Who We Are

The Petroleum Recovery Research Center of New Mexico Tech is dedicated to improved oil and gas recovery research for New Mexico's independent hydrocarbon producers. The PRRC has been the research arm of the oil and natural gas industry in New Mexico since its establishment as a research division of NMT by the New Mexico State Legislature in 1977. Today it is one of the nation's leading petroleum research organizations.

What We Do

The PRRC's research includes improved methods of enhanced oil and gas recovery and diversified energy technologies related to the oil and gas industry. Our research direction continues to evolve with New Mexico's industry.

In order to sustain a diversified program, the PRRC's research continuously expands to embrace important new areas. Currently these include membrane technology, nanotechnology, and chemical/optics sensors; areas of study undertaken by our newest research groups.

Research on the traditional areas of enhanced oil recovery with gas and chemical flooding continues as well, including the use of computational intelligence for reservoir characterization, and numerical simulation of oil and gas reservoirs using data of all scales.

The PRRC is also involved in a major program that reflects New Mexico Tech's research leadership and superior project management capabilities:

The Carbon Capture and Utilization (CCUS) Program Phase III. New Mexico Tech, represented by the PRRC, is Lead Organization for the Southwest Partnership, part of the US Department of Energy's national efforts to curb greenhouse gases and to manage carbon dioxide as part of an enhanced oil recovery effort in partnership with the nation's hydrocarbon producers.