A changing industry – another boom and bust? This answer is very mixed. Before the drop in oil prices, there was certainly a boom within the greater hydrocarbon industry. Carbon dioxide (CO2) fracs are still few and far between in some markets, such as West Texas, and a sheer lack in Canada due to greenhouse gas regulations, but on the other hand there are some regions such as the Bakken Field in North Dakota which is said to be consuming CO2.
Enhanced oil recovery (EOR) is the greater consumer and method of recycling and sequestering CO2 available in many cases – and there are numerous successful EOR projects operating in North America.
As for the long-term, oil prices are expected to increase and stabilise, with this technology continuing to represent a growing demand for CO2 product. Such product is sourced from regions as the US Mississippi Jackson Dome, and the Bravo Dome, which also supply the merchant sector. Most North American EOR projects are derived from natural sources; however, some sourcing is from gas processing facilities such as the ExxonMobil La Barge source in Wyoming, and the Dakota Gasification facility serving the Saskatchewan oil fields.
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