Reducing Exploration Footprint and Carbon Intensity
Minimal Disturbance Footprint
The most ground disturbing activity of the MaxEx Direct process is passive soil gas studies that drill a small 3 centimeter (1 inch) hole ~ 1 meter (3 feet) deep to bury an absorbent with a specially engineered oleophilic (i.e. oil loving) adsorbent encased in a microporous membrane small enough to prevent soil particles and water from entering but are large enough to allow hydrocarbon molecules to pass through and concentrate on the adsorbent material. The adsorbent is later recovered and the hole refilled.
Significantly, passive soil gas studies are normally only undertaken after the prospectivity of a lead has likely been well established with a one or more indirect hydrocarbon indications, 3D GravMag mapping and EMAI logging. And then, only selected 3D EMAI reservoir models are validated with correlation by hydrocarbon phase and intensity of a passive soil gas study to the area of a 3D EMAI reservoir model.
Moreover, as reviewed in the MaxEx Direct exploration process, 3D EMAI reservoir model prospects are expected to enjoy a high rate of exploration success. With fewer dry holes, the MaxEx Direct process further reduces the environmental footprint of oil and gas exploration.
The minimal footprint of the MaxEx Direct exploration process is also in keeping with our acknowledgment that the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples are the Traditional Custodians of the land and their enduring connection to the lands, waterways and communities.
Reducing Carbon Intensity
Oil and gas is a major energy source powering today’s world. Sharply lowering the carbon intensity of oil and gas production ensures it can remain a valuable and significant energy source in the future.
We envision reducing carbon intensity to follow two paths. One path is minimization of carbon emissions from the exploration and production of oil and gas. The MaxEx Direct exploration process plays a role with reduced carbon emissions, e.g., data collection with fixed-wing aircraft versus Vibroseis trucks that weigh up to 40 tons. In addition, as the development of SPA-89 discoveries will be de novo, infrastructure can be designed and built to cost-effectively incorporate reduction of carbon emissions from production of oil and gas.
The second path is promising direct air capture (DAC) that pulls CO2 from the air for sequestration. If the DAC method matures to commercial scale, Raphael could capture and sequester SPA-89 carbon emissions for sequestration in SPA-89 structures. Using solar power, SPA-89 DAC could possibly lower the carbon intensity of SPA-89 production to near zero.
Significantly, Dr. Ronald Klusman, a Raphael Technical Advisor, developed a protocol to detect and measure reservoir leakage of CO2 from enhanced oil recovery projects, a project funded by the US Department of Energy. Dr. Klusman has also published papers on CO2 sequestration and critiqued other studies of CO2-EOR and sequestration.