Improved oil recovery (IOR)
In the context of the Norwegian continental shelf (NCS), improved oil recovery (IOR) is the extra oil recovery achieved beyond what is described in the plan for development and operation (PDO).
With current production plans, more than half of proven oil resources on the Norwegian continental shelf will remain in the subsurface. There are several potential measures that can improve recovery beyond those initially envisaged in the PDO.
These measures are defined as Improved Oil Recovery or IOR. The primary objective of the Norwegian Offshore Directorate is to maximize the value from oil and gas activities to the Norwegian society.
Oil recovery factor is the percentage of oil that can be recovered from a reservoir and if this can be increased by just a few percentage points, this would represent a considerable value.
Why can't we extract all the oil?
Updated: 21/03/2024