Vet67to82 (< 20)

Debt and Assets - new thinking NEEDED -pt 2a

April 12, 2009 – Comments (4) | RELATED TICKERS: DXO.DL.DL , UCO , USO

I did pay attention in my education in Physics, Chemistry, and ... oh, yeah, Geology.  

 The Bakken shale formation interested me because it presented numerous divergences from traditional oil fields. First the is no pool to tap into and drain. Second, you can't inject heated steam as shale reacts with water and swells, which could render a well useless.   New drilling techniques being used in horizontal drilling hold promise in fracturing the shale and creating a "pool" location around the drill hole for the crude to pool and be withdrawn.   

But, the article: 

http://www.usgs.gov/newsroom/article.asp?ID=1911 

 is very interesting, but FLAWED for what it LEAVES out.   Of course, I understand, few people would, or could, read that article and comprehend what it was leaving out.    

But, and here is where paying attention in science pays off.  Supercritical carbon dioxide is beginning to be used to enhance oil recovery in mature oil fields.   It would also make perfect sense to employ this process in the Bakken shale.   

Supercritical carbon dioxide refers to carbon dioxide that is in a fluid state while also being at or above both its critical temperature and pressure, yielding rather uncommon properties. Carbon dioxide usually behaves as a gas in air at Standard Temperature and Pressure (STP) or as a solid called dry ice when frozen. If the temperature and pressure are both increased from STP to be at or above the critical point for carbon dioxide, it can adopt properties midway between a gas and a liquid. More specifically, it behaves as a supercritical fluid above its critical temperature (31.1°C) and critical pressure (72.9 atm), expanding to fill its container like a gas but with a density like that of a liquid. Supercritical CO2 is becoming an important commercial and industrial solvent due to its role in chemical extraction in addition to its low toxicity and environmental impact. The relatively low temperature of the process and the stability of CO2 also allows most compounds to be extracted with little damage or denaturing. 

Carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas as it transmits visible light but absorbs strongly in the infrared and near-infrared.  So reducing CO2 in the atmosphere would also help the GREENHOUSE global warming complaints.  Supercritical carbon dioxide is seen as a promising green solvent because it is non-toxic, and a byproduct of other industrial processes. Furthermore, separation of the reaction components from the starting material is much simpler than with traditional organic solvents.

 I  strongly believe a lot more of the crude can be recovered than what your article considers ... and I'm certain, in future articles, you'll be reading a lot more about what I'm saying. 

Just remember ... you read it here first! 

Please also check out:

(1)  Debt and Assets - new thinking NEEDED

(2)  Debt and Assets - new thinking NEEDED -pt 2

  Thanks