Dioxide

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and its Southwest Regional Partnership (SWP) are testing a way to permanently store carbon dioxide (CO2) and simultaneously recover natural gas in a large coalbed methane (CBM) area in the San Juan Basin of New Mexico.

Looking to advance its climate change action plan, Alberta’s government will create a C$2 billion fund to advance carbon dioxide (CO2) capture and storage (CCS) projects, and a second C$2 billion fund for public transit projects to get cars off the province’s roads, Premier Ed Stelmach said.

Looking to advance its climate change action plan, Alberta’s government will create a C$2 billion fund to advance carbon dioxide (CO2) capture and storage (CCS) projects, and a second C$2 billion fund for public transit projects to get cars off the province’s roads, Premier Ed Stelmach said.

Oklahoma City-based SandRidge Energy Inc. and Occidental Petroleum Corp. plan to build and operate a West Texas carbon dioxide (CO2) extraction plant and pipeline that is expected to boost Occidental’s Permian Basin oil production by at least 50,000 b/d and Sandridge’s production of high-CO2 natural gas to 350 MMcf/d (260 MMcf/d net). Occidental will put up the $1.1 billion in development costs, own and operate the facilities and claim 100% of the CO2. The Century Plant in Pecos County, TX, combined with existing SandRidge CO2 processing plants, would allow treatment of approximately 1 Bcf/d of high-CO2 gas by year-end 2011. The CO2 takeaway capacity is expected to be at least 450 MMcf/d. SandRidge would drill, produce, and deliver high-CO2 gas to the Century Plant and retain 100% of the methane gas at the tailgate under a 30-year agreement. The Oklahoma company expects the facility also will enable it to develop 1.7 Tcf of additional methane reserves from high-CO2 gas. The company currently has the capability of producing 70 MMcf (50 MMcf net) per day of methane from high-CO2 gas. Occidental also plans to build pipelines from McCamey, TX, to Denver City, TX, to deliver the CO2 to its enhanced oil production facilities.

Oklahoma City-based SandRidge Energy Inc. and Occidental Petroleum Corp. plan to build and operate a West Texas carbon dioxide (CO2) extraction plant and pipeline that is expected to boost Occidental’s Permian Basin oil production by at least 50,000 b/d and Sandridge’s production of high-CO2 natural gas to 350 MMcf/d (260 MMcf/d net), the companies said.

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.

Absent the necessary technology, the aggressive carbon dioxide (CO2) reduction targets in the Senate climate change legislation will result in large-scale utility fuel switching that could send natural gas prices soaring during the next decade, according to an analysis of the bill conducted by energy research and consulting firm Wood Mackenzie.

Strong performances from natural gas pipeline, carbon dioxide (CO2) and terminals business segments helped Kinder Morgan Energy Partners (KMP) achieve its best quarter ever in 1Q2008, with earnings hitting $685 million, up 36% from $503 million in 1Q2007, the company said.

Strong performances from natural gas pipeline, carbon dioxide (CO2) and terminals business segments helped Kinder Morgan Energy Partners (KMP) achieve its best quarter ever in 1Q2008, with earnings hitting $685 million, up 36% from $503 million in 1Q2007, the company said.