The reporter learned that the CCUS-EOR pilot project in the Niujuan Lake East District of Tuha Oilfield successfully resumed carbon dioxide injection after completing the first round of gas-water alternation, with a daily carbon injection of more than 160 tons and stable injection pressure, achieving the expected goals of the program, marking a key step for the oilfield in the development of CCUS-EOR technology.
The Santanghu Oilfield is an old oil reservoir in the Tuha Oilfield. It has been developed for 20 years, and the effect of water injection development has gradually deteriorated. The injection of carbon dioxide into the oil reservoir this time aims to use carbon dioxide to drive crude oil production, further improve the recovery rate of the oil reservoir, and revitalize the old oil reservoir. The project was launched in March 2023. As of now, a total of nearly 70,000 tons of carbon have been injected, which is equivalent to planting 1 million trees, and the carbon neutrality of the Santanghu Oilfield has been achieved ahead of schedule. In August 2024, the carbon dioxide circulation injection station was completed and put into operation with high standards, successfully realizing the circulation injection of produced gas, achieving the goal of near-zero emissions, and promoting the resource utilization of carbon dioxide. The project innovatively realizes the carbon cycle and technical coupling of underground oilfield development and ground coal chemical business, opening up a new path for green development of the coal chemical industry in Hami area.
After more than three years of research and field tests, researchers at Tuha Oilfield have developed a series of Tuha-specific medium-viscosity oil carbon dioxide near-miscible flooding technologies, further expanding the scope of application of CCUS technology. This also verifies that carbon dioxide can be efficiently integrated into crude oil, play a swelling and energy-enhancing role, significantly reduce crude oil viscosity, make crude oil more fluid, and flow more and faster to the wellhead, thereby greatly improving reservoir recovery. After completing the mission of driving crude oil production, the carbon dioxide injected into the reservoir will be buried underground on a large scale, achieving a win-win situation of oil recovery and carbon emission reduction.
In the next step, Tuha Oilfield will continue to increase its technological innovation and industrial collaboration, seize the "golden window period" of rapid development of CCUS/CCS industry, coordinate the coal chemical business around the oilfield to enrich carbon sources, make technical preparations in advance for the arrival of the era of large-scale application, and create a new model of carbon injection and oil recovery and charging for carbon burial. Based on the pilot test of Santanghu Oilfield, Tuha Oilfield will continue to deepen CCUS technology research and application, gradually expand the scale of the project, contribute more to the realization of the "dual carbon" goal, and provide reference experience for the green and low-carbon development of my country's oil and gas industry.