Austrian firm pumps $750,000 into project
Bruce Johnstone
Leader-Post
Thursday, October 04, 2007
One of Europe's largest oil and gas companies is now a sponsor of one of the world's largest carbon dioxide storage research projects.
OMV Aktiengesellschaft of Austria is contributing $750,000 towards the Weyburn-Midale CO2 monitoring and storage project, which is being managed by the Petroleum Technology Research Centre (PTRC) in Regina.
The eight-year, $80-million research project is studying the long-term geological storage of man-made CO2 at two large-scale EOR (enhanced oil recovery) projects in southeastern Saskatchewan operated by EnCana Corp. and Apache Canada.
Carolyn Preston, executive director of the PTRC, said OMV is providing $300,000 to cover its share of the first phase of the project and $150,000 a year for three years on the second phase.
OMV Aktiengesellschaft (or OMV Austria Exploration and Production GmbH) is the largest oil and gas company in Central Europe and the largest industrial company in Austria, with 41,000 employees.
OMV is active in 13 countries in refining and marketing oil and gas, as well as exploration and production in 19 countries on five continents. OMV sells more than 14 billion cubic metres (bcm) of gas per year and transports 47 bcm of gas per year, making OMV's Central European Gas Hub one of the three largest gas hubs in Europe.
OMV will be joining other corporate sponsors, including EnCana Corp., Apache Canada Ltd., Aramco Services Company of Saudi Arabia, ChevronTexaco Energy Research and Technology, Research Institute of Innovative Technology for the Earth (RITE) of Japan, SaskPower and Schlumberger.
Government sponsors include Natural Resources Canada, U.S. Department of Energy, Saskatchewan Industry and Resources and Alberta Energy Research Institute. The research project is also endorsed by the International Energy Agency's greenhouse gas R&D program.
Preston said OMV is interested to learn more about carbon storage in EOR projects. "They want to be sure CO2 sequestration is an applicable option for reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions."
She said the final phase of the research project will develop a "best practices'' manual that will help guide future CO2 storage projects.
"Ninety per cent of the budget for the final phase is involved in building a best-practices manual which is narrowing in on the technologies we started developing in the first phase,'' Preston said.
"From the site selection to the operation to the (well) abandonment and post-abandonment, what tools do you need to ensure the CO2 is staying where you think it's going to stay and to reassure the public there isn't going to be a problem with leakage anytime in the future.''
Preston said the first phase proved that CO2 can be stored safely in geological formations for up to 5,000 years without escaping into the atmosphere or leaching into groundwater supplies. The final phase will examine the long-term impact of CO2 exposure on man-made structures, like oilwells.
"That's a big focus of the study, to try and figure out what happens to (drilling) muds and cements when they're exposed to CO2 and water, which is an acidic environment.''
Preston said the research suggests that drilling muds and cements will stand up well to long-term exposure to CO2. "We have a lot of confidence we can do this, but we have to prove it.''
© The Leader-Post (Regina) 2007
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