CO2 Flood Potential of California Oil Reservoirs and Possible CO2 Sources

Abstract

Abstract Carbon Dioxide (CO2) has been used to enhance oil recovery for several decades in both miscible and immiscible floods depending on the type of oil and class of reservoir. Numerous CO2 floods are presently active in four countries with the majority in the Permian Basin of the U.S. where both naturally occurring CO2 and pipeline infrastructure exist and where over 50 million barrels of incremental oil per year are produced. Estimates indicate that additional billions of barrels of oil could be produced in the U.S. alone with CO2 flooding if CO2 could be economically delivered to the producing states' oil fields. California has the second highest potential of any state to produce oil with CO2 flooding but has no naturally occurring deposits of CO2 or CO2 pipeline infrastructure. This paper presents the results of a study of the CO2 flood potential of California oil reservoirs and the possible sources of CO2 for California enhanced oil recovery projects.