American Oil and Gas Reporter - June 2017 - 49

EOR Needs CO2 Pipelines, Study Says

WASHINGTON-A white paper issued
by a multistate group urges President Trump
and Congress to make carbon dioxide
pipelines a priority component of a broader
national infrastructure agenda. It also recommends that the federal government support developing CO2 pipeline networks to
securely transport large volumes of the gas
for enhanced oil recovery projects.
The report, 21st Century Infrastructure:
Policy Recommendations for Development
of American CO2 Pipeline Networks, recommends developing strategically placed
pipeline corridors to expand commercial
CO2 pipeline networks. The group says
that would increase the capability to carry
the gas from industrial facilities and
power plants to U.S. oil fields.
Wyoming Governor Matt Mead and
Montana Governor Steve Bullock launched
the work group in 2015. It released a
comprehensive set of federal and state
incentive policy recommendations for carbon capture-Putting the Puzzle Together:
State and Federal Policy Drivers for
Growing America's Carbon Capture and
CO2-EOR Industry-in December.
In the latest report, the work group
presents a map outlining five potential
large-volume, long-distance CO2 pipeline
corridors. The group says those pipelines
may expand the annual supply of anthropogenic CO2 available for EOR by 150
million tons by 2030, when coupled with
targeted federal incentives for deploying
carbon capture technology.
"Carbon capture for enhanced oil recovery with CO2 storage is a game changer
for the American economy," asserts Brad
Crabtree, vice president for fossil energy
at the Great Plains Institute, which staffs
and facilitates the work group. "But to
make the potential a reality, we need an
investment in the nation's energy infrastructure. This report outlines the specific
policies and federal support necessary to
build the pipelines that will boost America's energy independence, create jobs
and decrease emissions."
The report's analysis projects robust
pipeline infrastructure on this scale can
triple the U.S. EOR industry, resulting in
375 million barrels a year of new U.S. oil
production and an estimated 22 percent
reduction in annual oil imports, valued at
$30 billion. The recommended CO2 pipeline
infrastructure has the potential to drive
$75 billion of capital investment and stimulate more than $30 billion a year in economic activity, the work group estimates.
Infrastructure
Crabtree points out that a major obstacle
to scaling up CO2-EOR projects is the

lack of infrastructure. "Trunk pipelines
are needed to link industrial and power
plant CO2 sources to oil field customers,
and they must be built at very large scale
across regions to make economic sense,"
he says.
The work group also recommends the
federal government play a targeted role-
supplementing private capital-in financing
increased capacity for priority trunk
pipelines to transport CO2 to EOR projects
from industrial facilities and power plants

not already served by pipeline infrastructure. It also suggests Congress and the
White House work with states, tribal governments and key stakeholders to identify
and foster pipeline corridors.
According to the study, new CO2
pipelines could support domestic manufacturing and attract new manufacturing,
and return industrial production of petrochemicals, cement, steel and other heavy
industries.
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JUNE 2017 49

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American Oil and Gas Reporter - June 2017

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