EOR ETC Bakken Pilot Successfully Demonstrates Low-Pressure Methane Injection and Storage
EOR ETC, LLC has just completed a successful pilot in the Bakken Field with Liberty Resources and the University of North Dakota Energy & Environmental Research Center (EERC). Gas injection is critical for CCUS, and the pilot successfully demonstrated the EOR ETC novel technology that enables gas injection at low surface pressures. EOR ETC has developed a patent-pending gas injection system, which injects a combined stream of natural gas and water. The weight of the co-injected water boosts downhole pressures while keeping surface pressures in the normal range for oil field production (150–1300 psig). The pilot began September 2021, injecting a total of 46 MMscf of gas into a producing formation over a 30-day period and a total of 30,000 barrels of water.
Brian Schwanitz, President and cofounder of EOR ETC, says, “we are very pleased to have demonstrated our new low-pressure low-cost gas injection process for Liberty Resources and are thankful to the EERC for making this possible. There is a critical need to reduce flaring and emissions in oil and gas operations, and we believe we have found a technology that enables low-pressure and low-cost gas injection.” Schwanitz continues, “CCUS, as a service, is not something we have seen in the industry, instead CCUS projects that involve gas injection have been burdened with long project times, high surface pressures, and the issues associated with installing and operating high-pressure compression, and not much gas can be injected even into depleted wells at low pressure. Our modular system can be deployed in a nimble fashion to address plant upsets/turnarounds and flaring.”
John Hamling, Director of Subsurface Initiatives at the EERC, said, “We saw the potential of the EOR ETC technology to reduce surface pressure for gas injection as an alternative to flaring. This pilot demonstrated a new technology for CCUS, which may have broad application in the Bakken as well as other basins where flaring is a continuing issue. The pilot project consisted of a roughly 30-day injection cycle, with gas injection at significant rates of 3 MMscf/day into a partially depleted well.
Adrian Williams, Vice President of Operations for EOR ETC, says, “injecting gas normally requires high surface pressures and lots of compressors with associated emissions. Our technology uses the weight of the liquid to do the compression in the wellbore in a process that is much less energy-intensive; it takes much less power to pump water than compress gas. The clever part is how we combine the gas and liquid flow paths during injection. If you mix the flow, the gas and liquid separate and you can’t generate the pressure needed to achieve injection. EOR ETC utilizes our RSSS (Rapid Switching Stack Slug) technology to enable high-gas volume injection at low surface pressure. Total gas injected was over 50% of the injected fluid at reservoir conditions at the end of this pilot.”
Beth Kurz, Director of Analytical Solutions at the EERC, said, “we are excited about the possibility of low-pressure injection for CCUS. This pilot has demonstrated injection of produced gas back into a producing formation to help maintain reservoir pressure and increase oil production. In addition, this same technology can reduce the costs needed to compress and inject produced gas into subsurface geologic formations for temporary storage as an alternative to flaring. The CCUS scope of the pilot is funded through our Underground Storage of Produced Natural Gas Program, which is funded by the North Dakota Industrial Commission and supported by industry partners.”
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EOR ETC LLC is headquartered in Houston, Texas, and was founded in 2019 by Dr. Stuart L Scott, Brian Schwanitz and Charles Zimmermann as a spin-off company from Petroleum ETC. https://www.eoretc.com
Contact: Brian Schwanitz – brian@eoretc.com
Liberty Resources II, LLC (DBA Liberty Resources LLC) is a Denver-based oil and gas company focused on acquiring acreage in emerging oil and gas resource plays and generating superior production results based on applying its completions expertise to maximize production and economic recovery. Liberty Resources II, LLC is a private oil and gas company founded in 2013 as a pure-play Bakken producer. https://libertyresourcesllc.com
The Energy & Environmental Research Center (EERC) is recognized as one of the world's leading developers of cleaner, more efficient energy to power the world and environmental technologies to protect and clean our air, water, and soil. https://undeerc.org
Contact: Nikki Massmann – nmassmann@undeerc.org
The Bakken Production Optimization Program (BPOP) is working to improve Bakken system oil recovery and reduce its environmental footprint. The program has demonstrated increased well productivity and the economic output of North Dakota’s oil and gas resources, decreased environmental impacts of wellsite operations, and reduced demand for infrastructure construction and maintenance. BPOP is led by the EERC and funded by program partners and the North Dakota Industrial Commission. https://undeerc.org/bakken/optimization/
HASH TAGS: #Flaring #GasInjection #CCS #FERR #EORETC #EagleFord #EOR #Bakken #Delaware #Wolfcamp #Methane #Emissions #CCUS #EERC #Sequestration
