Shallow's technology group acquires and develops oil production enhancing technologies from early stage licensing partners. Shallow is building an asset portfolio. Its business model is to evaluate the commercialization potential as to technology and market viability, and if merited, proceed to rapid prototype development and field test of licensed technologies through relationships with targeted marketing partners, system design considerations will be tailored for market acceptance and adoption.
Global market conditions present an attractive investment opportunity for proven technologies which will expand oil production efficiency in established fields. New supply solutions are not sufficient to offset declining production in the US, and Canada, or globally for that matter. This has led to redevelopment or reclamation of shut-in wells and prematurely abandoned wells by new market entrants such as Shallow Oil & Gas. Shallow has the advantage of preferential access to the company's field test beds for evaluating prototype technologies for oil production enhancement. In addition, Shallow's industry relationships can be leveraged in developing marketing partnerships for strategic technology commercialization.
UTEK is a leading, market-driven technology transfer company that enables companies to rapidly acquire innovative technologies from universities and research laboratories worldwide. UTEK has operations in the United States, United Kingdom and Israel and trades on the American Stock Exchange (AMEX) in the US and on the LSE (AIM) in London under the ticker symbol "UTK". The technology commercialization team at Shallow Oil & Gas Inc. could have access to early identification of promising oil production enhancement innovations, and the capability to finance their acquisition in exchange for equity.
Shallow Oil & Gas is in the process of acquiring a portfolio of new technologies for the oil and gas industry which have been identified, and were developed at leading universities and research labs. The initial technologies described below: Paraffin Wax Mitigation Technology, developed by researchers at the University of Wyoming; and Borehole Casing Technology, developed by the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.
This license, if acquired would provide Shallow Oil & Gas Inc. with exclusive rights to paraffin wax removal technology for improving oil production efficiency. The technology utilizes ultrasonic waves to mitigate deposits of paraffin wax from crude oil. In this process, a series of varying ultrasonic frequency generating devices are positioned in production tubing walls as a means to inhibit the wax from attaching to the pipes. This technology helps prevent precipitate from forming on the pipes and breaks wax bonds, helping operators to maintain optimal oil viscosity thereby increasing flow rates and production efficiency.
Why this matters. Wax deposition in crude oil pumping equipment is an enormously expensive problem for nearly all oil producers around the world. In the field, production tubing is often plugged by paraffin wax that deposits on the walls of the tubing and surface flow equipment. The deposition of the paraffin wax leads to a significant fall in the oil production rates from the affected well. The wax deposits occur when the temperature and pressure in the tubing move below the cloud point of the oil. These cloud point fluctuations cause paraffin wax crystals to form in the oil and collect within the tubing. They also cause viscosity to increase, further choking off flow-lines.
How it works. Ultrasonic frequency generating devices are positioned adjacent to the production tubing walls, producing at least three optimal ultrasonic frequencies to prevent precipitation. At least one frequency is tuned to disintegrate any of the wax that forms. The second frequency is designed to break down the wax by forming molecules into smaller molecules, and the third frequency employed inhibits the wax from attaching to the production tubing walls. Variations in frequencies can be applied to better prevent the wax buildup in specific installations.
The second technology is from researchers at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. This technology involves 'smart oil well borehole casings' for oil recovery. The smart borehole casing technology uses a densely spaced network of casing sensors to monitor critical parameters in a subsurface oil reservoir. Data from a range of sensor types are combined with data fusion technology to yield real-time knowledge of the reservoir and processes such as primary and secondary oil recovery. Sensors located deep within the reservoir are much more sensitive than sensors located on the surface. Types of sensors that can be customized in installation include seismic sensors, electrical resistance tomography electrodes (ERT), electromagnetic (EM) induction tomography coils and thermocouples.
Applications include real-time mapping and monitoring of subsurface fluid composition and distribution in deep oil reservoirs to maximize oil recovery without interfering with normal well operations. Hydrocarbon recovery and well locations can be optimized. Bypassed oil and fluid-flow barriers can be identified; and fluid saturation changes can be effectively mapped.
co2
Washington, DC – State-of-the-art enhanced oil recovery with carbon dioxide, now recognized as a potential way of dealing with greenhouse gas emissions, could add 89 billion barrels to the recoverable oil resources of the United States, the Department of Energy has determined. Current U.S. proved reserves are 21.9 billion barrels.
The 89-billion-barrel jump in resources was one of a number of possible increases identified in a series of assessments done for the Department which also found that, in the longer term, multiple advances in technology and widespread sequestration of industrial carbon dioxide could eventually add as much as 430 billion new barrels to the technically recoverable resource.
Beginning efforts to develop the 89-billion-barrel addition to resources would depend on the availability of commercial CO2 in large volumes. If this oil could be added to the category of proven reserves, the U.S. would have the fifth largest oil reserves in the world behind Iraq, which has 115 billion barrels, based on present estimates; and an additional 430 billion barrels would make it first, ahead of Saudi Arabia with 261 billion barrels. The capture of CO2 from combustion in power generation and other industrial uses is the subject of other research and development programs sponsored by the Office of Fossil Energy.
Next-generation enhanced recovery with carbon dioxide was judged to be a "game-changer" in oil production, one capable of doubling recovery efficiency. And geologic sequestration of industrial carbon dioxide in declining oil fields was endorsed last year as a potential method of reducing greenhouse base emissions by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
Done in compliance with the National Energy Policy Act of 2005 and other Congressional directives, the assessments looked at maximizing oil production and accelerating the productive use of carbon dioxide in all categories of petroleum resources, including as-yet undiscovered oil and the new resources in the residual oil zone. The findings are consolidated in the February 2006 report Undeveloped Domestic Oil Resources: The Foundation for Increasing Oil Production and a Viable Domestic Oil Industry.
The 430 billion barrel potential was identified in increments of up to 110 billon barrels from applying today's state-of-the-art enhanced recovery in discovered fields – 90 billion in light oil, 20 billion in heavy oil; up to 179 billion barrels from undiscovered oil – 119 billion from conventional technology, 60 billion from enhanced recovery; up to 111 billion barrels from reserve growth – 71 billion from conventional technology, 40 billion from enhanced recovery; up to 20 billion from tapping the residual oil zone with enhanced recovery; and, another 10 billion from tar sands.
The separate assessments and reports contributing to the total resource estimate are: Basin Oriented Assessments, ten assessments of producing U.S. basins and the potential of state-of-the-art enhanced oil recovery; Stranded Oil in the Residual Oil Zone, five reports looking at new resources in the residual oil zone; and, Evaluation of the Potential for "Game-Changer" Improvements in Oil Recovery Efficiency for CO2 Enhanced Oil Recovery, a report on next-generation technology. They were prepared by Advanced Resources International and Melzer Consulting.