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Without ever discovering another barrel, at today’s prices, there is more than $42 trillion in crude oil trapped in existing oilfields, awaiting the deployment of advanced new technology that makes the impossible possible.

It’s enough to make for a second oil boom, no exploratory drilling needed.

Wood Mackenzie estimates advanced recovery technologies could unlock as much as 470 billion additional barrels worldwide, transforming enhanced recovery from a niche engineering discipline into one of the oil industry’s most important growth opportunities.

Billions will now be spent on enhanced oil recovery (EOR) as the “new exploration” and the true “final frontier”.

Governments, oil majors, and independent producers are now spending billions of dollars pursuing oil that was discovered decades ago but never fully recovered.

North Dakota recently launched a $157-million project to unlock more crude from the Bakken, where state officials estimate roughly 85% of the resource remains trapped in the rock.

Occidental Petroleum plans to deploy three new commercial enhanced recovery projects in 2026, and has another 30 in development, while ExxonMobil’s $4.9 billion acquisition of Denbury gave it control of the largest CO? pipeline network in the United States.

And as the world expands advanced EOR operations, with producers investing in technologies ranging from carbon dioxide injection to polymer flooding, it’s taking hold in Trinidad, too, where over 80 million barrels of original oil in place is being targeted by Greenflame Resources.

Rather than searching for new discoveries, Greenflame is targeting oil that has already been found. Its Parrylands Block E asset in Trinidad contains an estimated 81 million barrels of original oil in place, yet less than 1% has been produced to date.

With 110 wells already drilled and cased, pipeline infrastructure already in place, and a redevelopment plan built around modern enhanced recovery techniques, Parrylands offers a real-world example of a trend that is gaining momentum across the global oil industry.

Reassessing Where The Next Barrels Come From

The urgency behind the EOR push is clear.

According to Wood Mackenzie, 30 of the world’s largest oil and gas companies face a combined production shortfall of 22 million barrels of oil equivalent per day by 2040 if they hope to maintain their current share of global supply. Closing that gap would require the equivalent of nearly two new Permian Basins or 14 Guyana-scale discoveries.

Yet, many of the industry’s traditional growth engines are becoming harder to replicate. U.S. shale production is maturing, many of the most attractive acquisition targets have already been absorbed, and access to some of the world’s largest hydrocarbon resources remains restricted.

That reality is forcing a reassessment of where future barrels will come from.

The industry added 19 million barrels of oil equivalent per day over the past decade through a combination of exploration, acquisitions, new project development, and improved recovery. Even repeating that achievement would still leave a production gap by 2040, according to Wood Mackenzie.

So now, the focus is shifting from finding new oil to recovering more of the oil that has already been found, which is why we’re keeping a close eye on Greenflame in Trinidad.

Trinidad may be one of the most overlooked opportunities in the global EOR story.

Long before Guyana emerged as one of the world’s hottest exploration destinations, Trinidad was one of the Western Hemisphere’s most established oil producers, with commercial production dating back more than a century.

Decades of drilling left the country with a large inventory of mature oil fields developed using technologies that often prioritized initial production rather than maximizing ultimate recovery. As a result, significant volumes of oil were left behind in reservoirs that remain well understood and extensively mapped.

The island is within the same petroleum system that stretches across northern South America and includes some of the world’s most prolific hydrocarbon provinces. In recent years, neighboring Guyana has attracted global attention through a string of giant offshore discoveries, while major energy companies continue investing heavily in offshore Trinidad and the surrounding region.

And there is a lot more than geology at play here.

Much of the infrastructure required to support redevelopment already exists. Pipelines, processing facilities, export terminals, oilfield service providers, and a highly experienced workforce are all part of a petroleum industry that has operated continuously for generations. That means capital can be directed toward increasing recovery rates instead of funding years of exploratory drilling, infrastructure construction, and permitting.

The growing focus on enhanced oil recovery is also creating a major opportunity for U.S. oilfield service giants. Baker Hughes (NASDAQ:BKR), Halliburton (NYSE:HAL), and TechnipFMC (NASDAQ:FTI) have spent years developing advanced reservoir management, production optimization, and recovery technologies that are increasingly critical as producers seek to extract more barrels from mature fields. As EOR projects expand globally, demand for polymer injection systems, digital monitoring solutions, artificial lift equipment, reservoir modeling, and well intervention services is expected to rise, positioning these companies as some of the biggest beneficiaries of the industry's shift from exploration toward maximizing recovery from existing assets.

Recovering oil that has remained underground for decades requires more than simply restarting old wells.

Greenflame’s redevelopment strategy combines several technologies that have been successfully deployed in heavy oil reservoirs elsewhere but have seen limited application in Trinidad.

The company’s plan begins with Cold Heavy Oil Production with Sand, or CHOPS, a production method widely used in Canada’s heavy oil sector.

Unlike conventional operations that attempt to prevent sand from entering the wellbore, CHOPS allows controlled sand production, creating highly permeable channels within the reservoir that improve the flow of oil toward producing wells.

Greenflame believes the technique can serve as an effective first step in mobilizing oil that has remained largely untouched despite decades of drilling activity.

The second phase involves polymer flooding, one of the most widely deployed enhanced recovery technologies in the world. Polymer molecules are added to injected water, increasing its viscosity and allowing it to push oil more efficiently through the reservoir. Rather than flowing around pockets of crude, the thicker fluid sweeps a larger portion of the reservoir and improves contact with trapped hydrocarbons. The technique has been used in major heavy oil developments across Canada and Asia and is often credited with significantly improving recovery rates compared with conventional waterflooding.

At Greenflame’s Trinidad asset, historical production has been remarkably limited, leaving the reservoir largely undepleted. Wells are spaced closely across the field, creating strong communication between production zones, while reservoir pressure remains relatively intact due to the low level of historical extraction. Those factors could allow recovery techniques to deliver stronger results than might be expected in a heavily depleted field.

Greenflame is also layering modern field management systems onto infrastructure that in many cases has existed for decades.

The redevelopment plan includes real-time monitoring, downhole sensors, pressure gauges, variable frequency drives, and automated control systems designed to optimize production and identify problems before they affect output.

81 Million Barrels Waiting to Be Released

According to the company’s May 27 operational update, its Parrylands Block E asset contains an estimated 81 million barrels of original oil in place, yet fewer than 500,000 barrels have been produced historically. More than 99% of the resource remains in the ground.

The field already contains 110 drilled and cased wells, direct pipeline infrastructure, and a signed offtake agreement covering 100% of production.

Greenflame believes that the combination of existing infrastructure and low historical recovery creates a rare opportunity at a fortuitous time in the markets.

Independent reserve estimates cited by the company assign a net present value of $268 million to proved reserves alone, rising to $510 million for proved plus probable reserves and $681 million on a proved, probable, and possible basis.

Beyond those reserves, management points to additional pay zones that could represent roughly 200 million barrels of further potential through deeper drilling and perforating.

The company’s redevelopment plan is moving forward quickly. Reservoir modelling, field testing and three workover test wells have been completed, with Greenflame preparing to deploy Cold Heavy Oil Production with Sand (CHOPS) as the first phase of redevelopment. Thermally enhanced Polymer flooding (Polymer flooding enhanced with stem) is expected to follow, targeting improved sweep efficiency and higher long-term recovery rates across the field.

According to the company, the strategy is designed to lift production from existing wells while extending the productive life of the reservoir for years to come.

The attraction of projects like Parrylands is not simply that they fit into a broader industry trend toward enhanced recovery. It is that they are at a critical crossroads in the energy market. With an estimated ~80 million barrels and over 100 wells already drilled, with infrastructure in place, Greenflame appears positioned to take advantage of EOR as one of the most important drivers of growth in the oil industry.

With Wood Mackenzie estimating that replacing future production could require the equivalent of nearly two new Permian Basins or 14 Guyana-scale discoveries, EOR becomes the oil opportunity of the century. And Parrylands starts from an unusually low base and already possesses many of the assets that typically consume the most capital.

By. Michael Kern

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