Plasma pulse may replace fracking for Enhanced Oil Recovery

Oil Price.com:

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Indeed, Plasma Pulse Technology (PPT) is a weapon of sorts—one that could bridge the divide between oil and gas producers on one hand and environmentalists and regular citizens who are concerned that the toxic chemicals used in the process will pollute groundwater.

Because it does not use any chemicals, Plasma Pulse Technology—exclusively licensed in the US by Houston-based Propell Technologies Group Inc. (PROP)—is deemed to be an environmentally friendly way to clear clogging sedimentation from well drainage areas to allow the oil and gas to flow.

Plasma Pulse is an easy-to-deploy technology that uses vibrations, or electrically generated plasma impulses to reduce viscosity, increase permeability and improve flow of oil and gas to the surface for extraction. The technology is designed to improve production costs effectively and without resorting to acidization, hydrofracking or other environmentally harmful processes.

When it debuted last year, PPT was excitedly discussed among circles interested in improving processes of Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR), but today—as fracking restrictions tighten along with the rise in anti-fracking sentiment—PPT could play a much more significant role in the American oil boom, and beyond.
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It cost about a third less than fracking and removes the need for drilling injection wells to deal with the waste.   The linked story is critical of the chemicals used in fracking, but I find that aspect of the criticism overstated.  If the process works as advertised it has the potential for lowering the cost of drilling and producing from shale wells at a time when the price of oil is declining.