Transport is almost totally dependent on liquid fuels derived from crude oil.
The development and deployment of advanced techniques to increase the amount of oil that can be recovered economically has the potential to make a large contribution to the world's oil supplies. This is particularly important given the relatively limited nature of the world's conventional oil resources, production from which could peak between the years 2010 and 2020. The objective of the Implementing Agreement on the Enhanced Recovery of Oil is to evaluate and disseminate the results of research and development and to undertake demonstration, laboratory and field tests. The work programme is largely one of basic research and laboratory investigations in areas of mutual interest. These include studies of fluids and interfaces in porous media, research on surfactants and polymers, development of techniques for gas flooding, thermal recovery, dynamic reservoir characterisation and emerging technologies.