DOE Completes Large-Scale Carbon Sequestration Project Awards

November 24, 2008 // Published as a news service by IHS

Led by Montana State University-Bozeman, the partnership will conduct a large-volume test in the Nugget Sandstone formation to demonstrate the ability of a geologic formation to safely, permanently and economically store more than two million tons of carbon dioxide (CO2).

Subject to annual appropriations from Congress, the project is estimated to cost $130.6 million, including the partnership's cost share.

Successful storage of CO2 will help the U.S. use its extensive domestic fossil fuel resources without contributing to global climate change, said DOE.

The Big Sky partnership's large-volume injection test will be located at the Riley Ridge Unit on the LaBarge Platform in southwest Wyoming.

The project will demonstrate the entire CO2 injection process - pre-injection characterization, injection process monitoring and post-injection monitoring - and provide the foundation for the future development of CO2 capture and storage opportunities in the region.

Big Sky plans to drill a CO2 injection well and then inject up to one million tons per year of CO2 into the Nugget Sandstone formation at a depth of approximately 11,000 feet. These eolian sandstone formations are present throughout the region and present the opportunity to store more than 100 years of CO2 emissions from point sources in the region. The CO2 for the project will be supplied by Cimarex Energy Company's planned helium and natural gas processing plant at Riley Ridge.

The award to Big Sky is the seventh award in the third phase of the Regional Carbon Sequestration Partnerships program. Six other large-scale field projects are currently being developed throughout the U.S. by the other regional partnerships. Phase III large-volume tests are designed to validate that the capture, transportation, injection and long-term storage of over one million tons of CO2 can be done safely, permanently and economically.

Source: U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Fossil Energy.