CO_2 LIFE CYCLE ANALYSIS FOR AN ENHANCED OIL RECOVERY: WEYBURN BASED CASE

摘要

At the global, national and sub-national levels, many policies have been created or are in process of development to deal with greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions, particularly carbon dioxide (CO_2). It is clear that if a goal of limiting the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere to some level such as 2x pre-industrial levels is to be achieved, then the application of capture and geological storage technology will be essential. CO_2 enhanced oil recovery (EOR) or storage in saline aquifers are options available to governments and industry to meet emission reduction levels. Carbon emission trading can create a value for CO_2 and can modify the cost competitiveness of EOR or other forms of geological storage.rnThe Weyburn unit is one of the largest medium-sour crude oil reservoirs in Canada with an original oil in place estimate of 1.4 billion barrels. The International Energy Agency (IEA) Weyburn Monitoring and Storage Project was established to study the CO_2 enhanced oil recovery project at Weyburn in 1999 to determine the fate of CO_2 in the oil reservoir. CO_2 was first injected as a miscible flood agent for the recovery of oil in 2000. Along with the increased production of oil, the CO_2 can be stored in the oil reservoir for a long period of time. However, CO_2 capture and CO_2 enhanced oil recovery operation result in significant costs and energy penalties; for example, CO_2 capture from a point source, transportation to the site of use, recycling produced CO_2. This paper will evaluate the life-cycle of CO_2 storage from delivery to the oil-field through the production, transportation and refining of the oil and to identify opportunities for optimization. Information from the IEA Weyburn Monitoring and Storage Project will be used to provide baseline information for the storage of CO_2. This will be combined with other sources of information to generate the life-cycle economics and energy consumption for CO_2.