Development of Supercritical CO2 Mineral Carbonation Technology for High CO2 Fields Development

Abstract

Development of ultra high CO2 field in Malaysia is the next frontier as far as contaminated green field development is concerned. Large hydrocarbon reserve is a major driver to mature technology to support the development of contaminated fields. However, managing the contaminant CO2 is still a major drawback as far as technology is concerned. Base case consideration for CO2 emission mitigation for offshore high CO2 gas fields had always been geological injection even though it deteriorates the overall field economics to a point which may prove to be prohibitive for some field development cases. An alternative method to mitigate CO2 would be the conversion of CO2 to higher value products which provides return in the form of additional revenue or profit. The monetory income from the conversion of CO2 can be utilized to either fully or partly offset the high cost of CO2 injection. This paper attempts to summarise the experience based on feasibility study, technical consideration and lesson learnt by PETRONAS to mitigate the CO2 emissions from the development of such high CO2 gas fields. The summary is done in the context of selecting the suitable CO2 mitigation technology, scale of conversion, maturing the technology and economic consideration as an integral part of the field development.