Release Of EOR Guide For CCS Uncertain As EPA Weighs Industry Fears

摘要

EPA is uncertain when it will finalize long-pending draft guidance on transitioning some enhanced oil recovery (EOR) wells to strict Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) permits for carbon capture and sequestration (CCS), saying it continues to weigh how to address industry fears that the guide could undermine the EOR industry. "At this time, the Agency is reviewing and analyzing comments from a range of stakeholders to further understand concerns regarding the draft guidance manual," an agency spokesman says in a Nov. 4 statement. "US EPA has not yet determined a publication date as the Agency is still analyzing stakeholders' concerns." Energy groups have raised strong concerns over the draft guidance, warning it would make it difficult for the booming EOR industry - currently viewed by some as the only form of carbon dioxide capture that is commercially viable - to use carbon dioxide (CO2) captured from power plants. That could undermine the agency's claim that CCS is feasible as a means of complying with its proposed rule to curb CO2 from future utilities. EPA released the "Draft Underground Injection Control (UIC) Program On Transitioning Class Ⅱ Wells to Class Ⅵ Wells" guidance in December, 2013, and took comment on the document through March 1. The draft guide outlines how UIC wells should transition from existing SDWA Class Ⅱ wells - which govern a range of oil and gas sector activities - to novel Class Ⅵ wells intended for CCS projects as they sequester increasing amounts of CO2.