Kuwait Shell highlighted the company’s vital role in enhanced oil recovery (EOR), a key technique to increase the amount of oil that is recovered from an oil reservoir, in the rapidly-changing oil and gas markets of the 21st century.

Shell, which has been at the forefront of EOR development since the early 1930s, shed light on the technique at an informative workshop held on the sidelines of 'Kuwait International Petroleum Conference and Exhibition' (KIPCE), which began on Monday.

Organised under the theme of “Meeting Energy Demand For Long Term Economic Growth”, the event will run till Wednesday at the Kuwait Hilton Resort.

Kuwait Shell, represented by Dr. Zara Khatib, technology manager in Shell Upstream International, Middle East Region, facilitated the workshop that highlighted the role of EOR.

"Shell had first applied its steam recovery in California. World wide, Shell applies EOR technology by using three primary techniques: injecting steam to heat reservoirs which makes the oil less viscous and improves it ability to flow; injecting gas which also reduces viscosity, or injecting chemicals that free trapped oil," Dr Khatib said.

Chemicals are sometimes used to help lower the surface tension that can prevent oil droplets from moving through a reservoir. All three of these innovative EOR techniques are currently being developed at full field projects in Oman, he added.

Kuwait Shell chairman Ahmed Mouti said energy across the world was being consumed daily at incredible rates and global demand was expected to double by 2050 as people strive to improve their living standards.

"Getting more from existing fields will be a key part of meeting the world’s growing demand for energy. Applying Improved and Enhanced Oil Recovery techniques to extract the oil that would otherwise be left behind is an important part to meet that need. Shell’s technologies help extend the lives of oil fields and maximise our existing resources," he added.

“When an oil field reaches the end of its normal life a great deal of oil is still left in the ground because it is too difficult or too expensive to get out. It is estimated that improving the recovery rate by just one per cent extra throughout the world would equate to 20-30 billion barrels of oil. That’s why Shell’s technology is focused on producing extra barrels through the use of enhanced oil recovery,” he explained.

Mouti pointed out that the oil and gas markets of the 21st century were fast-changing and global. "In addition to acquired technologies that help maximise natural resources, there must be vital co-operation and value driven partnerships between international and national oil companies to help secure future world energy supply," the company chief said.

The conference, organised by Kuwait University and the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE), covered topics that include economic growth, energy demand, reservoir characterisation, modeling and management, heavy oil tight gas and has condensates, drilling and well completion.-TradeArabia News Service