A Review of Early Opportunity-Analysis on CO 2 Sequestration and Enhanced Oil Recovery for Iran

In recent years, greenhouse gases (GHGs) such as carbon dioxide have increased in the atmosphere and caused some concerns about climate change. The table published by International Energy Agency shows that from 1990 to 2007, Iran after China has had the highest rate of increase in carbon dioxide emission. In 1990, Iran produced a total of 175 million tons of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere while in 2007 this rate has reached to 466 million tons. Geological sequestration is one way to reduce the CO 2 content in the atmosphere. There are several options for sequestrating CO 2 in geological sinks. Mature oilfields are one of the most favorable targets for the CO 2 sequestration. Injecting CO 2 into these reservoirs can increase the amount of oil produced in addition to offsetting some of the CO 2 storage expenses. Most of the CO 2 injection aspects into the reservoirs for the purpose of Enhanced Oil Recovery have been known for decades. The economics and incentives for combined EOR and sequestration process are less clear at this time, but a first step in the development process should be to do studies in order to investigate ways for both producing oil efficiently and maximizing storage of the carbon dioxide. This study looks at such scenarios that reduce the CO 2 emissions using the existing oil reservoirs as sink. The goal of this research is to better understand the potential for simultaneous enhanced oil recovery and CO 2 sequestration in oil reservoirs over a range of conditions. Key words : CO 2 sequestration; Enhanced Oil Recovery; Iran