CO_2 source-sink matching in the lower 48 United States, with examples from the Texas Gulf Coast and Permian Basin

摘要

Documenting geographic distribution and spatial linkages between CO_2 sources and potential sinks in areas with significant levels of CO_2 emissions is important when considering carbon-management strategies such as geologic sequestration or enhanced oil recovery (EOR). For example, the US Gulf Coast overlies a thick succession (>6,000 m [>20,000 ft]) of highly porous and permeable sandstone formations separated by thick, regionally extensive shale aquitards. The Gulf Coast and Permian Basin also have a large potential for EOR, in which CO_2 injected into suitable oil reservoirs could be followed by long-term storage of CO_2 in nonproductive formations below reservoir intervals. For example, >6 billion barrels (Bbb1) of oil from 182 large reservoirs is technically recoverable in the Permian Basin as a result of miseible-CO_2 flooding The Gulf Coast also contains an additional 4.5 Bbbl of oil that could be produced by using miscible CO_2. Although the CO_2 pipeline infrastructure is well-developed in the Permian Basin, east Texas and the Texas Gulf Coast may have a greater long-term potential for deep, permanent storage of CO_2 because of thick brine-rnbearing formations near both major subsurface and point sources of CO_2.