Enhanced recovery methods for shale hold promise

A Wednesday report for energy consultant group Wood Mackenzie finds emerging shale technology could add at least 1 million barrels per day to U.S. output.

Primary recovery from oil deposits in the United States relates to natural pressure in the reservoir. Secondary recovery involves water or gas injection into the well to increase production. Enhanced oil recovery techniques include further stimulation from steam, gas or chemical injections into the well.

Wood Mackenzie finds enhanced oil recovery is still in its infancy in U.S. shale plays like Bakken, Eagle Ford and Permian.

The consultant group finds the emerging shale technology could result in a 100 percent increase in recovery rates and add between 1.5 million and 3 million barrels per day in oil production by 2030.

Some of the early efforts at enhanced oil recovery have been problematic. Regulators in Canada placed restrictions on steam injection at an Alberta exploration site in June 2013.

The Alberta Energy Regulator said four so-called flow-to-surface events spoiled about 50 acres of land. A report from operator Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. said a process called cyclical steam stimulation, or CSS, may have cracked open other subsurface layers, allowing oil to leak out of control from the site.