화학공학소재연구정보센터
Journal of Canadian Petroleum Technology, Vol.47, No.11, 34-38, 2008
Economic Analysis for Enhanced CO2 Injection and Sequestration Using Horizontal Wells
Carbon dioxide flooding has been recognized widely as one of the most effective enhanced oil recovery processes applicable, for light to medium oil reservoirs. Moreover, the injection of CO2 into an oil reservoir is a promising technology for reducing greenhouse emissions while increasing the ultimate recovery of oil. Numerical reservoir simulation is an important and inexpensive tool for designing EOR CO2 projects and predicting optimal operational parameters. In this work, reservoir simulations performed with a compositional simulator were applied to investigate the macroscopic mechanisms of a CO2 injection process. Horizontal injectors were used to increase injectivity. Compared to traditional vertical wells, horizontal wells are more attractive to improve CO2 flooding economics by increasing injection rate, improving areal sweep and increasing CO2 storage. The effects of several important parameters on the performance of the CO2 process were studied to optimize the process. Operational parameters such as different production schemes, the injector pressure and injection rate were investigated to determine the optimal operating conditions for simultaneous objectives of higher recovery and higher CO2 storage. The application of CO2 flooding using horizontal wells can shorten project life, which is critical to its economics. The simulation results served as the basic input parameters for the economic analysis performed. Furthermore, net present value (NPV) and profitability index results were used to optimize the profitability of the project and to compare the CO2 application using, vertical and horizontal wells. The analysis used actual design parameters, including equipment and operating costs. The evaluation emphasized the importance of reservoir characteristics, optimum design of operation parameters and economic factors in the economic feasibility of CO2 injection projects for enhanced oil recovery and sequestration.