Decarbonization for Oil and Gas Value Chain: An Update Review (original) (raw)

Significance of Enhanced Oil Recovery in Carbon Dioxide Emission Reduction

Sustainability, 2021

Limiting the increase in CO2 concentrations in the atmosphere, and at the same time, meeting the increased energy demand can be achieved by applying carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS) technologies, which hold potential as the bridge for energy and emission-intensive industries to decarbonization goals. At the moment, the only profitable industrial large-scale carbon sequestration projects are large-scale carbon dioxide enhanced oil recovery (CO2-EOR) projects. This paper gives a general overview of the indirect and direct use of captured CO2 in CCUS with a special focus on worldwide large-scale CO2-EOR projects and their lifecycle emissions. On the basis of scientific papers and technical reports, data from 23 contemporary large-scale CO2-EOR projects in different project stages were aggregated, pointing out all the specificities of the projects. The specificities of individual projects, along with the lack of standardized methodologies specific for estimating the full l...

Decarbonizing the future: Understanding carbon capture, utilization, and storage methods

World Journal of Advanced Engineering Technology and Sciences, 2023

Carbon capture refers to the removal of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, or directly at the source of its emissions. The latter employs chemical engineering to design capture systems for industries. Aqueous amine scrubbing makes use of amine based solvents to capture carbon dioxide from flue gas streams. The carbon, once captured, is compressed and redirected for either reutilisation or storage. In enhanced oil recovery, the CO2 is injected into oil and gas reservoirs to increase their extraction. Carbon storage methods work to remove the carbon from the atmosphere, and aid mitigation against carbon emissions from industry, thereby reducing the contribution to global warming and ocean acidification. This paper aims to provide the readers with an understanding of the technologies involved in the above processes.

A Toolkit Approach for Carbon Capture and Storage in Offshore Depleted Gas Field

American Journal of Environmental Sciences

Fossil fuels are considered a dependable, cost-effective, and efficient energy source and their utilization has resulted in tremendous growth for humanity. However, it has its downside also. Experts are of the view that present energy systems are unsustainable due to their detrimental impacts on the environment. Oil and gas producers are charged that their infrastructure, utilization of materials and technologies for exploration, development, and operation, and production and consumption based GHG emission is harming the environment severely. Current atmospheric CO2 concentrations are slightly more than 400 ppm, almost double since the beginning of the industrial revolution. CO2 concentration is continuously increasing in the atmosphere which is causing an increase in the atmospheric temperature. Studies suggest that if no new emissions occur, even though the temperature would be 1.1°C higher at the end of the century due to significant accumulated CO2 in the atmosphere. Is opined by some experts that a further increase of CO2 concentration in the atmosphere would saturate its impact in terms of increasing trend of temperature rather it would be logarithmic in nature which means additional CO2 concentration in the atmosphere would not increase the temperature alarmingly. However, IPCC suggested that the relationship is more linear and if CO2 emission is not controlled then its effect would not just be worse but speed up the detrimental effects. Various measures are being taken up to reduce the CO2 concentration in the atmosphere for preventing major climate change and control the detrimental side effects like natural calamities such as drought, flood, forest fires, and acidification of the ocean. CO2 Capture and Storage (CCS) is one of the most important efforts in the spectrum of measures being considered and applied for managing this menace and meeting the net zero CO2 emission target set by countries and companies by 2050. Development and adoption of renewable energy are gaining momentum, but it will take some time before renewable energy plays a dominant role in the total energy mix. Natural gas will play a transition fuel role before achieving the dominant role of renewable energy in the total energy mix and CCS will enable the development of contaminated gas fields to meet the gas demand. The world focus is on renewable and environment-friendly energy development e.g., solar, wind and hydrogen, etc. Carbon dioxide (CO2) capture, utilization, and storage is the best option for mitigating atmospheric emissions of CO2 and thereby controlling the greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere. Despite the benefits, there have been a limited number of projects solely for CO2 sequestration being implemented. The industry is well-versed in gas injection in reservoir formation for pressure maintenance and improving oil recovery. However, there are striking differences between the injection of CO2 into depleted hydrocarbon reservoirs and the engineered storage of CO2. The differences and challenges are compounded when the storage site is karstified carbonate in offshore and bulk storage volume. It is paramount to know upfront that CO2 can be stored at a potential storage site and

Reducing Carbon Dioxide Emissions with Enhanced Oil Recovery Projects: A Life Cycle Assessment Approach

Energy & Fuels, 2001

A wide range of industries are investigating methods of reducing their emissions of greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide (CO 2), methane (CH 4), and nitrous oxide (N 2 O). Several options have been identified ranging from energy efficiency and reforestation to capture and storage in oceans, aquifers, or underground. Although greenhouse gases are not yet regulated, the power generation and petroleum industries are already considering greenhouse gas capture and storage methods to reduce their emissions to the atmosphere. Preferred options are the ones utilizing CO 2 as a product and therefore providing an additional economic benefit to the oil and gas production process. Currently, CO 2 is widely used for enhanced oil recovery (EOR) projects to extract more oil out of aging reservoirs. Thus, storage of CO 2 in active reservoirs does not require technology advances and offers the advantage of reducing greenhouse gas emissions to the atmosphere. The present research conducted a life cycle assessment to determine the benefits derived from storing CO 2 in active reservoirs while enhancing the extraction of oil and the impacts on the environment over the process lifetime. The potential for CO 2 storage in a specific oil reservoir in Texas was demonstrated, as well as the mass balance of greenhouse gas emissions generated from the energy-intensive process. Our findings suggest that the storage capacity of this reservoir is huge, the process emissions are minimal in comparison, and the EOR activity is almost carbon-neutral when comparing net storage potential and gasoline emissions from the additional oil extracted.

Exploring the potential of carbon capture and storage-enhanced oil recovery as a mitigation strategy in the Colombian oil industry

International Journal of Greenhouse Gas Control, 2020

The use of CO 2 for enhanced oil recovery (CO 2-EOR) is a promising alternative for reducing the cost of carbon capture and storage (CCS). In this study the techno-economic potential of integrated CCS-EOR projects for reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the Colombian oil industry is estimated. For this purpose, a sourcesink matching process is carried out, including CO 2 capture potentials in sources from the petroleum, cement, power generation, and bioethanol industries, as well as from the CO 2 storage in suitable oil fields for EOR. The results indicate that a total of 142 million tons of carbon dioxide (MtCO 2) could be stored, while delivering 465 MMbbl through five CCS-EOR projects in four clusters identified around the country. The levelised cost for capture ranged between 12-209 €/tCO 2 , followed by the cost of CO 2 during EOR operations with a variation of 24-59 €/tCO 2 , and finally the CO 2 transport, from 1 €/tCO 2 to 23 €/tCO 2. The CO 2 mitigation potential of CCS-EOR represents 25 % of the forecasted oil industry emissions in Colombia for the period of 2025-2040. As compared to the intended nationally determined contribution (INDC) target set by the Colombian government, CCS-EOR projects could contribute 7 % of the total accumulated emissions reductions by 2040.

Carbon Capture and Storage - Technological Advancements and Worldwide Constraints

Combating climate change by mitigation of release of the anthropogenic greenhouse gases has attracted worldwide attention towards research and policy formulations. One such approach is the geological sequestration of carbon dioxide, known as Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS). Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) is a large scale solution to climate change, consider to have significant potential on curbing CO2 emissions. Fossil fuels will continue to be our main energy source for decades to come, and CCS can contribute with as much as 55% of the emissions reductions needed to stabilize climate change at an average of +2oC. Industry is already exploring various CCS technologies. This paper will firstly discuss examples of various CO2 capture technologies currently in use and in development. It will also discuss various industrial sources and sequestration options. This paper also presents the technological advancement to CCS i.e. carbon recycling, which is the electro-reduction of carbon dioxide (ERC), which aims to take CO2 directly from industrial waste gases and convert it to formate salts and/or formic acid; both valu¬able chemicals used in a variety of industrial applications. CCS is, however, suffering from a lack of maturity in terms of frame conditions, technology, economy, infrastructure and common acceptance criteria. A key factor is development and implementation of a regulatory framework that allows a market and business to emerge, depending on financial incentives through various mitigation policies and mechanisms. The framework for CO2 storage should require an integrated risk management throughout the life cycle of a CCS project, i.e. from initial site selection, design and construction, operation including monitoring, reporting and verification, up to closure and post-closure requirements. The paper will address these uncertainties and risks more in depth. The viability of a carbon capture and sequestration industry will also be dependent upon the costs of capturing CO2 from industrial and natural sources. This raises the question: what are the potential costs of capturing industrial CO2? A source-to-sink analysis (Literature Survey) was done to estimate the total cost of capturing and transporting CO2 from a variety of industrial sources to potential sequestration sites. These include concentrated sources, such as ammonia and ethanol plants, as well as less-concentrated sources including power plants. The considered sequestration sites include value options such as enhanced oil and gas recovery projects, pressure maintenance in gas reservoirs, as well as sequestration in saline aquifers, depleted oil and gas reservoirs, and other geologic media. This paper hence will provide estimates of CO2 pipeline transportation costs at various distances between sources and sinks. Finally, the paper will discuss the total estimated cost, inclusive of capture, compression, and transportation, at which the CO2 can be sold to operators of enhanced oil recovery projects or other industries which could utilize the CO2. This analysis concluded that CO2 can be captured and transported approximately 100 miles at costs ranging between 1and1 and 1and3.50 per thousand cubic feet.

Potential of CO2-EOR for Near-Term Decarbonization

Frontiers in Climate, 2019

This paper provides an overview of carbon dioxide enhanced oil recovery (CO2-EOR) and its ability to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions (even to the point of negative emissions), the role it needs to play in the challenge of decarbonization, and the need to scale up implementation and deployment in order to meet climate goals. Limitations in current legal and regulatory frameworks for CO2 injection are explored for both economic and environmental purposes, as well as the economic implications of combining CO2-EOR with geologic carbon storage. Results from a recent study, which demonstrate that all CO2-EOR operations produce negative emissions oil during the first several years of production, are analyzed in the context of the urgency of climate change mitigation. Acknowledging that fossil fuels currently provide the energy foundation upon which global societies function, and that a sudden shift in the composition of that foundation can potentially destabilize the global economy and key elements of modern society, we bring CO2-EOR to the fore as it can supply reduced carbon oil to support the current energy foundation as it steadily transitions toward decarbonization. In order to meet this urgent transition, greater fiscal, and regulatory incentives are needed to begin scaling CO2-EOR with storage around the globe. A viable and large-scale CO2-EOR/storage industry depends upon significant capital investments for CO2 capture and transportation infrastructure. Policy consistency and predictability, combined with targeted subsidies, will help to achieve this goal.

Climate change, the energy industry, and the role of carbon capture utilization and storage

First International Meeting for Applied Geoscience & Energy Expanded Abstracts

This paper discusses several key topics related to Carbon Capture Utilization and Storage (CCUS). First, we discuss the forces requiring global carbon reduction. Then we discuss the energy transition and the key role of CCUS. Finally, we discuss the economics of different carbon capture and sequestration options and show why enhanced oil recovery related sequestration can be an optimal solution. We show that this potentially can form the best path for the energy industry and a reasonably well posed problem for geological and geophysical long-term storage and monitoring. Finally, we discuss the potential of CO2 for enhanced oil recovery (EOR) in unconventional resources.