CO/sub 2//EOR: from source to resource

ARCO Oil and Gas Co. has completed the development of a naturally occurring source of CO/sub 2/ from the Sheep Mountain unit in Huerfano County, Colo. This project is the culmination of over 10 years of engineering effort. It includes the development of new technology for CO/sub 2/ handling in the source field and for processing high CO/sub 2/-content gases from enhanced oil recovery (EOR) projects. Producing facilities at Sheep Mountain are operational. A 408-mile pipeline has been constructed to deliver 300 MMscfd of CO/sub 2/ to west Texas oil fields. One of the reservoirs scheduled to receive CO/sub 2/ is the Willard unit in the Wasson field which is operated by ARCO Oil and Gas Co. Definitive engineering has been completed on the facilities required to inject CO/sub 2/ and to process the CO/sub 2/ produced from this reservoir. Early development studies pointed up many areas where little or no CO/sub 2/ data were available. A significant amount of time and money was spent filling these gaps. The project was delayed several times due to the uncertainties of government regulations on product pricing/taxation which have plagued the industry for many years. While the startup of Sheep Mountain and severalmore » large injection projects may be viewed as the end of a large project, it is really only the beginning for enhanced oil recovery and the gas processing problems associated with this technology.« less