Shell

Shell

Finding and assessing potential innovation partners for extreme oil recovery

Context

For a typical oil reservoir, recovery rates are surprisingly low: only 20-40%. An Innovia project for Shell GameChanger aimed to create a step change in recovery by exploring a set of unusual ‘leads’; approaches inspired by practices and knowledge outside the oil industry.

Approach

Innovia contacted a range of potential innovation partners connected to these leads in both industry and academia. With them, we creatively explored the suitability of their technology or research for enhancing oil recovery and, where appropriate, encouraged further development of the idea with GameChanger.

Impact

The result: ten novel ideas submitted to the GameChanger portal, including ideas for using novel polymers and oleophilic materials to enhance reservoir production.