Global certification company SGS claims to have certified the first technology that can be implemented immediately to reduce the carbon intensity of oil production while increasing extraction.

The AssurEOR STIM® enhanced oil recovery (EOR) treatments from Locus Bio-Energy are already being used successfully on wells across top oil basins, including Saudi Arabia and Kuwait.

Each biosurfactant-based treatment enables companies to produce more oil and gas with less resources and a lower carbon intensity. It is a crucial turning point in the search for tools to meet aggressive decarbonisation goals and production targets, with no path to accomplish both until now.

'Companies that rely on oil and gas and its by-products are under tremendous pressure to meet decarbonisation goals; often with no clear path to do so as many strategies take time to scale,' said Andrew Lefkowitz, co-founder and CEO of Locus.

'There isn’t another technology that can immediately enhance oil extraction without additional CAPEX, while also accelerating decarbonisation. It provides an attractive solution for oil and gas companies navigating the evolving regulatory landscape, and also gives end-users access to oil produced with a lower carbon intensity.'

The well stimulation treatments can be easily deployed globally to reduce the negative environmental impact of production, while cutting costs and increasing revenue.

According to the certification, a single application of Locus’ AssurEOR STIM technology helps reduce carbon intensity of production by 7-10 per cent and boost crude oil production by 10-45 per cent.

A minimum 10 per cent production increase can result in more than $300,000 in additional annual revenue from an average 100-bpd well

Additionally, each oil and gas well that does not need to be fracked or drilled saves 25 Olympic-sized swimming pools worth of water; enough diesel fuel to drive around the Earth’s equator more than 450 times; elimination of mining and transportation of 8,500 tonnes of sand; and exclusion of 50,000 gallons or more of chemicals.

Locus Bio-Energy has secured relationships with top oil producers in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. Through these partnerships, it has already successfully treated multiple wells in Kuwait and is in the process of starting treatments in Saudi Arabia, the OGN energy magazine has learnt.

By Abdulaziz Khattak