Bakken CO2 EOR Pilot
Innovating Carbon Storage and Oil Recovery
The Bakken CO2 EOR and Storage Field Laboratory, in McKenzie County, North Dakota, is a partnership between the EERC and Chord Energy Corporation. This project explores injecting CO2 into the Bakken Formation to increase oil recovery while storing CO2 underground, helping reduce carbon emissions from oil production.
Taking Research to the Field
Over 18 months, the Bakken CO2 EOR and Storage Field Laboratory will conduct comprehensive laboratory, modeling, and field activities focused on CO2 injections into hydraulically fractured horizontal wells in the Bakken Formation. The primary goal is to assess the potential for CO2-enhanced oil recovery (EOR) while storing CO2 underground, thus reducing the carbon intensity of oil production. This phase involves multiple CO2 injection trials, advanced monitoring systems, reservoir characterization, and geologic modeling to gather critical data on the effectiveness and feasibility of these techniques.
The project is expected to generate valuable insights into the behavior of the Bakken reservoir under CO2 injection, supporting future life cycle analyses (LCA) and evaluating the scalability of CO2-EOR and storage methods for unconventional oil reservoirs across the United States. By demonstrating significant incremental oil recovery and environmental benefits, the field testing efforts aim to equip stakeholders with scientifically validated data and insights to advance CO2-EOR and storage technologies in an environmentally responsible manner, addressing national energy needs while reducing CO2 emissions.
Laboratory Analysis and Collaboration
Samples of rocks and fluids from the Bakken Formation will be analyzed to understand the mechanisms controlling CO2 EOR and storage. These samples will also be provided to the U.S. Department of Energy's National Energy Technology Laboratory Research & Innovation Center. Geologic modeling and numerical simulations will support the design, permitting, and execution of field tests while monitoring the effects of CO2 injection on the reservoir. Data collected will support future life cycle analysis for CO2 EOR and storage in the Bakken Formation.
Successful completion of this project will offer new data and scientifically validated insights, supporting the potential for CO2 EOR and storage in unconventional oil reservoirs across the United States.
Benefiting Local Communities
The field laboratory project will also examine the societal impacts and benefits of CO2 EOR and storage for surrounding communities, including rural areas, disadvantaged communities, and tribal nations, with a focus on the Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara (MHA) Nation on the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation (FBIR).
The project will provide the MHA Nation with technical knowledge to ensure that FBIR petroleum resources are produced in an environmentally aware manner that respects cultural values.
Promoting Energy Justice and STEM Education
The project aims to increase collaboration with minority-, women-, and veteran-owned businesses; provide diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility training to all project partners; and encourage science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) career exploration for underrepresented communities.
