Analysis and selection of CO2 sources for CCS-EOR projects in oil fields clusters in Poland

Abstract

Reducing CO2 emissions from industrial plants that use fossil fuels as their energy source is regarded as one of the major challenges for combating climate change [4]. An option for accomplishing that aim is the CO2 capture, utilization and storage technology (CCUS). It involves capturing CO2 from flue gas, transporting it, utilizing it for economically productive activities (CCU – carbon capture and utilization), and/or permanently disposing it in nonatmospheric sinks (CCS carbon capture and storage). Some technologies, such as enhanced oil recovery (EOR) allow simultaneous CCUS [7], because CO2 is a well-recognized asset in the petroleum industry for the enhancement of oil extraction. Its use for enhanced oil recovery is a process that seeks to improve the flow and recovery rate of hydrocarbon from a reservoir (CO2-EOR) [5]. Unlike other options for CO2 utilization (e.g. use as a chemical feedstock), EOR can provide long-term storage and is able to increase the production of an economically valuable resource [6]. CO2-EOR is expected to produce additional 5–20% of the original oil in place (OOIP) [4] and it is also identified to have a strong potential to reduce the overall CCS cost, however the cost benefits are strongly dependent on the oil price and the considered EOR injection period [2]. CO2-EOR is usually a large-scale project and requires techno-economic evaluation before its deployment, a particularly important issue in this assessment is the availability of a low-cost source of CO2. The issue of selection of sources of CO2 for projects CCS-CO2-EOR is raised in a number of references [1–2, 4–7]. This article includes a comprehensive selection of emitters, which are appropriate carbon dioxide suppliers for the oil fields clusters (Fig. 1) selected as a part of the project „Multifield CO2