Australian mining company BHP Billiton is among the firms using chemical blends to extract oil from shuttered or underperforming wells, achieving impressive, albeit short-term results, studies show. BHP worked with University of Texas at Austin to develop a chemical cocktail mixed into brine, and over almost a quarter it saw oil production of 20,000 bbl. Similarly, Apache Corporation restored production at a lost well using a combination of acids, while tests by Texas A&M University have demonstrated a small amount of surfactant initially increases oil production by eight months.
Australian mining company BHP Billiton is among the firms using chemical blends to extract oil from shuttered or underperforming wells, achieving impressive, albeit short-term results, studies show. BHP worked with University of Texas at Austin to develop a chemical cocktail mixed into brine, and over eight months it saw oil production of 20,000 bbl. Similarly, Apache Corporation restored production at a lost well using a combination of acids, while tests by Texas A&M University have demonstrated a small amount of surfactant initially increases oil production by almost a quarter.