Enhanced oil recovery, also called tertiary recovery, is the extraction of crude oil from an oil field that cannot be extracted otherwise. EOR can extract 30% to 60% or more of a reservoir’s oil, compared to 20% to 40% using primary and secondary recovery. EOR entails changing the actual properties of the hydrocarbons, which further distinguishes this phase of recovery from the secondary recovery method. While water flooding and gas injection during the secondary recovery method are used to push the oil through the well, EOR applies steam or gas to change the makeup.

• Primary objective of the technology is to permanently sequester part of the injected CO2 and enhance oil recovery by 75%.