Enhanced oil recovery chemical needs

A large fraction of known petroleum resources will not be recoverable by conventional methods. Enhanced oil recovery (EOR) is costly, but a significant amount of production is possible at current world oil prices, and additional production is possible at prices equivalent to synthetic alternates. Many opportunities exist for uses of chemicals in EOR. In particular, polymers and surfactants that are effective and stable at high temperatures and high salinities are needed for surfactant flooding to achieve its potential. Potential markets can be large in the 1990s and beyond. Many factors other than improved chemicals will impact on the future development of EOR. Risks to the chemical industry in new product development would appear to be reasonable, as long as oil producers continue a major effort to develop EOR processes.