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CO2 Sequestration-Assisted Enhanced Hydrocarbon Recovery Potential In The Midwest Regional Carbon Sequestration Partnership

 

Harrison, William B. III 1, Avary, Katharine Lee 2, Baum, Gerald R. 3, Nuttall, Brandon C. 4, Harper, John A. 5, Rupp, John A. 6, Wickstrom, Lawrence H. 7, Williams, William A. 8, and Winschel, Richard A. 8

 1Department of Geosciences, Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, MI,

2West Virginia Geological and Economic Survey, Morgantown, WV

3Maryland Geological Survey, Baltimore, MD

4Kentucky Geological Survey, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY

5Pennsylvania Geological Survey, Pittsburgh, PA

6Indiana Geological Survey, Bloomington, IN

7Ohio Geological Survey, Columbus, OH

8CONSOL Energy, Inc., South Park, PA

 

The Midwest Regional Carbon Sequestration Partnership (MRCSP) has recently completed extensive GIS-based mapping of potential carbon dioxide (CO2) sequestration reservoirs, including oil and gas fields, for seven states in the Midwest and Eastern U.S.  Cumulative oil production for the seven-state partnership exceeds 5.5 billion barrels.  Relatively few of these oil reservoirs have undergone enhanced oil recovery operations. 

CO2-assisted enhanced recovery is ongoing in many U.S. states and currently produces millions of barrels of oil per day.  In addition to the enhanced oil production, these projects can sequester significant volumes of CO2.  Total oil recovery using CO2 varies with reservoir properties, but often ranges between 20 and 30% of the primary recovery volume.  For the MRCSP region, CO2 enhanced oil recovery could produce hundreds of millions of barrels of additional oil and sequester over 2 billion tons of CO2.

Currently, very few CO2-assisted enhanced recovery projects exist within the MRCSP Region.  One dramatic example, however, is the development of CO2 enhanced recovery of oil in some Niagaran (Silurian) pinnacle reefs of northern lower Michigan.  Two reefs were converted to CO2 enhanced recovery flooding in 1996 and have produced over 600,000 barrels of oil and sequestered over 280,000 tons of CO2 to date.

Significant additional potential for CO2 sequestration and natural gas recovery exists in coal seams and organic shales through the MRCSP region.  CONSOL Energy is engaged in a project to research the production of methane and injection of CO2 in overlying coal seams in Marshall County, West Virginia.