Global Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) Spending is Forecasted to Increase to $44bn in 2019

Thursday 15 November 2018, Amsterdam

Enhanced oil recovery (EOR) technologies are used to increase the amount of oil that can be extracted from an oil field after the primary and secondary production stages.

The EOR market is expected to see good recovery due to rising oil prices. The key player has anticipated the oil prices to remain stable at current levels (~$75/bbl) or grow higher over the next decade, encouraging companies to utilise more EOR methods to increase production and make the most of these prices. The next ten years are likely to see production and spending increases in most/ all EOR submarkets. Growth rates and the methods employed will vary considerably from country to country.

Many of the world’s conventional oil fields have already started the inevitable decline in production rate owing to years of extraction of a finite resource. While unconventional reserves do hold the possibility for enormous oil production levels, they are not found everywhere, and the difficulty in extraction of oil from such reserves means that it is not always feasible to develop them. This means that it is often most beneficial to apply EOR to existing fields to help achieve the maximum recovery rate from each well.

EOR technologies have been in operation for a number of decades, primarily being used to recover more oil from ageing oil fields. However, escalating oil demand in emerging economies, improved technologies, ageing oil fields and a dearth of conventional oil finds helped to drive investments in the market and increase production. As a result of this, thermal, gas and chemical EOR methods are no longer confined to a few select countries.

The report analyst commented “With increasing global energy demand, ageing oil fields and a severe decline of conventional oil finds, enhanced oil recovery techniques will become increasingly important for the global oil industry over the coming decade and beyond. Oil prices are inherently unpredictable and can have a large impact on EOR investments. The world will continue to require oil and its products for the foreseeable future and so we believe that there will continue to be a place for EOR in the market. Their resilience is strengthened by the fact that EOR methods are no longer confined to a few select countries, with companies throughout the world beginning to implement projects to make the most of their existing reserves.”

Leading companies featured in the report who are developing EOR methods include Suncor, ConocoPhillips, Imperial Oil, Cenovus, Chevron, PDVSA, Husky, Sinopec, Occidental, Denbury Resources, Hilcorp Energy, Whiting Petroleum, BlackPearl Resources Inc, China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) & Canadian Natural Resources (CNRL)