When a field has already been waterflooded, a tertiary CO2 flood will normally provide incremental recovery of 8% to 16% of the original oil in place. When CO2 is used instead of waterflood for secondary recovery, the field can produce up to 40% of the original oil in place. Kinder Morgan CO2 has the technical know-how and experience to help determine flood performance in advance - and to help make sure you achieve the predicted results.

The first CO2 flood took place in 1972 in Scurry County,  Texas. Since then, floods have been used successfully throughout the Permian Basin, as well as in Louisiana, Mississippi, Wyoming, Oklahoma, Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, Montana, Alaska and Pennsylvania. Outside the U.S., CO2 floods have been implemented in Canada, Hungary, Turkey and Trinidad.

Today half of the CO2 floods around the world are located in the Permian Basin. These 40 or so floods use more than 1 BCF of CO2 per day and produce more than 20% of the area's total oil production - more than 140,000 barrels of oil each day. Recent studies report that more than 50 potentially economical CO2-floodable reservoirs still remain in the Permian Basin, representing incremental oil reserves of 500 million to 1 billion barrels.

When CO2 is injected into a reservoir above its minimum miscibility pressure (a miscible flood), the gas acts as a solvent. The CO2 picks up lighter hydrocarbon components, swelling the total volume of oil and reducing the oil's viscosity so that it flows more easily.

Because gas can move through a reservoir more easily than oil, there is always a danger that the CO2 will find a "quick-exit" and break through, leaving oil behind. To prevent this, waterflooding is often alternated with CO2 flooding in a WAG (water alternating gas) scheme. Water moves through the reservoir more slowly than either oil or CO2, so it creates a cheap and effective barrier to gas breakthrough and helps maintain a stable front for the CO2 flood.

The rule is this: Oil production is proportional to the amount of CO2 you inject-but you can waste CO2 if the flood isn't carefully designed. When you work with Kinder Morgan CO2 Company, you have the recognized industry leader working to make sure your flood is designed to be as efficient and profitable as possible.

Flood costs have dropped dramatically since the 1980s, from more than $1 million per pattern, to less than half of that. CO2 prices have also fallen by 40%. Of course, flood costs vary depending on field size, pattern spacing, location and existing facilities, but in general, total operating expenses (exclusive of CO2 cost) range from $2 to $3/bbl, or about 10% more than waterflood operating expenses. It takes about 6 to15 MCF of CO2 to produce a barrel of oil. Once a flood is underway, produced CO2 is captured and recycled, reducing the need for purchased gas.

In many cases, CO2 flooding can yield profits in excess of $7/bbl, based on oil at $18/bbl. Kinder Morgan CO2  resources can often turn a marginal project into a highly profitable venture.

For more information on Kinder Morgan CO2's financing alternatives, click here

Yes. Experience has helped trim costs from the old days to make CO2 floods practical for independent operators. Changes include:

• Less expensive equipment. Experience shows that the same equipment used for waterflooding can generally be used for CO2 flooding.

• Lower CO2 costs and cheaper transportation. The cost for delivered CO2 costs has dropped approximately 40% since the 1980s.

• Better screening to reduce risks. Kinder Morgan CO2 Company, L.P. has developed proven tools to help you select your best CO2 flood candidates.

• Better flood design. Our technology helps you get the most production from the least CO2, while preventing breakthrough and other reservoir problems.

• Creative financing options. Kinder Morgan CO2  is a leader in developing custom financing options that can help reduce your risk, speed payout and improve your return on investment.

• To be an effective solvent, CO2 must flow through the reservoir above its minimum miscibility pressure (MMP). This means that the reservoir generally should be greater than 2,500 ft. deep.

• CO2 is most effective with light crudes, those with oil gravities greater than 25° API.

• Because CO2 flows through the reservoir more easily than oil, it also does best in reservoirs with low heterogeneity. If some layers of the reservoir are far more porous than others, CO2 will flow there preferentially, rather than maintaining a uniform front and high sweep efficiency.

• Stratification, fracturing and adjacent loss zones (adjacent gas caps) can cause loss of CO2 and reduced oil recovery.

• The field should be in an area with an existing infrastructure of CO2 source fields and distribution pipelines described in the Supply and Transportation sections. New pipelines can be constructed wherever economically feasible.