery can be an economically viable method of producing oil. This has been shown in producing fields, field tests, and feasibility studies. Faced with decreasing domestic oil production, the petroleum industry should give serious consideration to the use of oil recovery from underground drill sites as a safe, practical, and environmentally sensitive alternative method of producing oil from many reservoirs.