Oil recovery

researchers are using a $1.5 million federal grant to implement an oil recovery process that could streamline US production and help reduce the nation’s dependence on foreign energy sources.

In partnership with Texas-based Denbury Resources, the largest oil and gas operator in Mississippi, university experts hope to tap into the 40 per cent of oil that remains in most petroleum reservoirs after standard production techniques have been applied.

‘This project has ramifications for the future, spanning the gamut from increasing oil production from U.S. reservoirs to reducing our dependence on foreign oil,’ said geologist Brenda Kirkland, a member of the interdisciplinary team of MSU scientists.

She said the grant from the United States Department of Energy will help the team apply over the next three years a process called Microbial Permeability Profile Modification. Developed by MSU biological sciences professor emeritus Lewis Brown, the process already has been proven effective in recovering additional oil from nearly depleted fields.