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The publications and studies reviewed illustrate the wide range of reserve potential that has been considered for enhanced oil recovery (EOR) techniques. Estimates have ranged from an upper limit of approximately 125 billion barrels to a lower limit of approximately 15 billion barrels. Full realization of this enhanced oil recovery potential will not be obtained until vastly improved economics exist. The operators of these oil reservoirs are all justifiably interested in the profits to be obtained by using EOR techniques and the risk that these profits will not be realized. The risk factor to be considered for these EOR projects must include both the economic risk and the technical risk. The economic risk includes the current lack of confidence in the future oil price (i.e., the world market price and U.S. Government regulations that can reduce the market price), potential changes in the taxes imposed on the industry, and other current, planned, and suggested governmental regulations. Technical risk can be related to the possibility of lower total recoveries and/or lower producing rates than initially anticipated. The technical risk still exists for two tertiary processes expected to have a major impact on a national basis, surfactant/polymer flooding and CO sub 2 miscible flooding. Both the economic risk and the technical risk are today resulting in major delays of EOR projects. In many instances these projects can be postponed without any loss of current or near term future income until the technical risk is reduced and until more confidence is obtained in the items that are included in the economic risk. Once the EOR technology is proven and the projects are relatively risk free from this standpoint, it will be easier to ascertain if the economic criteria will provide enough incentives to commit funds for these large investments. (ERA citation 02:031813)