Applications of carbon dioxide in enhanced oil recovery

Abstract Carbon dioxide has been injected into oil reservoirs for the purpose of recovery of additional oil for the past two decades. The injection of carbon dioxide into the subsurface, combining increased hydrocarbon recovery with the removal of carbon dioxide from the environment, might then seem to be an obvious answer to the carbon dioxide disposal problem. In examining the use of carbon dioxide for oil recovery, it becomes obvious that this is too simplistic a view. In this paper, the applications of carbon dioxide in oil recovery are reviewed. The extent of the industry effort is discussed, and the current level of effort described. The limitations, both technical and economic, of the method, and the implications of petroleum industry research for the problem of carbon dioxide removal from the environment are discussed.