It is notable that over the past decade, proven reserves of natural gas have dramatically increased as higher prices and advances in technology have turned previously unrecoverable resources into major sources of domestic production. Moreover, the decline in crude oil reserves has significantly slowed over the past decade. Therefore, there would be an end to the conventional hydrocarbon resourc...

Unconventional hydrocarbon reserves substantially surpass those of conventional resources and therefore are extremely economically attractive. However, exploration and production of unconventional reserves is challenging. This paper demonstrates that one can observe significant induced polarization effects in shale reservoir rocks, which can be used in exploration for unconventional reserves. T...

The present study investigated the coupling effect of biodegradation and media filtration in treating hydrocarbon contaminated water. The study recorded reductions in total petroleum hydrocarbon, total dissolved solids, turbidity and microbial load. The study was essentially a simulated pump and treat process that involved the pumping of hydrocarbon contaminated water for treatment in a locally...

The massive consumption of fossil fuels and associated environmental issues are leading to an increased interest in alternative resources such as biofuels. The renewable biofuels can be upgraded from bio-oils that are derived from biomass pyrolysis. Catalytic cracking and hydrodeoxygenation (HDO) are two of the most promising bio-oil upgrading processes for biofuel production. Heterogeneous cat...

This study addresses several questions concerning the peaking of conventional oil production from an optimist’s perspective. Is the oil peak imminent? What is the range of uncertainty? What are the key determining factors? Will a transition to unconventional oil undermine or strengthen OPEC’s influence over world oil markets? These issues are explored using a model combining alternative world e...

A significant share of the world's undiscovered oil and natural gas resources are assumed to lie under the seabed of the Arctic Ocean. Up until now, the exploitation of the resources especially under the European Arctic has largely been prevented by the challenges posed by sea ice coverage, harsh weather conditions, darkness, remoteness of the fields, and lack of infrastructure. Gradual warming...