The oil price is a component, but there are three hard truths all contributing to the acceleration of EOR. There is growing worldwide demand for energy.
"The reality is that there isn't one solution to that first point and the truth is hydrocarbons are going to play a significant part in meeting energy demand for the foreseeable future, and there is also the environmental challenge, from greenhouse gases," says Brock.
EOR techniques will transform where the next generation's energy supply can be reached. On average worldwide, the industry only recovers about 34% of the barrels in a typical well.
With EOR trials and projects in California, Shell has seen results as high as 80%. With such factors in mind, plus an attractive market price to support implementation, it really is unacceptable not to embrace the technology that enhances our ability to extract oil.
However, it remains the case that a dominant factor in EOR roll-out is the sustained high oil price. Five years ago the long-term outlook for crude prices was still in the mid US$20 range. It's only in the past three years that has surpass the US $50 mark.
"These projects typically have longer lead times, and what we're seeing now is a huge amount of projects globally that are at the early stages of EOR development. I think its safe to say we'll see a great rise in the number of EOR projects being announced in the coming years," adds Brock.
"We're positioning ourselves to have the best capability in all three major families in EOR technology. There isn't one silver bullet when it comes to EOR, success will be achieved by a combination of techniques," says Brock.
"When you consider field decline EOR is a necessity, but at the same time it takes courage and vision to push these projects through, and that is a combination we have seen in Oman," concludes Xu Dong.
PUTTING A LID ON CO2
A significant challenge facing the energy industry is how to meet growing demand while managing emissions of carbon dioxide, a major greenhouse gas.
Carbon dioxide has long been injected into the ground to coax more oil from reservoirs. Now Shell is working to develop cost-effective technologies to capture man-made carbon emissions from power plants and refineries, for example, and then have them stored safely underground.
CO2 is already captured for use in some industrial processes, but the high cost and substantial extra energy required present serious hurdles to widespread use. Moreover, questions remain about whether CO2 stored underground could eventually leak out.
Shell is working with industry and government partners to find the most cost-effective solutions to the technical challenges involved.
Several storage possibilities exist. Storing CO2 in old oil and gas reservoirs, where the surrounding non-porous rock contained the hydrocarbons for hundreds of millions of years, is a likely option.
Vast underground saltwater deposits known as saline aquifers, in which the CO2 dissolves, are another. In 2007, Shell and its partners started research in Germany during which CO2 will be injected into a saline aquifer below a depleted gas field over several years.
And in Queensland, Australia, Shell and its partners are exploring sites to store CO2 captured from a power plant, due to be completed by 2010, which will use Shell's coal gasification technique to generate electricity.
Other possible options currently under study include storing CO2 in coal beds too difficult to be mined. Here, it will not only bond durably to the coal, but will also displace natural gas, which can be used as fuel.
Converting CO2 into a solid by inducing reaction with minerals is yet another option. The solid minerals produced could then be used in construction materials.
The King is calling for a halt to exploration, but do you agree?
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