Funding Oil Technology | Video

Jennifer Joas | 1/3/2013

The Bakken is producing more than 700,000 barrels of oil per day, but companies want to get more. The UND Energy and Environmental Research Center is working on ways to enhance oil recovery and ultimately pull more oil out of the Bakken formation. Lab researchers are hard at work in Grand Forks researching ways to enhance oil recovery in the Bakken. Companies can only recover about five percent of the oil.

"What we were hoping is through the use of something like CO2, we can change that recovery and make that a bigger number," said Associate Director for Research John Harju.

In addition to their CO2 research, the EERC is also requesting funding from the Oil & Gas Research Council to investigate new technologies such as reducing flaring and using recycled water. But the new funding request posed concerns for council members.

"What about the part of it that has to do with making sure we develop this resource as optimally as possible. And I do not see anything in here about that," said Technical Advisor Monte Besler.

"Shouldn`t the companies just be doing this already? So are we just giving away public money to help them do what they should be doing in the first place?" said council member Robert Harms.

But Harju says the EERC has the opportunity to spread the technologies faster, and create a working relationship between the state and industry. "What this would do is move that kind of information out to that very small operator that may only have one or two wells and has no ability to conduct research of their own."

The council decided to table the request for additional funding until their next meeting.

The Oil and Gas Research Council did approve $600,000 in funding for the Oil Can program which provides marketing and educational tools to teach the public about the oil industry.

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