EOR Extracts Maximum Crude Oil Thereby Leading Carbon Capture and Storage Market
The key factors driving the carbon capture and storage market include incentives, carbon taxes, cap-and-trade based emission trading, and direct funding of projects. Product-based incentives, emission standards, and feed-in tariffs can play a major role in the adoption of CCS at large CO2 emission sites. Carbon dioxide is typically generated in natural gas processing units or sold for subsequent use in enhanced oil recovery (EOR). In the latter, CO2 is forced into reservoirs to mix with oil, resulting in a mix that can easily be shifted to the production site. This is anticipated to continue for the forecast period as CO2 storage adds risk, complexity, reservoir discovery costs, and acceptability concerns that can be avoided through EOR. Typically, only a third of oil can be recovered after secondary recovery, making EOR a viable option for operators. EOR enables crude oil extraction from an oilfield that cannot be extracted through primary or secondary recovery. This makes EOR likely to lead the carbon capture and storage market until the year 2025.