Anadarko's Wyoming CO2pipeline construction approved, to start immediately
By OGJ editors
HOUSTON, Aug. 11-- The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has given final approval to Anadarko Petroleum Corp.'s wholly owned subsidiary, Howell Petroleum Corp., to begin construction on a 125-mile, 16-in., carbon dioxide (CO2) pipeline across central Wyoming.
The pipeline will enable Anadarko to deliver CO2 from the Shute Creek gas processing plant in southwest Wyoming to an enhanced oil recovery project at its Salt Creek field north of Casper, where the company will inject about 7,200 tonnes/day of CO2 to recover more than 150 million bbl of additional oil.
Injecting CO2 generated by industrial sources, such as power plants, fertilizer plants, or natural gas plants, into hydrocarbon reservoirs can both enhance oil and gas recovery and potentially earn producers credits for CO2 sequestration or gain some tax relief (OGJ, Mar. 3, 2003, p. 39).
The injections are expected to increase Salt Creek oil production over the next several years to a peak rate of 35,000 b/d from 5,300 b/d under the multiphase, continuous development program, Anadarko said.
Based on the results of a pilot injection program begun at the field in June, the company "expects to book additional proved reserves in the field prior to yearend," said Mark Pease, Anadarko vice-president, US onshore and offshore.
"We're extending the production life of a 100-year-old oil field and sequestering 24 million tonnes of CO2," Pease added. "This development and extension of the Salt Creek field is an important part of Anadarko's portfolio of projects, and it's good for the state of Wyoming."
Houston-based contractor Gregory & Cook Construction Inc. will begin construction of the pipeline within the next 2 weeks, and expects to complete it by January 2004. Right-of-way agreements with local landowners are in hand, and final surveys are underway.
Pipe is being shipped by rail to Casper, where it will be transported by truck to the pipeline right-of-way about 10 miles south of Jeffrey City, Wyo. The line will terminate on the Natrona and Johnson County line north of Midwest, Wyo.