OTA weighs status of enhanced oil recovery About 300 billion bbl of discovered oil remains in the U.S. both in- and offshore. However, conventional production techniques can deliver only about 10% of that oil economically. Use of currently known enhanced oil recovery techniques (EOR) would add no more than 51 billion bbl regardless of future costs. And the amount recovered could be as little as 11 billion bbl. This is equivalent to about one and a half years' supply at current consumption rates. These estimates are based on a recent analysis by Congress' Office of Technology Assessment of data from 835 reservoirs containing an estimated 52% of the oil remaining in U.S. fields. OTA examined five EOR processes—in situ combustion, steam injection, CO2 miscible flooding, surfactant/polymer flooding, and polymer-augmented water flooding—for applicability to each reservoir in the data base. OTA estimates that at the current world oil price ($13.75 per bbl) EOR could add between 11 billion and 29 billion barrels to existing domestic reserves. At a price at which synthetic oil or other alternate sources might be available ($22 per bbl), the EOR potential appears to be between 25 billion and 42 billion bbl. The responsiveness of EOR production to price increases, OTA says, drops off above $22 per bbl. Removing all price constraints would increase the level only to 51 billion bbl. The fact that most current EOR processes represent essentially untried, high-risk technology makes investing in them unattractive for most investors. And neither investment tax incentives, a 15% investment subsidy, nor a guaranteed price of $13.75 per bbl would make the risk any more attractive, OTA says. A
EOR could produce more than 22 billion bbl of oil Process
Steam drive In situ combustion C0 2 miscible Onshore Offshore Surfactant/polymer Polymer-augmented waterflood Techniques not applicable TOTAL
6
|
Oil Number recoverable of (millions reservoirs of bbl)
C&EN April 24, 1978
20 20
4,053 1,126
190 294 92
9,704 1,298 5,898
20
189
199
0
835
22,268
$3.00-per-bbl price subsidy, however, could result in a 6% increase in ultimate EOR production and substantially reduce investor risk. Most attractive of all to investors would be a rise in real oil prices at an average annual rate of 5% and decontrol of the price of oil produced by EOR. Finally, OTA concludes that a vigorous R&D program, including field tests supported by laboratory investigations, is necessary to achieve significant EOR production, but notes that no consensus exists as to whether the federal government or industry should do the R&D. G
More chemicals listed for TSCA testing A federal interagency panel earlier this month selected a second group of industrial chemicals that it believes the Environmental Protection Agency should give priority in testing for health and environmental effects under the 1976 Toxic Substances Control Act. Set up in January 1977, the interagency testing group is made up of scientists from seven federal agencies and is coordinated by the White House Council on Environmental Quality. Last year the panel recommended to EPA that four individual chemicals and six categories of chemicals be tested for toxic effects (C&EN, Oct. 24,1977, page 14). Added to the priority testing list are four individual chemicals and four categories of chemicals: acrylamide; dichloromethane; pyridine; 1,1,1trichloroethane; aryl phosphates; chlorinated naphthalenes; halogenated alkyl epoxides, and polychlorinated terphenyls. Testing for carcinogenicity, mutagenicity, and teratogenicity, and epidemiological studies have been recommended for all of the compounds and tests for other chronic effects and environmental effects for most of them. The interagency panel bases its selections on such factors as production volume, potential human exposure or widespread environmental distribution, and lack of adequate toxicology studies, among others. A complete laundry list of tests as outlined by the interagency group could cost as much as $1 million, according to industry toxicologists, and take upwards of two years to complete. Industrial toxicologists still are skeptical, though, of the wisdom of testing compounds by category. They argue that toxic effects detected for one member of a chemical family are not necessarily true for other members of the same class. D
Dow sells share in Dow-Badische to BASF Dow Chemical finally is selling its half-interest in Dow-Badische to its joint venture partner BASF A.G. of West Germany. Last week the two companies agreed in principle for BASF to acquire Dow's share. Dow apparently has been trying to get BASF or anyone else to buy its share for the past two or three years. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. They will be announced later this week at a press conference in New York City, according to BASF. The two companies are so closemouthed on the subject that they would not even confirm if the transaction was a cash sale. In a terse announcement of the agreement, the West German company said, "With the purchase of Dow's interest, BASF is positioned to broaden its chemical business and strengthen its earnings potential in North America." Sales figures for Dow-Badische last year are somewhat in dispute. BASF says that sales were $323 million last year; however, in its annual report for 1977, Dow lists the joint venture's sales at $317 million. A spokesman for Dow says that the $6 million difference could be accounted for by differences in accounting procedures by the two companies. Dow and BASF each perform their own audits of DowBadische. According to Dow, the joint venture made a slight profit in 1977. This is a big jump from the $21 million loss in pretax profits Dow-Badische posted in 1976. Dow says that during the past few years its equity share of Dow-Badische earnings has not been significant. In 1977, it was less than 1 cent per share. Dow says that the transaction will have no effect on the company's second-quarter earnings. The joint venture between BASF and Dow was formed in 1958 with the building of a petrochemical plant at Freeport, Tex. Dow-Badische began to produce fibers in 1966 and currently has 4300 employees at nine sites. It produces chemicals such as caprolactam, polycaprolactam, oxo alcohols, acrylic acids, and acrylic esters. Its man-made fibers production includes fibers and yarns based on nylon 6 and polyacrylonitrile. Sales of BASF in North America last year totaled $1.2 billion. BASF Wyandotte, the U.S. arm of the company, accounted for $816 million of that amount. Dow Chemical had sales in 1977 of $6.2 billion. Net income for Dow last year was $555.7 million. D
