INVESTIGATING THE INTEGRATION OF CARBON CAPTURE AND STORAGE IN OIL FIELDS AS A MEANS TO REDUCE EMISSIONS WHILE ENHANCING OIL RECOVERY.

The oil and gas sector is under the pressure to maintain production and lowering greenhouse gas emissions especially carbon dioxide (CO2). When used together with Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR), the Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) is a viable avenue to the realization of both goals. This paper researched the technical potential of CCS-EOR in the Niger Delta of Nigeria where most of the fields are old and are in their decline phase. Three production scenarios were modeled in ECLIPSE 300 by modeling using a compositional reservoir model, natural depletion, CO2 EOR and CCS EOR over a period of 10 years. Findings revealed that natural depletion had approximately 10% recovery of the initial oil in place (OOIP), whereas CO2 EOR had a recovery of 16.7% OOIP incremental of 8 million barrels of oil. The CCS-EOR case was associated with 15.8% OOIP, where about 7 million barrels of incremental oil and permanent sequestration of some 3.4 million tonnes of CO2. These results are in line with those of other countries and show an increase in recovery and significant carbon storage. The results indicate that the geology of the Niger Delta is appropriate to CCS-EOR, with the obstacles of high costs of capital, poor infrastructure, and regulatory loopholes. The research finds that CCS-EOR has the potential to assist with the energy transformation in Nigeria by providing them with longer field life, decreasing the effects of flaring, and participating in climate targets, on the condition of robust policy backing, pilot tests, and infrastructure investment.