ExxonMobil Corp. has been ordered to curb the carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from its Shute Creek natural gas processing facility near LaBarge, WY, and redirect the emissions into pipelines for enhanced oil recovery under a resolution passed by the Wyoming Oil and Gas Conservation Commission. The commission wants the oil major to submit progress reports detailing progress in marketing the CO2 vented from the facility, which is produced in association with sour gas production. ExxonMobil sold an average of 207 MMcf/d of CO2 last year for enhanced oil recovery, but it vented another 181 MMcf/d of CO2, according to the commission. Under the order, ExxonMobil may be forced to secure interruptible customer contracts for CO2 delivery. “They recognize what we have no argument with: That is, there are hedging opportunities in the CO2 market,” ExxonMobil spokeswoman Sara K. Tays told the Casper Star-Tribune in Wyoming. “The goal is to safely market everything you can.” With oil and gas prices soaring, Wyoming officials said they want to help producers secure flows of CO2, which may be injected into maturing fields to extract volumes that were unrecoverable through conventional production methods.

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