Occidental's Enhanced Oil Recovery In The Permian -- March 31, 2016

In this update of the Permian, Occidental's enhanced oil recovery was highlighted. Some background from DrillingInfo:

In a conventional reservoir drilled with conventional methods, the expected initial extraction rate of available hydrocarbons maybe as much as 15% – leaving 85+% of hydrocarbons in the reservoir. Pump jacks and initial gas injection or thermal recovery can increase that capture to the 25-30% range. By applying EOR techniques you can extract another 10-15% of the initially available hydrocarbons.

Occidental has been a leader in CO2 flooding in the Permian basin for a number of years, and a number of other big names are involved in Permian EOR.

The Midland Reporter-Telegram reports, back in August, 2014:

Occidental Petroleum this week held a groundbreaking ceremony for its 212,000 square foot Midland Office Complex, now under construction at 6001 Deauville as the first building in the Energy Plaza at Westridge Park.

From an interview reported by that outlet:

Q: Occidental recently spun off its California business, saying it can now focus more on its Texas operations as well as the Middle East and Colombia.  What exactly does this mean for Occidental’s Permian Basin operations?

A: Occidental Petroleum plans to spin off its wholly owned subsidiary, California Resources Corporation, in the fourth quarter of 2014.
The Permian Basin is home to our principal asset, where we have been operating and producing for more than 30 years. Occidental has more than 5 million gross acres with over 12,000 Oxy-operated gross oil and gas wells in the Permian Basin, and we produce from every producible formation here.
Occidental is also the largest operator and largest producer of oil in the Permian Basin thanks to our successful EOR business and continued focus on our unconventional development, which is well positioned to deliver long-term growth. 

Q: What unconventional plays in the Permian Basin is Occidental active in and what emerging plays is the company looking at?

A: We are active at South Curtis Ranch in the Midland Basin, in the Delaware Basin, and in the Wolfcamp A and B benches. We are also transitioning to accelerated development in Barilla Draw.

Q: Occidental has long been one of the Permian Basin’s leading producers and a major operator of tertiary recovery projects. How have the recent shale plays in this region affected those CO2 projects, or have they?

A: Occidental’s recent shale plays have not impacted our CO2 operations. We believe our enhanced oil recovery (EOR) from CO2 will be an ongoing source of cash generation for our unconventional drilling operations. We are applying more than 30 years of experience in CO2 EOR in the Permian Basin in support of our unconventional opportunities. This is a significant competitive advantage for Occidental in our Permian production.

In 2013, Oxy injected more than 650 billion cubic feet of CO2 into oil reservoirs in the Permian. Occidental operates 31 active CO2 projects in the Crossett, Slaughter Field, Welch & Cedar Lake, Wasson Field, Canyon Reef and other areas. We have seen CO2 flooding increase ultimate oil recovery by 10 to 25 percent where applied. Much of our success is due to extensive automation to maximize throughput performance. In recent years, we added a CO2 plant control center, electronic wellhead shutdown devices, an injection distribution system and other features.