As rising gas prices continue to pump money out of consumers’ pockets nationwide, researchers at Mississippi State University are discovering new ways to increase the longevity of nonrenewable resources.Biological sciences research professor Lewis Brown has dedicated more than 40 years of his life to studying microorganisms and their connection to the petroleum industry.
He has developed a process called microbial permeability profile modification, which has been influential in prolonging the life of existing oil wells.
“There are all kinds of ways to get oil out of the ground, but you are still leaving two-thirds of it in the ground,” Brown said. “If we can get more oil [out], it would give us a longer time to develop alternative forms of energy.”
Brown’s work was put to the test with a field study at a reservoir in Northwest Alabama. The experiment showed his research extended the life of an oil well expected to be abandoned in 1998.
The Sustainable Energy Research Center, established in January 2006, has also been critical in the development of alternative forms of energy.
SERC co-director William Batchelor said the global demand for oil has exceeded supply even as oil refineries are operating at near capacity.
“There is not a surplus supply as there has been in the past,” Batchelor said. “We are still going to have energy crises if we continue to operate low-mileage cars.”
Kurt Chrissy, owner of Coconuts and other local gas stations, said he does not think high prices have deterred anyone from driving.
“My records state that people are spending the same amount of money, but are receiving lower amounts of gasoline,” he said. “It’s an incredible commodity that people do not want to go without.”
Marty Wiseman, director of the Stennis Institute of Government, said governmental intrusion on the oil industry could have negative effects.
“They have the ability to shut refineries offline, so that less gas is being produced,” Wiseman said. “[That] could create scarcity when there was none.”
Wiseman said oil companies are responsible for the improvement of gas production.
“Oil companies are sufficient with favorable tax treatments in the hopes to establish a higher level of gas capabilities but sometimes do not,” he said.
Senior sports communication major Sheldon Nations, whose father is a subcontractor for Halliburton, said he remains silent as people discuss the rising costs of gasoline.
“My family has a lot of money invested in oil companies, so as they turn in a profit, that means money for my family,” he said. “I still have to pay $3.50 a gallon too.”
Chrissy said lowering the demand for gas could help to lower prices.
“The only thing that can curb the prices will be for the demand for it to go down,” he said. “The solution is anything from the use of alternative fuels and different means of transportation.