Elk Petroleum (ASX: ELK) has been advised by operator Denbury Resources (NYSE:DNR) that the injection of carbon dioxide into the Grieve Enhanced Oil Recovery Project in Wyoming will begin this week.
The new pipeline and metering system that will transfer CO2 to the Grieve field was charged with nitrogen last week as a pre-cursor to the introduction of CO2 to the system this week.
Protocols for the custody transfer of the CO2 from ExxonMobil (NYSE: XOM) to Anadarko Petroleum (NYSE: APC)to Denbury for Grieve are being established and once in place this week, will register CO2 flowing to Grieve injection wells.
Grieve EOR project
Denbury will inject about 40 million cubic feet per day (MMcfd) of CO2 to re-pressure the reservoir to a level above the minimum miscible pressure (MMP), at which point the CO2 interacts with and mobilises the oil remaining in the reservoir.
The operator will also acquire 3D seismic over the field in mid-2013 to assist in optimising the future development and reservoir management of the EOR project and may use 4D seismic (repeat 3D surveys over time) to track the accumulation and movement of CO2 as it makes contact with the oil in the target Muddy reservoir.
The Grieve Oil Field was discovered in 1954 by Forest Oil and has produced 30.2 million barrels of oil with the peak rate of 12,000 barrels of oil per day achieved in 1960.
Elk has a 35% working interest in the Grieve EOR project while Denbury holds the remaining 65%.
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