화학공학소재연구정보센터
Journal of Canadian Petroleum Technology, Vol.41, No.9, 51-61, 2002
Screening, evaluation, and ranking of oil reservoirs suitable for CO2-flood EOR and carbon dioxide sequestration
Geological sequestration of CO2 in EOR operations has been recognized as one of the more viable means of reducing emissions of anthropogenic CO2 into the atmosphere in response to global climate change. This option, which lowers the cost of CO2 sequestration by recovering incremental oil, is particularly attractive in mature sedimentary basins, such as the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin where many oil pools are near depletion, and where most of the needed infrastructure is already in place. A method was developed for the rapid screening and ranking of oil reservoirs suited for CO2-flood EOR, which is particularly fit for a very large number of reservoirs as listed in reserves databases, and which does not require detailed reservoir engineering analysis. Oil reservoirs are screened on the basis of oil gravity, reservoir temperature and pressure, minimum miscibility pressure and remaining oil saturation, to determine their suitability for CO2 flooding, and an analytical method is used to calculate the incremental oil recovery at breakthrough and for any hydrocarbon pore volume (HCPV) fraction of injected CO2. In addition, the reservoir capacity for CO2 sequestration is calculated. Reservoirs are ranked according to a set of criteria with corresponding assigned weights to identify and select the best suited reservoir for CO2 flooding and sequestration. The method was applied to 8,637 oil reservoirs listed in the 2000 Alberta reserved database. Of these, 4,470 passed the screening criteria and were ranked based on technical and performance characteristics. Preliminary calculations predict that 150 X 10(6), 422 X 10(6), or 558 X 10(6) m(3), of additional oil could be produced from Alberta's reservoirs at breakthrough, and a 50% and 100% HCPV of injected CO2, respectively; meanwhile sequestering 127, 591 and 1,118 Mt CO2, respectively. Thus, geological sequestration of CO2, in Alberta oil reservoirs suitable for CO2 flooding could provide a means for a significantly reducing anthropogenic CO2 emissions from major point sources while, at the same time, realizing an economic benefit.