Economic modeling of carbon dioxide integrated pipeline network for enhanced oil recovery and geologic sequestration in the Texas Gulf Coast region

Naturally occurring CO2 is transported via pipelines to oil fields in West Texas to enhance production. A similar pipeline system is proposed for the Gulf Coast region of Texas. The CO2 would come from anthropogenic sources. Using GIS data, oil fields and CO2 sources are selected and a pipeline route is designed, taking into consideration rights of way and environmental sensitivities. We modified several pipeline cost models from the literature to capture recent construction cost escalations. Our resulting cost estimates agree with mid-to-high range cost quotes for pipelines reported to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission by the companies.Bureau of Economic Geolog

Economic analysis of an integrated anthropogenic carbon dioxide network for capture and enhanced oil recovery along the Texas Gulf Coast

This paper explains the system economics of an example integrated network that uses anthropogenic CO2 from Texas Gulf Coast fossil power plants for enhanced oil recovery (EOR). These CO2 sources and sinks are connected via a pipeline network. A discounted cash flow model indicates that for all candidate oil fields that require less than an estimated $10/BBL in EOR capital expenditure, all three entities (CO2 capture, pipelines, and EOR operators) can have 20$55 per tonne of CO2 and $56 per barrel of oil. These results include no existing or future tax incentives, and there are some costs not yet included. However, a Monte Carlo analysis shows insight by indicating that the total system rate of return is most sensitive to oil production parameters. Oil price and estimated amount of recoverable oil are the most positively influential factors while the EOR capital cost is the most negatively sensitive factor. The capital costs of capture and CO2 price are less sensitive, both negatively affecting rate of return.Bureau of Economic Geolog

National and Sub-national Policies and Institutions

Since the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Fourth Assessment Report (AR4), there has been a marked increase in national policies and legislation on climate change, however, these policies, taken together, have not yet achieved a substantial deviation in emissions from the past trend. Many baseline scenarios (those without additional policies to reduce emissions) show GHG concentrations that exceed 1000 ppm CO2eq by 2100, which is far from a concentration with a likely probability of maintaining temperature increases below 2 °C this century. Mitigation scenarios suggest that a wide range of environmentally effective policies could be enacted that would be consistent with such goals. This chapter assesses national and subnational policies and institutions to mitigate climate change in this context. It assesses the strengths and weaknesses of various mitigation policy instruments and policy packages and how they may interact either positively or negatively. Sector-specific policies are assessed in greater detail in the individual sector chapters (7–12)