have unexpectedly found that this product meets all the requirements as an alkali for enhanced oil recovery purposes as well as having the additional advantages of being non toxic biodegradable made from renewable resources green and is easily incorporated into field injection fluids either as a solid or a pre diluted aqueous liquid polyaspartic acid sodium salts are available commercially from lanxess under the trade names baypure u00ae ds 100 solid ds 100 40 liquid and ds 100 solid g these products are polyaspartic acids having the structure shown below surfactants that are suitable for this invention include one or more anionic nonionic or amphoteric surfactants generally known to the art to be effective in reducing the ift between the injection brine and the residual oil cationic surfactants may also be used but are usually found to be less effective and more costly some particularly effective anionic surfactants are the sodium salts of alkylbenzene sulfonates alkyl xylene sulfonates alkyl toluene sulfonates alkoxylated alkylphenol sulfonates alkoxylated alkylphenol sulfonates alkoxylated linear or branched alcohol sulfates alkoxylated linear or branched alcohol sulfonates alkyl diphenylether sulfonates sulfonated alpha olefins and alkoxylated mono and di phosphate esters nonionic surfactants include alkoxylated alkylphenols alkoxylated linear or branched alcohols and alkyl polyglucosides.