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CCS world projects: Weyburn

The Weyburn oil field, operated by EnCana, Canada’s largest oil company, is 130 km southeast of the city of Regina in Saskatchewan province. In 1997, the Dakota Gasification Company agreed to send all of the waste gas (96% CO2) from its lignite-fired Great Plains Synfuels Plant through a pipeline to the Weyburn oil field, with delivery beginning in September 2000. The Weyburn oil field has a total of 720 wells, drilled in a “9-spot” grid pattern, with eight producing wells in a square around an injection well. The CO2 is pumped into the injection wells, helping oil to flow toward active producer wells. It is predicted that the CO2 EOR operation will enable an additional 130 million barrels of oil to be produced, extending the field’s commercial life by approximately 25 years. It is also anticipated that about 20 million tonnes of CO2 will be injected and become permanently stored 1,400 m underground over the lifetime of this project. The project, which started in 2000, is injecting 2 million tonnes of CO2 per year at a total cost of US$100 million. The implementation of the CO2 flood, along with the continued infill well development program, has resulted in a 65 per cent increase in oil production, or approximately 13,250 barrels since 2000. The current cost of suquestration is $20 US / Tonne of CO2.

Project Type

Storage

Location

Weyburn, Saskatchewan, Canada

Type of CO₂ Storage Operation

Enhanced Oil Recovery