BISMARCK – A pilot project in North Dakota is testing whether sending a substance with the consistency of maple syrup down oil wells will help increase production.
The process involves combining so-called biosurfactant with water and pumping the mixture into wells where it will reach cracks in the rock formed when the oil is extracted by fracking. The goal is to reduce the attraction between rock and oil in order to recover more crude.
If successful, it could also benefit North Dakota farmers because materials such as canola oil and sugar beets facilitate the fermentation process necessary to create the biosurfactant.
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