I came across this article today and thought it might good to share. The technology may prove to be useful for our 4000+ acres in the Monterey/Kreyenhagen Shale.
Despite numerous advances in the world of energy — like fracking and multi-well drilling — there's STILL an alarming amount of oil in the ground we've had no idea how to extract.
If this sounds like something you've heard before, you're right.
As the amount of easily accessible oil on our planet disappears, we're forced to innovate to find new ways of getting at oil no one ever thought we'd be able to harvest.
But that's no longer the case.
Thanks to a unique process that uses carbon dioxide as a catalyst — a process I call Energy CO2 — experts have found a way to siphon billions more barrels of oil that were once left for dead.
In short, Energy CO2 is the last remaining innovation on the oil frontier — the one way of retrieving oil that no other method on the planet can replicate.
It's the answer to Obama's recent plea: "This country needs an all-out, all-of-the-above strategy... that develops every available source of American energy."
Well, the only way of doing that as of right now is by using Energy CO2.
That's why right now oil itself is playing second fiddle — because it's not worth a wooden nickel if we can't get it out of the ground.
So, we've set our sights on something else... something once-hated...
Carbon dioxide.
And it's created an investment opportunity unlike anything I've ever come across.
Let me explain...
400% Gains for Early Investors
The Department of Energy (DOE) has put a figure on the amount of oil that's now recoverable using Energy CO2.
137 billion barrels.
This equated to a $1.4 trillion influx for our struggling economy.
So, what's the holdup?
There's 20 billion tons in unmet supply of Energy CO2.
And the government will stop at nothing to get it — even if it means passing a bill on Capitol Hill to fund this energy saga.
In terms of economic and energy security, this means billions of dollars in new investment, and the production potential of an additional four million barrels of oil per day for the next 50 years.
You see, an additional four million barrels of oil per day will be siphoned from existing U.S. oil fields.
And that's a lowball figure. It could actually be much higher, as more left-behind oil reserves known as "residual oil zones" are discovered...
That's already a reality in oil fields in the Permian Basin and the most recent Monterey Shale Formation in California.
To get this remaining oil, the investment required would not just be in the oil fields themselves, but also in power plants... pipelines... and other industries that can produce Energy CO2 from their industrial processes.
Turning Danger into Big-time Profits
As I said earlier, Energy CO2 is the capturing of once-hated and rejected carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere and using it for the greater good of getting billions of barrels of "left-behind oil" from the ground.
In short, we're getting more oil out of the ground while reducing the culprit of greenhouse effects and safely injecting it into the ground to force oil out of hidden pockets.
Cutting edge? Yes.
Is it safe? Yes.
I'll show you proof of how safe it is in a bit.
And I can tell you this much: For once, environmentalist, politicians, energy experts, and geologists are ALL on the same page of this new energy opportunity.
But the carbon dioxide that exists in the atmosphere is not enough...
That's why the government is ready to spend billions in tax breaks to companies that can "produce" the stuff and store it safely.
This is not a new idea or some pie-in-the-sky illusion; Energy CO2 has been used successfully on a small scale in West Texas since 1972.
Pumping pressurized Energy CO2 deep underground into depleted oil fields forced up 200,000 barrels of oil per day... oil that would otherwise be unrecoverable, according to a U.S. Chamber of Commerce document.
Only now it's taking a more significant role as new mega-fields like the 400-billion-barrel Monterey Shale Formation in California are developed...
Due to California's shifting tectonic plates, the Monterey is an oil field with a complex geology. Traditional drilling could prove difficult in some areas. And this could lead to billions of barrels of lost oil.
You see, when an oil reservoir is first produced, the pressure that exists below the ground provides the energy for oil and gas in the rock to easily move to the surface.
After a while, the pressure lessens, and 60% of the oil remains in the ground as residual oil.
Unlike other oil extracting technologies, Energy CO2 recovers this lost oil.
Here's how the process actually works...
How Does This Environmentally-Friendly Oil Extraction Process Work?
First, a pipeline delivers the CO2 to the oil field at high pressure, and is injected into the oil field at strategic points.
Once the injected CO2 enters the reservoir, it moves through the pore spaces of the rock.ei-monteryshale-02
As a solvent, it mixes with droplets of crude oil, pushing the oil towards the oil bank then into the oil well above the ground.
In terms of energy security benefits, Energy CO2 sounds almost too good to be true. But it's even better because of its many environmental benefits...
Energy CO2 uses very little new land for production and can reduce CO2 emissions that would otherwise be released into the atmosphere. Talk about a win-win situation.
Any CO2 that escapes with oil and natural gas is captured, then reinjected to maximize its value.
You might ask, "Won't the carbon dioxide leak from underground and cause problems?"
Not at all. Experts calculate the rock formations are likely to retain over 99% of the injected CO2 for over 100 years, according to the Department of Energy.
This process is environmentally safe, yet recovers billions of barrels of oil that would otherwise be lost.
Energy CO2 to Be Deployed in the 400B-barrel Monterey Oil Zone
The government and its geo-engineers have reviewed all shale plays in America, whether old or new, through an 82-page document called, "Review of Emerging Resources: U.S. Shale Gas and Shale Oil Plays."
And when the U.S. Energy Information Administration released this obscure document, it didn't exactly make waves — except within a small community of geologists and petroleum engineers who noticed the significance of what was at stake...ei-monteryshale-03
And one of the oil fields that took center stage is the Monterey Shale play in California.
This new oil formation is so rich — and so huge — it holds a mind-blowing 400 billion barrels of crude, with 15.3 billion barrels readily recoverable with today's drilling technology.
But what will happen to the other 384.7 billion barrels? If it can't be extracted, it will just lay there in the ground.
That's why Energy CO2 is so significant.
Let me show you why the Monterey oil zone is so important — and what it could mean for early energy profits over the next 12 months...
The realization of Energy CO2 and shale discoveries like the Monterey has the American government "singing the song" of energy independence.
It really is the perfect combination, if you ask me. Here's why...
If you add up the 7.4 billion recoverable barrels from the oft-mentioned Bakken Formation in North Dakota with the 4.3 billion barrels from Eagle Ford in South Texas... then DOUBLE it... you may get close to the number of recoverable barrels of oil trapped in the heart of the Monterey.
Heck, if you consider the 400 billion barrels altogether, it could possibly equal half of all the oil in the entire country of Saudi Arabia — and MORE than the oil found in OPEC renegades like Iran and Venezuela.
It's no surprise that energy economist Phil Verleger says, "Energy self-sufficiency is now in sight."
Even the International Energy Agency, which advises industrialized nations on their energy policies, said the global energy map "is being redrawn by the resurgence in oil and gas production in the United States."
This alone presents decades of retirement income for investors who know how to play this opportunity...
Enough money to pay for your mortgage, a dream vacation, your kids' education, and even spoil yourself with some expensive toys.
But as we speak, a covert operation is underway for oil companies to begin extracting the oil there... even while most Americans are oblivious to what seems to be the biggest moneymaking opportunity since the Eagle Ford and the Bakken!
Much like California's Monterey Shale is today...
Five years ago, hardly anyone had heard of the Bakken Formation in North Dakota. Fewer were aware of its potential.
It wasn't talked about in the Wall Street Journal or Forbes, and it certainly didn't make the evening news.
It was early 2007 when I visited the Bakken... Very few locals talked about North Dakota oil back then. It was a hush-hush affair. No one even knew America had so much oil!
That was around the same time a company called EOG Resources was drilling their first Bakken well, which kick-started that year. (Just 15 months later, shares of EOG climbed 100%).
And I'm ready to bet the farm the same profits will flow out of the Monterey — especially with a breakthrough like Energy CO2.
The White House will stop at nothing to get as much oil out of the ground as possible, whether through fracking or Energy CO2.
President Obama is promoting the development of natural gas and crude oil as an economic resource, and he's formed a special "task force" this year to avoid federal rules that would slow down oil extraction processes...
In other words, the White House wants this oil on the market in a hurry.
We're talking about billions, even trillions, of dollars here.
Quite frankly, I never trust the judgment of politicians. But when the government throws its weight behind an entire industry, you can bet early investors are smiling all the way to the bank...
"Oil companies are quietly buying up mineral rights and drilling holes in the earth northwest of Bakersfield." — CNBC
With oil prices remaining high, companies are buying up leases on federal land, sometimes bidding more than a thousand dollars an acre in auctions that used to fetch the minimum of $2.
According to a story buried in the New York Times... one particular landman, Mr. Ormond, bought leases on more than 10,000 acres of federal land in an auction organized by the Bureau of Land Management.
The Bureau auctioned over 17,000 acres across 79 parcels in three counties — Monterey, San Benito, and Fresno — and brought in $190 million from the lease of federal lands alone.
"We are required to put those up for lease periodically," said the Bureau's Rick Cooper, as his agency has a mandate to auction off mineral rights whenever there is interest. And right now there's A LOT of interest...
It's all part of the government's plan to get every drop of oil out of the ground, one way or another.
Now, regardless of how many companies occupy real estate in the Monterey Shale Formation or other Energy CO2-applicable oil fields, I've come across one energy company that is a force to be reckoned with...
