Recovery factor represents the percentage of original oil in place you can economically extract. Most small operators overestimate this number, leading to problematic financial projections.

Realistic Recovery Numbers

Primary recovery through natural drive mechanisms typically yields 5% to 15% in tight formations, 15% to 30% in conventional sandstones, and 20% to 40% in well-connected carbonates. These ranges vary significantly based on fluid properties, particularly oil viscosity and gas-oil ratio.

Secondary recovery adds another 10% to 30% if waterflooding makes sense for your field geometry. Tertiary methods like CO2 injection can boost recovery but require infrastructure that rarely pencils out for operations under 5 million barrels.

Reference Data Sources

The USGS National Assessment database breaks down recovery factors by play type and basin. State geological surveys publish field-level production data showing actual recovery percentages from completed projects. The SPE maintains a recovery factor database with over 3,000 field examples categorized by rock type and drive mechanism.

Planning Implications

Conservative recovery estimates prevent overdrilling and help size surface facilities appropriately. A field with 10 million barrels in place at 20% recovery supports different economics than assuming 35% recovery from the same resource.