FEI, University of Oklahoma Announce Research Collaboration Agreement on Oil and Gas Center

FEI

and University of Oklahoma (OU) have commenced a research collaboration agreement to establish an oil and gas center of excellence, the "FEI-OU Pore Scale Characterization Laboratory," at the OU Mewborne School of Petroleum and Geological Engineering (MPGE). The research will focus on the development of routine quantitative methods to classify shales in the economic assessment of tight oil and gas plays. Through the collaboration FEI seeks to further develop its position as the leading supplier of high-resolution imaging solutions to the oil and gas industry by better defining and expanding its role in the characterization of unconventional reservoirs. "There has been tremendous growth in the development of oil and gas found in unconventional shale reservoirs," states Carl Sondergeld, professor at MPGE. "Unlike conventional reservoirs, the pores that hold the oil and gas in shales are very small and poorly connected--hence the term 'tight'. Petroleum engineers would say they have low porosity and low permeability, making it difficult to extract any hydrocarbons that might be present. FEI's tools allow us to see the pores and organics directly, view the material they contain, and actually reconstruct three-dimensional (3D) models of the pore