oil recovery could mean billions, page-4

News Release
UW Model Predicts Excellent Recovery at Wyoming Oil Field



Oct. 4, 2007 -- Up to 23 million barrels of oil can still be recovered from a Natrona County oil field, according to a full field, compositional reservoir model developed by the Enhanced Oil Recovery Institute (EORI) at the University of Wyoming.

EORI scientists prepared a reservoir model to simulate a gravity stable carbon dioxide (CO2) flood of Grieve Muddy reservoir owned by Elk Petroleum, which purchased the field from Wold Oil in 2005. The field is located about 45 miles west of Casper.

The preliminary results of EORI's simulated runs of the CO2 flood indicate 23 million barrels recovery from the estimated 44.56 million barrels remaining in the reservoir. The overall recovery expected from the field is 71.1 percent, with 30.8 percent being achieved from the CO2 flood. This is almost twice the recovery the company had forecast in its prospectus when it listed in April 2005.

"The very good history match of actual production to reservoir pressures throughout the life of the field provided considerable confidence in the model," says Chris Mullen, president of Elk Petroleum Inc., an Australian company with a regional office in Casper. "We compliment the EORI and the University of Wyoming on the thoroughness and timeliness with which they conducted this study for Elk Petroleum."

The EORI model is being refined and a final report is expected in mid-October when additional information regarding CO2 volumes required, production rates and forecasts will be released.

Jim Steidtmann, EORI director, credited Mullen, Shaochang Wo and Pegui Yin of EORI and consultant Beverly DeJarnett for their work on the project.

In addition to its aggressive research agenda, EORI, a unit within the School of Energy Resources at the University of Wyoming, engages in cooperative and contractual agreements with independent producers, and offers short courses, workshops and meetings to assist in the transfer of current EORI technologies to Wyoming producers.

For more information, visit the EORI Web site at http://eori.gg.uwyo.edu/.



Posted on Thursday, October 04, 2007