THE CARBON UTILIZATION AND STORAGE PROJECT OF THE WESTERN USA: A VIEW FROM THE OIL PATCH

The purpose of the Carbon Utilization & Storage Project (CUSP) of the western USA is to advance existing Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage (CCUS) technology development and deployment through a partnership of 13 universities, seven state geological surveys, three research institutes, and three national laboratories. The CUSP team will coordinate capabilities and experience within the CUSP region needed to address key technical challenges, facilitate data collection, sharing, and analysis, evaluate regional infrastructure, and promote regional technology transfer. The goal of these efforts is to accelerate CCUS deployment within the western USA.

Why are we, in the oil patch, a vital resource for a project like CUSP? The Permian Basin has been utilizing CO₂ in Enhanced Oil Recovery Projects for over 50 years. We have experience in almost all aspects of CO₂ Utilization and Storage including Contracts, Sources, Transportation, CO₂ in the Field (surface), CO₂ in the Reservoir, Retention and Storage in Conventional Reservoirs, safety, lessons from long term storage projects, and recent expansion of CCUS into Residual Oil Zones (ROZs), and exploratory studies for CCUS in unconventional reservoirs. Additionally, oil field experience provides knowledge of costs associated with capture, compression, pipelines, and purity which typically are not considered when “Pricing” a capture and storage project. Storage in depleted oil fields is both similar to and different from storage in brine aquifers. The “sunk cost” of surface facilities and well bores in existing fields is a key advantage of CO₂ utilization and storage projects in developed basins. The presence of well-defined reservoir characteristics, barriers to horizontal and vertical flow in Permian Basin reservoirs, porosity and permeability relationships, and the presence of “Ultimate Seals” make basins like the Permian ideal site for geologic storage of CO₂.