Shell And Schlumberger announced a multi-year research technology cooperation agreement focusing on improving the recovery factor of oil and gas reservoirs and extending the life of existing oil and natural gas fields.
The research collaboration is an expansion of the joint work that both companies already have together, and it will initially focus on two specific projects: Reservoir surveillance for enhanced oil recovery (EOR) projects, and Digital Rock for detailed numerical modelling of reservoir rocks.
"The cooperation will enable us to continuously improve recovery factors while at the same time lowering unit costs," said Gerald Schotman, chief technology officer for Royal Dutch Shell.
The combination of Schlumberger formation evaluation and reservoir characterisation knowledge with the subsurface laboratory and reservoir expertise of Shell will result in the development of better tools and methods to obtain improved field data, better and more efficient numerical models, and enhanced field development methods.
"With much of the world's existing reserves only producible through enhanced recovery techniques, this joint approach aims to unlock these resources in a smart and efficient manner and to shorten time to full field development," said Ashok Belani, president, Schlumberger Reservoir Characterisation Group.
The cooperation aims to shorten development cycles, increase production, and enhance ultimate oil and gas recovery. The surveillance project will result in the design, development and testing of a new generation of tools focused on EOR applications.
