RIO DE JANEIRO, Sept 29 - Brazilian state oil company Petrobras plans to re-inject carbon dioxide in massive offshore oil fields to boost recovery and reduce emissions, a company official said on Tuesday.
Brazil plans to boost oil output by nearly 50 percent in 10 years by tapping the vast subsalt reserves, but wants to avoid increases in carbon dioxide emissions amid growing global concern about climate change.
"In the case of CO2 in the subsalt, it will be separated from the natural gas and re-injected," said Solange Guedes of Petrobras' Exploration and Production division.
"It is a method that can greatly increase production, meaning that CO2 is not a problem, it's a solution."
Guedes said the company is already testing reinjection operations by taking CO2 from a factory in state of Bahia and injecting it into an onshore field in the area.
The oil industry has for decades used CO2 reinjection as a way to boost the amount of oil it can recover in fields, though the process has mostly been used in fields with declining output that have been in production for years.
Norway's StatoilHydro (STL.OL) has been burying CO2 separated from the natural gas stream at its Sleipner field in the North Sea for more than a decade, allowing it to avoid government fines for carbon dioxide emissions.
StatoilHydro and Shell (RDSa.L) in 2007 dropped plans to use CO2 from a gas-fired power plant in Norway for injection into Shell's offshore Draugen field, arguing the project did not make economic sense.
Brazil plans to boost oil output by nearly 50 percent in 10 years by tapping the vast subsalt reserves, but wants to avoid increases in carbon dioxide emissions amid growing global concern about climate change.
"In the case of CO2 in the subsalt, it will be separated from the natural gas and re-injected," said Solange Guedes of Petrobras' Exploration and Production division.
"It is a method that can greatly increase production, meaning that CO2 is not a problem, it's a solution."
Guedes said the company is already testing reinjection operations by taking CO2 from a factory in state of Bahia and injecting it into an onshore field in the area.
The oil industry has for decades used CO2 reinjection as a way to boost the amount of oil it can recover in fields, though the process has mostly been used in fields with declining output that have been in production for years.
Norway's StatoilHydro (STL.OL) has been burying CO2 separated from the natural gas stream at its Sleipner field in the North Sea for more than a decade, allowing it to avoid government fines for carbon dioxide emissions.
StatoilHydro and Shell (RDSa.L) in 2007 dropped plans to use CO2 from a gas-fired power plant in Norway for injection into Shell's offshore Draugen field, arguing the project did not make economic sense.
