Despite the emergence of fields requiring new technological advances, the most powerful growth driver for the oil industry is the development of conventional onshore and shallow offshore resources. Experts believe that so-called conventional fields still contain around 1 trillion barrels of oil, for original oil in place of 3.5 trillion barrels.

Most of these fields, which have historically supplied the global oil market, are mature—in other words, their output is declining. Mature fields, on stream for more than twenty years, account for approximately 70% of world production at present. Since the share of global output from older fields can only increase, efforts to slow down the decline in their production curves are a strategic arena of global competition.

Enhancing the Oil and Gas Recovery Rate

These older, mature fields contain significant potential resources for the future. It is commonly accepted in the oil industry that an average of 30 to 35% of a reservoir’s original oil in place will be recovered by the time operations end. Given the tremendous amounts of oil involved, additional reserves of 200 to 300 billion barrels could be pumped if the recovery rate were increased by an average of 10%. Enhancing recovery from all of the world’s producing fields by just one percentage point would be sufficient to meet two to three years of global demand.

Expertise Recognized Worldwide

The rate of decline of a company’s production base—all of the fields already on stream—is a significant indicator of its potential. Total is ahead of its peers in this area, thanks to proactive initiatives to combat production decline.

Our capabilities are showcased on a number of mature fields in extremely varied environments, which has given us solid experience with a wide range of processes.

For example, innovative miscible gas injection technologies, combined with multiphase pumps on Dunbar and continuous improvement of drilling techniques, took 2002-2003 production from the North Sea’s Alwyn field to over the historical high recorded in 1991.

Our expertise in additional and complex drilling is recognized worldwide. We set world records in Tierra del Fuego (extended reach well of more than 10,500 meters in the Hidra field).

An Array of Challenges

To extend the profitability of mature fields, a wide variety of capabilities need to converge. They are being examined under a Total R&D program designed to meet the major challenges of the future:
• Appraising and locating reserves that have not yet been produced and developing and optimizing enhanced recovery technologies, such as water, gas, steam and polymer injection, to support the production of these residual reserves.
• Optimizing drilling techniques in older fields.
• Managing the production water cycle—production, treatment and recycling—since the amount of water produced increases steadily with a field’s life.
• Extending well productivity despite the problems that build up over time.
• Ensuring the integrity of installations, which often continue to operate beyond their original design life.