Unconventional Resources

Unconventional Resources covers a broad range of research areas, primarily related to natural gas production, that fall outside conventional oil and gas exploration and development technologies.

Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR)

The past and ongoing research into enhanced oil recovery (EOR) can be roughly divided into four general areas: Gas injection; Chemical; Thermal & Conformance and related issues

Small Producers

Small Producers make up the majority of Independents, which are non-integrated companies that received nearly all of their revenue from production at the well head.

Deepwater/Ultra-Deep Water

Drilling for oil and gas in the outer continental shelf of the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) has come a long way in the 60 years since the early shallow wells were drilled from fixed structures within sight of land to the very deep wells in very deep water cited in the press release above.

Environmental/Water Issues

Environmental issues and concerns over water are of vital interest to the petroleum industry. Water management of produced water from oil and gas operations, and the availability of water for hydraulic fracing are primary concerns in planning and developing coalbed methane wells, shale gas plays and traditional oil and gas fields.

Methane Hydrates

Research on methane hydrates has focused on discovering the potential of a vast energy resource unknown until the 1980s. Methane hydrates represent an untapped natural gas resource, which has been estimated to hold more than twice the global reserves of conventional oil, gas and coal deposits combined.