Muscat, JAN 19 - Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) methodologies and their pivotal importance in harnessing Oman’s oil resources are the main theme of the latest edition of ‘Scientific Insights’ — the monthly newsletter of The Research Council (TRC).
Featured in the content-rich January edition, aside from the EOR theme, are 8 research biographies, an illuminating interview with an Omani scientist, insights into innovation, fascinating details about 17 research products, 18 scientific achievements, 16 research outputs and 19 articles.
Given Oman’s dependence on oil as a revenue earner, the feature on Enhanced Oil Recovery emphasises the importance of research and innovation in sustaining crude oil production over the long-term. The insightful publication highlights the potential for the government and private sectors, as well as academia, in addressing the challenges faced by the oil industry.
The newsletter quotes Prof Saif al Bahri, Director of the Oil and Gas Research Centre at the SQU, as explaining that, “the complexities of the geological formations of the Omani crude oil require more advanced exploration with production companies searching for alternative methods, such as thermal and chemical injection techniques.’’
EOR made its appearance in Oman’s hydrocarbon sector more than 50 years after the first oil tanker, laden with more than 500,000 barrels of crude, left Mina Al Fahal on July 27, 1967. Since then, oil production has necessitated more and more complex technologies, according to the newsletter.
It quotes Eng Dawood bin Sulaiman al Qassabi of Petroleum Development Oman (PDO) as emphasising the need for new, efficient extraction technologies to sustain output.
He said: “Research and innovation has always played a significant role in increasing oil production, and it is the same in the case of EOR.”
The newsletter also discusses a research paper that explores the feasibility of using algae as a resource in various commercial, health and other applications in the Sultanate. A scientific team from Sultan Qaboos University (SQU) has successfully extracted diatoms from sea algae, according to the magazine.
Rich in antioxidants, algae are fond in significant quantities along parts of the Omani coast and, with adequate research, can be harnessed for their health and other economic benefits.
Omaima al Kindi
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