LARAMIE, Wyo. (AP) — The University of Wyoming has received an $8 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy to field test foam-assisted hydrocarbon gas injection technology that could help recover more oil from unconventional reservoirs.
The project through UW's Department of Petroleum Engineering plans to pilot the use of a hydrocarbon gas mixture to create foam for injection into hydraulically fractured reservoir rock. This foam will slow the flow of gas, allowing more oil to be extracted from the rock.
UW's project was among five research and development projects recently selected to receive federal funding. The DOE's National Energy Technology Laboratory will manage all of the selected projects.
Besides the $8 million in DOE money, the UW research project will receive an additional $2 million of funding from UW, Hess Corp. and Dow.