The investment will support additional CO2 storage research in the final phase of the project. This research will solidify the knowledge of measurement, monitoring and verification of CO2 storage in depleted oil reservoirs. It also aims to demonstrate that CO2 can be stored safely, minimizing the possibility of leakage.
The IEA’s Greenhouse Gas Weyburn-Midale CO2 Monitoring and Storage Project is taking place in conjunction with a fully integrated carbon capture and storage operation.
The CO2 is provided by the Dakota Gasification Company’s coal gasification facility in Beulah, North Dakota, and is pipelined 320km to Cenovus Energy’s Weyburn and Apache Canada’s Midale oil fields in southeastern Saskatchewan.
Created by the Government of Canada, the Government of Saskatchewan, Cenovus (formerly Pan Canadian Petroleum and later EnCana) and the Petroleum Technology Research Centre (PTRC) in Regina, this project is the world’s first monitoring site for geological storage of CO2.
The final phase of the project is expected to be completed in 2011 and will conclude the creation of a best practices manual to guide all aspects of CO2 geological storage projects in depleted oil fields worldwide.
