Reduction of carbon footprint of the production and field transport of high-viscosity oils in the Arctic region

Abstract

Despite the efforts to green the global economy, the non-renewable resources are still one of the major components of energy mix. The growing energy demand and depletion of deposits around the globe make the production of oil in the Arctic region a more and more attractive option. However, heavy and high-viscosity oils (HVO), typical for the Arctic region, require considerable amount of energy to be extracted. This, in turn, could lead to increased greenhouse gas emissions producing more sever negative environmental impact than the production of non-renewable resources in other regions of the world.This research presents an approach designed to reduce carbon footprint related to hydrocarbons production in the Arctic region. The proposed method is based on the technology used to produce synthetic oil from associated petroleum gas and mixing it with the extracted crude oil. It allows decreasing the viscosity of produced oil, which facilitates oilfield exploitation,limits costly use ofpetroleum gas, and diminishes heat consumption needed for the transport of oil. The performed simulation using ASPEN Hysys shows that the carbon footprint of the proposed process will be lower by up to 24 % than the results obtained for the technology that is being currently used at the oilfields in the Arctic region.