What exactly is CO2-EOR and how does it help

Oil producers are scrambling to keep up with demand and are looking at new ways to keep their existing wells viable and in production. CO2-EOR is one such way that is becoming quite a popular option. So what exactly is CO2-EOR and how does it help?

CO2-EOR is an acronym for Carbon Dioxide-Enhanced Oil Recovery and is currently the state-of-the-art method with the potential to add nearly 90 billion barrels of recoverable oil in the United States. This would increase the proven reserves in the United States by threefold. Again, what is CO2-EOR and how does it help? Next-generation enhanced oil recovery using carbon dioxide will be a game changer in oil production. It will allow us to increase significantly the efficiency of oil recovery.

In addition, CO2-EOR helps reduce greenhouse gasses released into the atmosphere. By using industrial waste carbon dioxide and injecting CO2 under the ground rather than venting it into the atmosphere, we close the carbon loop. Given the growing concern over the role that manmade CO2 emissions play in global climate change, CO2-EOR may prevent unnecessary damage to our planet.

This state of the art technology works by changing the viscosity of oil still trapped in rock, making it thinner and allowing it to flow to the well spout more easily. When carbon dioxide is absorbed into the oil in the rock, it thins the oil out and makes it less sticky so that it is able to come more easily out of the rock. CO2 moves through the rock to reach all of the oil trapped within it. In addition, some of the CO2 will be sequestered and retained within the rock. The remaining CO2 that comes to the surface with the oil can be used again.

Oil reservoirs trap buoyant fluids, which is why the oil is there in the first place. CO2 that remains in the ground when the well is shut down will remain there forever provided the well has been shut down properly. Therefore, we are able to “kill two birds with one stone” as we squeeze additional oil from wells that are nearing the end of their potential and save our environment from dangerous climate changes. 

What exactly is CO2-EOR and how does it help? Simply put, CO2-EOR changes the viscosity of trapped oil allowing it to flow freely and allowing producers to increase the amount of oil available for taking. It helps by maximizing oil production and minimizing the release of harmful greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere! The technology is state-of-the-art and has significantly changed the oil industry and oil production. While the technology is not cheap, the rewards are valuable and oil producers moving to this technology will reap many additional benefits from CO2-EOR versus staying with older methods.