The Synergistic Pursuit of Advances in MMV Technologies for CO2–Enhanced Recovery and CO2 Storage

Abstract

The importance of using a full suite of reservoir diagnostic and feedback systems (MMV) for CO2-EOR and CO2 storage was first learned at the classic CO2 flood at SACROC in the Permian Basin of West Texas. With information gained from MMV leading to well remediation and changes in operating practices, the new operator of the SACROC CO2 flood (Kinder-Morgan) converted a low performing, being terminated CO2 flood producing 3,000 B/D into a CO2 flood that currently provides 25,000 B/D. Since then, a significant number of companies have begun to incorporate sophisticated MMV technologies into management of CO2 enhanced oil recovery.Comparable advances in MMV technologies for CO2 storage are being supported by the U.S. Department of Energy/National Energy Technology Laboratory's CCUS Regional Partnership Program. As a result, The DOE- funded research into technologies that “see” CO2 underground, developed for the purpose of ensuring CO2 sequestration within the target formation, are gaining significant spill-over applications for optimizing CO2 EOR operations.