The real oil “crisis” is the one the oil giants don’t want you to know about – especially the Department of Energy. Believe it or not there are over 30 billion barrels of oil in North America, twice as much as we are told is laying off-shore. The problem is, the oil giants, driven by pure pure greed and lack of conscience, only want to pursue the easy, cheap oil that provides the highest profit margins. You see, one out of every six barrels of crude oil produced in the United States comes from a "stripper" well - a well whose production has declined to 10 barrels a day or less. Over 85 percent of the total number of U.S. oil wells are now classified as stripper wells. Today there are more than 420,000 of these wells in the United States, and together they produce more than 900,000 barrels of oil per day, some 18 percent of total domestic production. Stripper wells are most common in older oil and gas producing regions, most notably in Texas and Oklahoma.
Many of these wells which are now only marginally economical, and are at risk of being prematurely abandoned, leaving significant quantities of oil remaining behind. They typically have more than 60%-70% of the original oil in place and can only become economically viable if the oil can be produced more cost effectively. Many properties with stripper wells can be acquired economically or by assuming the liability for plugging the wells at the end of their economic life. But the oil remaining in these stripper wells is thick heavy crude, sometimes as thick as peanut butter, and up until now, very difficult and costly to recover.
Enter Hobson Secondary Oil, a small Nevada company with big ideas and some incredible technology that can get even the heaviest crude oil to migrate in less than 48 hours. HSO has developed the third generation of steam-injection technology that is radically different than its predecessors that used steam bursts to frac a well. HSO uses a continuous stream of super-heated steam (in excess of 800 degrees) at pressures more than 300 psi. This combination of intense and continuous heat and pressure builds up huge volumes of steam (typically 3,000 cubic feet per minute) and quickly liquefies the thick oil as well as clean out gummed up pipes and reservoir orifices of paraffin and asphaltenes – the culprits mostly responsible for reduced flow rates.
The HSO technology has proven effective on most, but not all well formations. For example it will not work in clay sands or water-sensitive clay formations. It actually takes and 2 man HSO field crew about 10-12 hours to service a well, and most of this time is preparation, programming, and well inspection time. HSO typically injects steam from 10 minutes to 10 hours depending on the size and depth of the well and oil field being serviced. The new cutting-edge technology can be used both on and off-shore to grab even the thickest of oil with specific gravities as low as 2.
There are three sensors that feed real-time data to the computerized control panel which regulates the injection process for maximum safety and a variety of built-in safety valves prevent well damage even if the computer were to crash or lose power for some reason. After two years in the field, HSO boasts an accident-free record.
Currently HSO technology can service wells down to 10,000 feet, but new technology enhancements plus the use of a special thermal retention device may soon allow HSO to service wells as deep as 15,000 feet. Thus far six governments have requested demonstrations from HSO which recently declined a substantial by-out offer from its biggest competitor. The new patented technology harnessed by HSO has the potential to quickly increase the oil production of any producing well by 30% and has thus far proven 92% successful in reviving old capped wells.
Will the oil giants like Exxon and Phillips embrace HSO technology? “Only when they can no longer access the easy light crude” says a U.S. DOE analyst who did not want his identity published. But this may be much sooner than later thanks to the BP fiasco in the Gulf of Mexico. More than ever, people around the globe are growing vehemently opposed to off-shore drilling as the BP and Exxon Valdeez incidents have had catastrophic effects on our environment. HSO technology is genuinely green and introduces nothing but pure steam into a well. All of HSO’s current competitors either use chemicals, hot “dirty oil” or salt water in their efforts to recover the heavier residual oil. But thus far HSO has them beat on costs by 300% and flow rates that are typical 25%-40% better.
An engineering study by veteran energy engineer Allen Hansen forecasts that if HSO technology were used nation-wide on only the stripper wells, an average acre of land would yield 23,000 barrels of oil or 18.6 million barrels per year. If HSO technology was applied to existing wells that have already reached peak production, it is estimated that another 1.6 Billion barrels could be recovered. Until the world can wean themselves away from their addiction to fossil fuels, HSO seems to be a viable and cost-efficient solution for the next five years to our energy crunch. Hopefully they will get the political and financial support to quickly expand their operations. HSO is currently working with private well operators on a joint venture basis and selling technology-transfer licenses overseas. American know how just may be our best hope on the energy front as HSO is ready to tackle the heavy crude challenge.
Disclosure: No positions