Survey: Miscible CO2 now eclipses steam in US EOR production
April 2, 2012
Miscible CO2 now accounts for more oil production in the US than any other enhanced oil recovery method, eclipsing steam injection in Oil & Gas Journal's 2012 EOR/Heavy Oil Survey.
Production from US miscible CO2 floods totals 308,564 b/d vs. 300,762 b/d for steam, according to the survey (Table 1).
The miscible CO2 production rate is 24% above its level of the previous OGJ survey, published in 2010 (OGJ, Apr. 19, 2010, p. 36). Production from this technique, accounting for 41% of US output from EOR, is on a long upward trend.
Production from steam injection also is up, by 10% from 2010, but well below its rates exceeding 400,000 b/d throughout the 1990s.
Miscible CO2 also dominates US EOR in project totals, reaching 112 in 2012 in another long upward trend (Table 2). The 2010 total in this category was 103.
The number of steam projects gains 3 to a total of 48 in 2012, in a category in which project totals exceeded 100 until 1998.
Total oil production by EOR in the US is now 764,376, according to OGJ's survey, up 18% from 2010.
In following pages, Tables A-E show survey results for projects in the US and around the world.
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