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Norwegians: Sound waves to help extract hidden oil



AFP
STOCKHOLM
Petroleumworld.com 04 14 06

Norwegian researchers published findings on Thurday suggesting that low frequency sound waves could be used to extract much more oil from wells at sea than is possible today.

Currently sea water is used to force oil to the surface, but this procedure leaves 30 to 40 percent of deposits trapped in wells, wrote researchers, led by Eirik Grude Flekkoey, a professor at the University of Oslo.

The group believes that oil production from sea-based platforms could be increased by 40 percent a year by using sound waves to create a boom, prompting a pressure effect on the wells similar to a sea quake.

If Norwegian oil fields were able to increase production by this amount at current prices it would earn the country an additional 25 billion Norwegian kroner, (38.5 million dollars, 31.8 million euros) per year.

The group's findings have been published in the trade magazine Journal of Petroleum Technology.



AFP 04 13 06 1419GMT

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