Siberian Federal University (SFU) has developed environmentally safe nanomodified surfactants capable of replacing water in oil displacement from formations, the Russian Ministry of Education and Science told TASS. The technology is aimed at hard-to-recover reserves and particularly sensitive Arctic ecosystems.

The solution is based on biodegradable surfactants and silicon oxide nanoparticles, a compound used in the food industry and medicine. During experiments, compositions with nanoparticles showed better results than formation water without additives. The mechanism is simple: the solution reduces the surface tension between oil and water, allowing for more efficient "washing out" of raw materials from the rock. At the same time, traditional methods are often expensive, inefficient, and can cause irreparable damage to the soil.

The development solves a dual problem: it increases oil recovery from depleted fields in Eastern Siberia and minimizes technogenic impact. Easy and accessible oil is running out, and extracting remnants from complex formations is becoming critically important. The ability to work in Arctic latitudes without the risk of soil contamination by toxic reagents is an argument in favor of the next barrel of Siberian oil being "green".