Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR)
Enhanced Oil Recovery represents an opportunity early in the development of Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) to help cover the high cost of capture. EOR will provide a commercial value for CO2 and provide a revenue stream to help cover the cost of CCS development.
The viability of an EOR development depends on two main factors:
- The price of oil
- The price paid for CO2
A CO2-based EOR market in Alberta is in the early stages of development. This market is expected to expand as producer confidence increases, as technology advances and as additional conventional oilfields decline and become candidates for CO2 -based EOR. This market will require a stable and large volume of CO2 and could result in up to 1.2 billion barrels of incremental oil production.
The relationship between CO2 supply, demand and pricing is also important. The potential amount of CO2 that can be captured greatly exceeds the potential EOR market. The chart below demonstrates how potential CO2 supply and EOR demand curves would look when plotted against one another. In this case, the demand curve represents EOR market demand for CO2.
