CO2: Enhanced Oil Recovery vs. Direct to Fuels

It is estimated that 8,000 cubic feet of CO2 (Carbon Dioxide) is needed to bring up one barrel of oil using Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR).
This CO2 is typically a byproduct (considered waste) of natural gas processing plants, or it is actually extracted from certain gas formations high in CO2 gas.
The CO2 is pressurized and sent down a CO2 pipeline to a EOR oil field. It is then pressurized again and sent down the well into the formation to extract oil.

A New approach is being looked at

With our CO2 to fuels process, that same 8,000 cubic feet of CO2 could be converted directly to alcohol fuel.
While a barrel of oil can be converted into 48 gallons of usable product (after heavy refining). About 51 percent is converted to transportation gasoline, or around 21-24 gallons.
A new process can convert that same amount of CO2 used for Enhanced Oil Recovery to produce about 40 gallons of methanol. This methanol can be blended with gasoline, or used directly in FlexFuel vehicles. It can also be used to produce biodiesel, or used directly in industry.
The process we use takes CO2, water and electricity. Where does the electricity come from ? Using our Organic Rankine Cycle Geothermal Turbine, we can use deep well geothermal to produce the electricity in a very clean, renewable and environmentally friendly manner.

More Gasoline Facts:
Where does the cost of a gallon of gasoline come from ?
53 percent - crude oil
19 percent - taxes
19 percent - refining costs and profits
9 percent - distribution and marketing





Source: http://www.eia.doe.gov/bookshelf/brochures/gasolinepricesprimer/eia1_2005primerM.html

Here are some examples of EOR - Enhanced Oil Recovery Projects

Weyburn-Midale CO2 Project - How CO2 increases oil recovery

1.CO2 is injected, along with water, deep underground (approx. 1,500 metres) into a depleted oil field. The CO2 used by EnCana and Apache comes from the Dakota Gasification Plant near Beulah, North Dakota. There, the gas is captured after coal gasification (rather than vented to the atmosphere), liquefied by compression and pipelined 320 km north to the oil fields. It is the first man-made source of CO2 being used for enhanced oil recovery.
2.In an operating strategy that alternates gas and water injection, CO2 injection increases reservoir pressure and oil fluidity, enabling oil to escape from rock pores and flow more readily toward production wells. As a general rule, it takes about 8,000 cubic feet of CO2 to get an extra barrel of oil.
3.Much of the injected CO2 is pumped to the surface together with oil and water, then separated and re-injected. At the end of the enhanced oil recovery period, virtually all injected and recycled CO2 is permanently stored.

Research from the Weyburn-Midale CO2 Project ensures that CO2 used for enhanced oil recovery remains safely stored underground.


Here is a recent post from the Denver Post (source):

Blue Source Project - EOR

"The Blue Source project will capture 20 million cubic feet of carbon dioxide per day from a natural-gas plant in Huerfano County - the equivalent of removing more than 70,000 cars from the road.
"This project prevents a significant amount of CO2 from venting into the atmosphere and will further help produce a considerable amount of domestic oil in underused oil fields," said Russell Martin, executive vice president of Blue Source.
The carbon dioxide is pumped into declining oil wells to help push remaining petroleum up to the surface. Martin said it takes about 6,000 cubic feet of carbon dioxide to produce one barrel of oil.
The project highlights the potential of turning waste into a commodity, but industry observers caution that such efforts are often capital-intensive and are difficult to justify financially.
Martin said the company's project makes economic sense because of the revenue it can generate from selling the carbon dioxide.
He said carbon dioxide sells for about 85 cents to $1.20 per thousand cubic feet in the region. The company spent $8 million to connect the carbon- dioxide source to a transportation pipeline. The carbon dioxide will travel 16 miles to Kinder Morgan's Sheep Mountain pipeline, where it will be shipped for enhanced oil recovery in the Permian Basin in West Texas.
The recovery of naturally occurring carbon dioxide from underground wells has long been a staple of the economy in Huerfano County.
The capturing of the greenhouse gas from a natural-gas- processing plant, however, is new for Colorado, Martin said.
"From a Colorado standpoint, it is the first gas plant that's been captured, to my knowledge," Martin said.

Other projects could be forthcoming in the region.

The Wyoming state legislature put together the Enhanced Oil Recovery Institute "to look specifically at CO2 for enhanced-oil-recovery purposes," said Lon Whitman, head of corporate outreach and strategic alliances for the group.
In addition to using carbon dioxide for oil recovery, research groups are looking at long-term sequestration, such as the storage of the greenhouse gas in underground geologic formations, Whitman said."

http://www.oceanethanol.com/CO2/Ocean_Ethanol/Entries/2008/6/3_CO2%3A__Enhanced_Oil_Recovery_vs._Direct_to_Fuels.html