Operator: IEA-GHG
In 1998, a Canadian oil and gas corporation (then PanCanadian Petroleum, now EnCana Corporation) announced to implement a large scale EOR project in an oilfield near Weyburn, Saskatchewan, using CO2 captured from a coal gasification power plant. This provided a chance to demonstrate and study a large-scale geological storage project and to provide the data to evaluate the safety, technical and economical feasibility of such storage.
The overall objective of the Weyburn project is to predict and verify the ability of an oil reservoir to store CO2. The work has focused on understanding the mechanisms of CO2 distribution and containment within the reservoir and the degree to which CO2 can be permanently stored. The expertise obtained can be used when selecting other storage sites.
The Weyburn oil fied lies on the northwestern rim of the Williston Basin, 16 km south east of Weyburn. The oilfield began operation in 1954, currently there are about 650 production and water injection wells in opration. Average daily crude oil production is about 18,200 barrels. The field is in production decline, in order to keep the field viable CO2 injection began in 2000. Now, the commercial oil recovery project is also a demonstration project for CO2 storage in an oilfield.
