Applicable oil reserves

The types of oil reservoir that can potentially benefit from the LEMUR technology of Profero Energy inlude;

Conventional Oil

Declining or exhausted production assets

Oil assets in or approaching production decline or where production has already ceased even after the application of established enhanced oil recovery techniques.

Reserves with insufficient pressure for economic production

Some proven oil reserves have levels of viscosity and other technical characteristics suitable for production but simply lack the necessary reservoir pressure. LEMUR can potentially pressurize the reservoir in localised pockets or at the reservoir scale provoking production from presently unrecoverable reserves.

Unconventional Oil – Heavy Oil

Heavy oil suitable for cold production

Heavy oil suitable for existing cold production techniques such as CHOPS can have their rates of production and overall oil recovery potentially increased by LEMUR. By significantly increasing the local reservoir pressure the oil can flow more readily for greater recovery at faster rates.

Heavy oil that can be brought into cold production

Heavy oil slightly too viscous for cold production can potentially be brought within the realms of cold production, with all the associated cost and environmental advantages, as a result of LEMUR marginally lowering the viscosity of the heavy oil in the reservoir. Some of the methane produced by LEMUR can dissolve in the oil thereby lowering its viscosity slightly. This lowering of viscosity and raising of pressure can stimulate the production of heavy oils using cold production techniques that are otherwise slightly too viscous for such an approach.

Extra heavy oil too viscous for cold production

Certain heavy oils will be too viscous to flow for cold production even after LEMUR results in methane being dissolved in the oil.

Profero Energy can still assist in such situations are follows:

In conjunction with oil viscosity lowering technologies

Profero has created alliances with other technologies focused on substantially lowering oil viscosity in the reservoir. Such technologies may be capable of lowering oil viscosity sufficiently to be suitable for cold production. Owing to the generally shallow nature of heavy oil reservoirs, recovery and production following oil viscosity lowering may be limited by lack of reservoir pressure. LEMUR can be used to increase pressure and therefore potentially significantly improve the production of heavy oil where the viscosity has been lowered by specialist technologies.

Power source for thermal recovery

Methanogenesis acceleration through application of LEMUR can be used to enduce methane production which is then used as an on site source of energy for steam generation for thermal recovery. Depending on the project, this may be a better solution logistically, economically and environmentally than alternative sources of power available.