About Third Wave
Third Wave Production (TWP) is a Texas LLC focused on surfactant-based enhancement of oil recovery from unconventional wells. We deploy differentiated recovery technology based on Third Wave intellectual property.
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TWP has developed a repeatable, integrated workflow that makes shale surfactant stimulation economically viable
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Based on chemistry & engineering principles of surfactant adsorption, wettability alteration, and transport in porous media
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Uses post-stimulation analysis and interpretation to optimize stimulation design.
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100 wells injected and analyzed since 2020 with performance & project economics improving over time
The company is led by highly experienced business and technical professionals in oil field development and surfactant-based EOR. TWP has a Houston lab, a mobile field lab, and has undertaken experimental programs in collaboration with Texas A&M University and Louisiana State University to mature the technology.
Third Wave can support deployment for existing operators by providing all or significant portions of our integrated workflow.
Strategy
Unconventional wells typically only produce 5-10% of the oil originally in place, leaving a large resource behind. The wells targeted by TWP are progressing down their decline curve, where the opportunity is to extract more value from the “tail”, when current operators run out of options as the wells approach their economic limits. Proactive stewardship of hydrocarbon resources is a valuable skill in a world where the most desirable oil wells are ones that have already been drilled. TWP conservatively expects to be able to increase EUR by some 10%, helping meet global energy needs without requiring more drilling.
The target reservoirs are “oil-wet”, where, due to rock and fluid characteristics, the oil preferentially attaches to the mineral faces in the rock pore space, inhibiting oil recovery. Surfactants can alter this wettability to “water-wet”, imbibing water into the pores and expelling oil, as well as increasing the relative permeability to oil.
In summary, our strategy is to:
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Target completed, declining, unconventional wells
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Deploy integrated workflow in customer, or owned wells
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Lab function to formulate surfactant stimulation compositions for targeted wells
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Design stimulation treatment
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Acquire surfactants and chemicals from known manufacturers
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QA/QC field work
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Flowback analysis and feedback to design stage
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Assess economics
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Use “known” approaches to lift value
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Cost-focused project deployment
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Low cost well engineering improvements
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Create value from:
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Significant additional hydrocarbon recovery through surfactant stimulation implementation
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Compelling project economics on high percentage of projects
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