Rise! Oil enterprises become the "main force" of CCUS project construction

On February 25, PetroChina CCUS (Carbon Dioxide Capture, Utilization and Storage) Work Promotion Meeting was held
in Beijing.
The meeting pointed out that PetroChina will organize and promote the construction of 3 million tons of CCUS large-scale application demonstration projects, strengthen the layout of CCUS industry, accelerate the large-scale application of CCUS, and promote the green and low-carbon development of
oil and gas business.

Previously, the Xinjiang CCUS Center, led by PetroChina, had become one of the first five CCUS industry promotion centers deployed by the
Oil and Gas Industry Climate Initiative (OGCI) globally.
The relevant person in charge of PetroChina said that in 2021, PetroChina CCUS injected nearly 600,000 tons of stored carbon dioxide, and is currently accelerating the improvement of the 3 million tons of CCUS scheme demonstration and construction implementation in
the Songliao Basin.

In addition to PetroChina, Sinopec and CNOOC are also actively laying out CCUS projects
.
On January 29, China's first million-ton CCUS project, Qilu Petrochemical-Shengli Oilfield CCUS Project, was completed.
On December 27, 2021, Sinopec East Petroleum Bureau Liquid Carbon Company's coal-to-hydrogen tailgas capture project in Nanhua Company was officially put into operation, marking the official completion of the first 200,000-ton CCUS demonstration project in the Yangtze River Delta region; In May last year, CNOOC and China Huaneng Group reached a cooperation on CCUS cutting-edge technology and other fields

In the past two years, in order to improve energy utilization and realize the large-scale low-carbon utilization of fossil energy, CCUS has become an important breakthrough in the green and low-carbon transformation of the petroleum industry, and oil companies such as PetroChina and Sinopec have strengthened the layout of CCUS, and petroleum companies have become the "main force"
of CCUS technology exploration projects 。 According to the "China Carbon Dioxide Capture, Utilization and Storage (CCUS) Annual Report (2021)" issued by the Environmental Planning Institute of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, by the end of 2020, there are about 40 CCUS demonstration projects in operation or under construction in China, mainly focusing on small-scale oil capture and oil flooding demonstrations in the petroleum, coal chemical and power industries, focusing on the development of carbon dioxide enhanced oil recovery (CO2-EOR) projects
.

Su Chunmei, director of the New Energy Division of PetroChina Petroleum Exploration and Production Corporation, said that oil companies carry out CCUS demonstration projects, which inject carbon dioxide capture and purification into the ground for oil field flooding
, which can improve crude oil recovery.
Some insiders pointed out: "At present, most of the newly discovered oilfields in China are low-permeability oil reservoirs, which are difficult to develop, and the oilfields 'cannot inject water and cannot produce oil' in the fine rocks.
"
The special properties of carbon dioxide are just suitable for the development of low-permeability reservoirs, which can turn hard-to-use reserves into high-quality reserves and improve oilfield recovery by 10% to 20%.

”

At the same time, the CCUS project can also help oil companies directly reduce carbon dioxide emissions
.
According to the assessment of major national basic research and other projects, at present, there are about 13 billion tons of crude oil geological reserves in China that are suitable for carbon dioxide oil flooding, and can store about 4.
7 billion tons to 5.
5 billion tons of carbon dioxide
.
Taking the Qilu Petrochemical-Shengli Oilfield million-ton CCUS project as an example, some experts expect that in the next 15 years, the project can inject a total of 10.
68 million tons of carbon dioxide.

However, at present, CCUS is still an emerging industry and is still in the research and development and demonstration stage
.
Li Yongliang, deputy director of the Industrial Development Department of the China Petroleum and Chemical Industry Federation, said that at present, CCUS still has room
for improvement in the identification and attribution of carbon dioxide emission reductions and business model innovation.

Under the existing technical conditions, CCUS will add an additional 140 yuan / ton -600 yuan / ton of carbon dioxide emission reduction operating costs, the investment is high, and the current cost sharing rules between different industries are not clear
.
Some insiders suggest that the industrial links in the CCUS industry chain need to further sort out and clarify the responsibilities, rights and obligations of emission reduction, and the sharing mechanism of CCUS cost sharing and emission reduction benefits needs government guidance and market regulation
.

In this regard, Su Chunmei suggested that in the future, the state should increase its support for the work of CCUS, recommend the introduction of fiscal and taxation support policies, further promote the sustainable development of CCUS business, and introduce assessment and incentive policies for buried carbon dioxide to further mobilize the enthusiasm
of buried enterprises.

With the large-scale application of CCUS projects, the cost issue will be further improved
in the future.
Lin Boqiang, dean of the China Energy Policy Research Institute at Xiamen University, expects that there will be great progress in CCUS technology in the future, and by 2045-2050, the cost of CCUS emission reduction can be greatly reduced
.