Development of the First Internationally Accepted Standard for Geologic Storage of Carbon Dioxide utilizing Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) under the International Standards Organization (ISO) Technical Committee TC-265

Abstract

Abstract The Carbon Capture Utilization & Sequestration (Storage) (CCUS) marketplace is lacking standardization and therefore the ability to allow CCUS projects to advance as Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) projects as well as to advance to full scale commercialization. An international effort between the United States and Canada, funded by the International Performance Assessment Centre for Geologic Storage of Carbon Dioxide (IPAC-CO 2 Research Inc.), and managed by CSA Standards, have developed the first internationally recognized Standard for the geologic storage of carbon dioxide (Z-741). The Z-741 Standard has been adopted by the Standards Council of Canada (SCC) and is available to the American National Standards Institute (ANSI). As a direct result of Z-741, the International Standards Organization (ISO) has created a technical committee to advance the development of comprehensive international standards that address CCUS. This ISO Technical Committee (TC) 265, Carbon dioxide capture, transportation, and geological storage, recently announced the creation of a new working group (WG) focused on standardization in connection with enhanced oil recovery (EOR) related carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) storage. The new group, WG 6, CO 2 EOR, was created at the TC-265 third plenary meeting, held at the China University of Petroleum–Beijing on September 23–25, 2013. During the Beijing meeting, the U.S. and Norway proposed the creation of WG 6 following a presentation on CO 2 EOR. The U.S. Technical Advisory Group (TAG) to ISO TC 265, administered by CSA Group, an American National Standards Institute (ANSI) organizational member and accredited standards developer, named the U.S. as convener and Norway as co-convener. WG 6 will focus on standardization efforts associated with low-pressure subsurface oil field operating environments and related CO 2 recovery operations, as well as the harmonization of CO 2 supplies with EOR operations both on a daily basis and over multi- year operational horizons, among other topics. WG 6 has issued an international call for expert participation in its development of standards and other documents related to CO 2 EOR. This paper will address key issues experienced in the standard development process, which is a technical, consensus-based facilitated process. Membership of the Committee is drawn from experts with full project life cycle knowledge and experience – general interest, operators/industry, regulatory, and consultant/service providers, which represent a balance of stakeholder needs.