Statoil has let a major carbon dioxide supply and service agreement to Ferus LP of Denver to supply liquid CO2 to be used in a test well to evaluate potential production uplift and partially replace water in a large multistage hydraulic fracturing operation in a horizontal oil well.
In addition to supplying the CO2, Ferus will provide transportation, logistics, storage, and onsite supervision. The service agreement also includes the deployment of a membrane technology that separates the CO2 from the produced gas to reduce flaring.
Statoil and other oil companies are working to flaring to comply with a series of targets established by the state of North Dakota. Oil companies also can save money by capturing gas and using it to economically fuel their own operations instead of flaring it.
This CO2 stimulation test is one of several projects under Powering Collaboration–a collaboration on joint technology Statoil and GE that was announced in January.
In collaboration with the University of Texas at Austin, Ferus and Statoil have demonstrated through numerous technical studies on North American reservoirs the potential for CO2 to enhance well productivity while reducing fresh water usage.
