Carbon Footprint and Principle of Additionality in CO2-EOR Projects: The Weyburn Case

Abstract

This paper addresses the process of using CO 2 for enhanced oil recovery technique (CO 2 -EOR) as driver to produce more oil from depleted oil reservoirs, while leading to effective CO 2 abatement. Here, a simplified summary of this complex system through a lifecycle emission analysis is presented. This analysis is based on two concepts: (i) the Carbon Footprint of CO 2 -EOR, and (ii) the Principle of Additionality in CO 2 -EOR. The data used for this analysis comes from the Weyburn project in Saskatchewan, Canada.The international community has been discussing for some time if CO 2 -EOR projects should be considered for carbon credits. There are still questions of "additionality" that should be addressed before the net climate impact of storing CO 2 in an EOR project is verified. Since CO 2 -EOR has gained considerable interest within the oil and gas industry due to its potential for increased oil production, it is important to use a real case data to probe if CO 2 -EOR is a viable CO 2 abatement technology or if on the contrary, it may result in increased emissions.This study concludes that any emissions trading benefits from CO 2 storing as part of a CO 2 -EOR project should be discounted according to a detailed analysis of the full cycle carbon balance using the principle of additionality. A key exception to this should be when a commercially viable CO 2 -EOR project results in the development of pipeline infrastructure which would also enable long term geological sequestration without EOR. In this way, CO 2 -EOR projects could play an important catalyst role in accelerating the deployment of CCS infrastructure. Finally a sensitivity analysis has indicated that the provision of petroleum tax breaks for CO 2 -EOR projects on the grounds of their emissions reduction potential is not the best use of public funds.This study provides guidance to whether or not CO 2 -EOR projects should be eligible for carbon credits as part of deployment of CCS processes. Also this study contributes by defining an appropriate framework for developing guidelines, standards, and/or best practice manuals for the permanent geological sequestration of carbon dioxide.

Can Producing Oil Store Carbon? Greenhouse Gas Footprint of CO2EOR, Offshore North Sea

“…This conclusion is also drawn by a number of different studies. 11,22 These results also importantly highlight that, with certain system boundaries drawn, CO 2 import beyond that needed to optimize oil recovery may be required to make CO 2 EOR carbon negative.…”

“…They assumed that oil produced through CO 2 EOR is additional to the global system, and therefore emissions from the combustion of the final petroleum products should be included in the study, which resulted in overall net emissions. 10,11 Other studies such as Faltison and Gunter. (2011), 12 who have analyzed emissions and CO 2 stored at 8 onshore US CO 2 EOR fields, argue that oil produced through CO 2 EOR will displace oil produced through other sources and emissions from final product combustion should therefore not be included.…”

“…A common way to assess the storage performance of an operation is to assess how many tonnes of CO 2 are stored per barrel of incremental oil produced. Established onshore projects have stored 0.160− 0.300 tCO 2 /bbl 8,10,11 (3.0−5.7 Mscf/STB). However, a number of studies have estimated that CO 2 EOR operations may store between 0.300 and 0.600tCO 2 /bbl (5.7−11.3 Mscf/ STB) if optimized to store CO 2 .…”

“…Several other studies have attempted to quantify how the emissions from EOR operations, and from the final combustion of the petroleum products, relate to the total volume of CO 2 stored in EOR projects. − These studies focus on historical data from onshore developments and vary widely in their outcomes.…”

Coal with Carbon Capture and Sequestration is not as Land Use Efficient as Solar Photovoltaic Technology for Climate Neutral Electricity Production

“…The specific tonnage of oil produced from EOR ranges from 0.18 to 0.89 t oil / injected with an average of 0.43 t oil / injected 34 , 46 , 80 – 82 .…”