Biological Enzyme Treatments Increase Production in Mature Fields - Case Studies
Abstract
Implementing new techniques to improve the recovery of depleted reserves is critical to the oil and gas industry in 2016. From initial concept to application, the adoption of new technologies in the oil and gas industry continues to lag behind other high-tech industries. Maximizing the recovery rate of mature oilfields is a desired strategy for maintaining low cost production in light of current market conditions. The development of innovative, low cost strategies to recover reserves is particularly important for small, medium and independent operators
Advancements in oil recovery are continuously being performed, but they are slow to be adopted on a wider scale. Increasing recoverable reserves is a technically complex business where each reservoir requires independent evaluation and treatment due to interactions between the reservoir conditions, rock type, fluids, and surface facilities. Recently introduced techniques that are low cost, low risk, and potentially highly profitable even with low oil prices are met with skepticism.
The Enzyme technology in GreenZyme® is based on a water soluble liquid enzyme with unique properties to interact catalytically with hydrocarbons. GreenZyme® is made with DNA of oil loving microbes where the oil digesting property is neutralized, but where the ability to attach to and release hydrocarbons is kept.
The enzymatic function of GreenZyme® is due to the fact that the enzymes seek and release the oil, however is not consumed in the releasing mechanism. After the release of hydrocarbons, the enzymes will be attached to the solid surfaces and be dissolved in the water phase in the reservoir. Accordingly, the enzymes are available to interact with new hydrocarbons and continue to cause release of oil.
When GreenZyme® was chosen for the IOR/EOR projects, production decline of oil wells was controlled and production rose gradually, showing that formation pressure has been restored. GreenZyme® has been
proven over its product life that its an accessible, multiuse and cost effective approach to recovery more oil.
Lucas Evangelista, B.S.
Originally from Buenos Aires, Argentina, Lucas grew up in Tulsa, Oklahoma as his Father, Alfredo Evangelista, was in charge of International Purchasing at AESA during the 70s, 80s & 90s. AESA is today a subsidiary of YPF, the Argentinean National Oil Company.
AESA was founded in 1948 by Alfredo Evangelista Sr., Industrial Engineer at Esso Argentina (Exxon). AESA entered the market of civil and metal mechanic works for the construction of gathering, processing, storage and distribution facilities for oil and gas in Argentina, as well as Heavy Water plants, petrochemical and Port Facilities as the country was developing after WWII. In the 1970s Alfredo Evangelista Jr, also a graduate of the University of Buenos Aires as an Industrial Engineer, took over as the Production Director at AESA, position he held until the family owned company changed hands in the 1990s.
Lucas Evangelista took a different route than his Father, and his Grand Father before him. Growing up in Oklahoma, Lucas always aspired to study in USA, chance he was able to pursue as the opportunity to play high school basketball in the late 1990s was presented in Florida. In 2008, just a few months after graduating college at the University of West Florida, Lucas was recruited to continue the family trade in the field of Enhanced Oil Recovery, creating Biotech Processing Supply, LLC® in 2009. Biotech, today a Trade Marked Company, holds the exclusive license for Sales and Distribution of GreenZyme® for South America, as it continues to expand its reach into other global markets by providing on-site support and engineering for projects abroad.