Carbon Footprint Estimation for Oil Production: Iraq Case Study for The Utilization of Waste Gas in Generating Electricity

摘要

Oil is the main energy resource on earth since its discovery, and Iraq depends mainly on crude oil to generate electricity. The process of oil extrusion differs depending on the physical nature and the accessibility of the reservoirs. In Iraq as a case study, the production of oil is easier, and relatively cost effective due to its high pressure which makes oil emerge to the surface with minimum effort compared to other deep reserves. Oil production is usually connected with high waste. In this study case, the main issues addressed are the waste of oil production and the associated gas as a co-product. Associated gas is a blend of hydrocarbons dissolved in the oil under high pressure underground reservoirs. It is naturally released when crude oil is brought to the surface under low pressure. The aim of this study is to estimate the carbon footprint of crude oil production in Iraq. It considers the associated gas, a part of the production lifecycle in order to propose an alternative energy utilization solution that can reduce the energy waste as well as the carbon footprint. The energy estimation is then used to substitute the equivalent generated electricity from fossil fuel. Basic mathematics is used to estimate the potential energy of the flare gas in order to evaluate the equivalent energy losses. Umberto software is used to estimate the carbon footprint for both flared gas and the electricity generation based on kWh. While the flared gas can be reprocessed to avoid energy waste, this has its own drawbacks. The main drawback of this solution is that the gas needs to be liquefied in order to be efficiently transported. This, as a result, implies a high energy consumption as well as carbon dioxide emissions in both processing and transportation. The outcome of this study is to utilize the flared gas in generating electricity instead of the adopted method of using fossil fuel. This solution potentially saves about 50 million tons of carbon dioxide annually as per todays production rates.