News

Saskatchewan invests in CCS research

Publish date: April 14, 2014

The provincial government of Saskatchewan has announced a new funding agreement with the Petroleum Technology Research Centre (PTRC) to support its CO2 Oilfield Use for Storage and EOR Research Project.

Around €300,000 will go towards the Saskatchewan CO2 Oilfield Use for Storage and EOR (CO2 -EOR) research project and will supplement funding from the United States Department of Energy (DoE), who has recognized Saskatchewan as a global leader in carbon storage research.

The funding will support research on important technical issues related to CO2 storage, including well bore integrity, predicting CO2 migration underground, and identification of effective monitoring techniques.

It will also allow the PTRC to continue their mandate to carry out CO2 -EOR research designed to increase oil production in Saskatchewan. According to Tim McMillan, Saskatchewan’s energy and resources minister, “Promotion and development of CO2 enhanced oil recovery methods provides the province with both economic and environmental benefits, and will help us meet our oil and gas related objectives”.

This research project will build upon previous work undertaken by the PTRC in the Weyburn-Midale CO2 Monitoring and Storage Project, which studied CO2 injection and storage into two depleted oilfields in south-eastern Saskatchewan. This joint work with the US and the PTRC offers an important opportunity to address emerging issues that could potentially constrain future CO2 storage activity in Saskatchewan as well as worldwide.

“Recognition of CO2 -EOR as a valid geological storage is an important part in the commercial deployment of CCS”, PTRC CEO Ken From said. “The technical guidance provided by this research will make a valuable contribution to industry”.