A wide range of industries are investigating methods of reducing their emissions of greenhouse
gases, such as carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), and nitrous oxide (N2O). Several options
have been identified ranging from energy efficiency and reforestation to capture and storage in
oceans, aquifers, or underground. Although greenhouse gases are not yet regulated, the power
generation and petroleum industries are already considering greenhouse gas capture and storage
methods to reduce their emissions to the atmosphere. Preferred options are the ones utilizing
CO2 as a product and therefore providing an additional economic benefit to the oil and gas
production process. Currently, CO2 is widely used for enhanced oil recovery (EOR) projects to
extract more oil out of aging reservoirs. Thus, storage of CO2 in active reservoirs does not require
technology advances and offers the advantage of reducing greenhouse gas emissions to the
atmosphere. The present research conducted a life cycle assessment to determine the benefits
derived from storing CO2 in active reservoirs while enhancing the extraction of oil and the impacts
on the environment over the process lifetime. The potential for CO2 storage in a specific oil
reservoir in Texas was demonstrated, as well as the mass balance of greenhouse gas emissions
generated from the energy-intensive process. Our findings suggest that the storage capacity of
this reservoir is huge, the process emissions are minimal in comparison, and the EOR activity is
almost carbon-neutral when comparing net storage potential and gasoline emissions from the
additional oil extracted.