With uncertain economic conditions looming worldwide and growing concerns surrounding impacts from Middle East conflict, further energy price increases and fuel insecurity could follow. One solution to these issues may be turning towards oil and gas reserves that have previously been untapped. IDTechEx‘s portfolio of Energy & Decarbonization Research Reports covers emerging technologies such as CO2 enhanced oil recovery and gas separation membranes to retrieve oil and gas from under-the-radar reserves.

 

Enhanced oil recovery

 

The majority of oil, around 70%, is leftover after primary and secondary methods of extraction are used, including natural reservoir energy and water injection. CO2 -enhanced oil recovery (EOR) is a tertiary oil extraction method which sees CO2 injected into a mature field to assist in the attainment of oil that may otherwise not have been extracted. The carbon dioxide is then permanently sequestered underground during this process. When paired with carbon capture, this is a form of carbon dioxide utilization. According to IDTechEx’s “Carbon Dioxide Utilization 2025-2045: Technologies, Market Forecasts, and Players” report, 40 million tonnes of captured carbon dioxide is currently used for EOR across the globe.

 

 

Carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) projects are only viable when paired with economic motivations for removing CO2. Enhanced oil recovery has been a leading example of this historically, especially in combination with natural gas processing. During natural gas processing, CO2 often must be separated out from methane in order to produce high quality natural gas. Instead of venting this CO2 back into the atmosphere, this waste carbon dioxide could instead be used profitably for EOR if the appropriate CO2 transportation pipeline infrastructure is in place.

 

 

CO2 -EOR business models can provide opportunities for the development of carbon capture technologies in regions with limited carbon markets, or with climate sceptical governments in a world currently facing natural resource uncertainty. Innovative carbon dioxide utilization applications, such as CO2-derived e-fuels, will also emerge.

 

 

Gas separation membranes

 

Returning to the separation of carbon dioxide and methane during natural gas processing, selection of the carbon capture technology itself has an important role to play in expanding natural gas production. Amine solvents are mature for natural gas processing and post-combustion capture, but are not free from limitations. In particular, the remote operations and space limitations of offshore natural gas processing will increasingly favour gas separation membrane technologies.

 

As the demand for natural gas increases globally, future applications for gas separation membrane materials with greater CO2/CH4 selectivity and good H2S separation ability may arise, in order to make use of gas reserves that were previously undeveloped. As new membrane materials are commercialized, other emerging applications for gas separation membranes focused on energy security will include biogas upgrading and hydrogen production.

 

IDTechEx’s research explores how the implementation of EOR and gas separation membrane technologies could feasibly allow for an expansion of resources worldwide, and help to maximize untouched benefits.