A silicone polymer is provided, modified with at least one functional group from the class of anthraquinone amide groups; anthraquinone sulfonamide groups; thioxanthone amide groups; or thioxanthone sulfone amide groups. The polymer can be combined with a hydrocarbon solvent or with supercritical carbon dioxide (CO.sub.2), and is very effective for increasing the viscosity of either medium. A process for the recovery of oil from a subterranean, oil-bearing formation is also described, using supercritical carbon dioxide modified with the functionalized silicone polymer. A process for extracting natural gas or oil from a bedrock-shale formation is also described, again using the modified silicone polymer.

Provided are methods of recovering oil from a reservoir using carbon dioxide foam flooding in which a carbon dioxide foam of increased strength is used.

A method, system and computer-readable medium where an integrator application identifies an excess energy condition based on a supply load of electricity exceeding a consumptive load. The integrator application directs an air scrubber to utilize the excess electricity to remove carbon dioxide from the ambient air and routes the carbon dioxide to an enhanced coal bed methane well where methane is displaced by the carbon dioxide. In response to identifying an energy deficient condition based on the consumptive load exceeding the supply load, the integrator application routes the methane to a gas power plant and directs the gas power plant to convent the methane to electricity.

A method and system are shown that conditions an underground reservoir by flooding the reservoir with a heated fluid to transfer heat to the underground reservoir and cause oil and gas to increase flow during recovery from the underground reservoir, wherein the fluid is heated by heat from a geothermal well, or heated by heat generated by burning gas recovered from the underground reservoir, or heated by heat from both a geothermal well and heat generated by burning gas recovered from the underground reservoir, and recovering the oil and gas with the increased flow.

System includes one or more processors that are configured to perform iterations of the following until a predetermined condition is satisfied. The one or more processors are configured to select a modified trial schedule. The modified trial schedule is selected based on initial fluid-extraction data and initial trial schedules and, if available, prior modified trial schedules and prior modified fluid-extraction data from prior iterations. The one or more processors are configured to receive modified fluid-extraction data generated by execution of the modified trial schedule with a designated model of the reservoir. The one or more processors are also configured to update the surrogate model with the modified fluid-extraction data and the modified trial schedule. For at least a plurality of the iterations, the modified trial schedule is selected, at least in part, to reduce uncertainty in a sample space as characterized by the surrogate model.

A method and system are shown that conditions an underground reservoir to cause oil and gas to increase flow, excites the conditioned underground reservoir with pressure waves to further increase flow, and recovers the oil and gas with the increased flow. The excitation may be done via one or more production wells in synchronism with excitation done via one or more conditioning wells so as to cause constructive interference of the pressure waves and further increase flow.

A system and method for enhanced hydrocarbon recovery utilizing steam. The system may include a high pressure water pump supplying pressurized water to a heat exchanger within a combustion heater to form supercritical steam that is provided to a reservoir. The combustion heater may be a surface mounted heater or a downhole steam generator.

Methods for enhanced oil recovery (EOR) are disclosed that involve removal of oil from a reservoir that has an injection well, a producing well, and a plurality of lenses that contain oil and that each span between the injection well and the producing well. One method, among others, involves recovering primary oil from a primary set of lenses via the producing well by alternating injection one or more times of water and carbon dioxide into the injection well so that the water and carbon dioxide enter the primary set in a first direction and move the primary oil in the first direction. The method further involves recovering secondary oil from a secondary set of lenses that is different than the primary set via the injection well by alternating injection one or more times of water and carbon dioxide into the producing well so that the water and carbon dioxide enter the secondary set in a second direction that is different than the first direction (e.g., opposite) and therefore move the secondary oil in the second direction.

In one aspect of the present disclosure, a process for producing dean energy from oil bearing reservoirs comprises the steps of: utilizing in-situ combustion to combust oil within an oil-bearing formation so as to generate thermal energy; producing the generated thermal energy to a surface using a purpose-built closed loop well system, the closed loop well system comprising a plurality of horizontal lateral circulation wells to circulate a working fluid between the ground-level surface and the subterranean oil-bearing formation so as to capture the generated thermal energy in the oil-bearing formation and transfer the captured generated thermal energy to the surface; and producing a plurality of combustion products to the surface using a plurality of production wells. A system for operating the process of producing clean energy from oil bearing reservoirs is also provided.

A dispersion of capsules in critical or supercritical carbon dioxide is provided. The capsules include an aqueous solution encapsulated by 2-dimensional particles. Also provided is a method of making a dispersion of aqueous solution capsules. The method includes providing a medium of critical or supercritical carbon dioxide, introducing the aqueous solution into the critical or supercritical carbon dioxide medium, and introducing a 2-dimensional particle into the critical or supercritical carbon dioxide medium. Associated methods of using the disclosed dispersions in hydrocarbon-bearing formations are also provided.