Patent ID: 7946342

Claim:
A method for oil recovery comprising: a) creating one or more oil wells in earth comprising oil; b) providing an exothermic water reactant (EWR) encapsulated in a water soluble coating; said EWR comprising a material from the group of materials consisting of one or more alkaline metals, alkaline earth metals, metal hydrides, and combinations thereof; c) providing water; d) mixing said provided water and said provided EWR at a ratio resulting in an excess water after the reaction between said provided EWR and said provided water; e) pumping said mixed water and EWR, in at least one oil well from among said one or more oil wells and thereby creating affected oil through the interaction between the EWR reaction products and said oil, whereby said EWR and said water react, creating an alkali solution, steam, and hydrogen which decreases the viscosity of said oil and lowers the interfacial tension of said oil, thus creating conditions under which the affected oil more easily and efficiently flows through the interconnected pore spaces of an underground oil bearing formation and passes into at least one oil well from among said one or more oil wells; and f) recovering said affected oil from at least one oil well from among said one or more oil wells.