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ExxonMobil reduces emissions in Wyoming, sends more CO2 for oil production
By JEFF GEARINO - Southwest Wyoming bureau trib.com | Posted: Thursday, December 16, 2010 2:00 am | (2) Comments

ExxonMobil has completed expansion of what it calls the world?s largest carbon dioxide capture facilities at its Shute Creek gas processing plant in southwest Wyoming. The carbon dioxide for this project is captured from produced natural gas streams and is sold to other companies for enhanced oil recovery. (Courtesy/ExxonMobil) .
..GREEN RIVER -- ExxonMobil contractors have completed an $86 million expansion of the company's carbon dioxide capture plant near LaBarge in southwest Wyoming.

The expanded plant -- located within the company's Shute Creek natural gas processing facility -- is expected to make an additional 100 million cubic feet per day of CO2 available for Wyoming's enhanced oil recovery market.

CO2 can be injected into aging oil fields to sweep out volumes that were unrecoverable through primary or conventional production methods.

The ExxonMobil plant expansion aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and enhance oil production in the U.S., said Randy Broiles, vice president, Americas, ExxonMobil Production Co.

"This expansion will result in lower greenhouse gas emissions and help maximize the recovery of Wyoming's oil resources," Broiles said in a media release.

The Shute Creek plant in southern Lincoln County was constructed in the early 1980s. The plant receives natural gas from the LaBarge gas field in neighboring Sublette County.

The sour gas streams contain significant amounts of carbon dioxide and other components that are removed at the Shute Creek processing plant.

Broiles said the expansion project included the installation of compressors to capture 50 percent more CO2 for potential use in enhanced oil recovery and other industrial uses.

With the expansion, the plant has the capacity to capture about 365 million cubic feet per day of carbon dioxide from the gas streams -- or about the amount emitted by more than 1.5 million cars.

ExxonMobil media adviser David Eglinton said Wednesday the CO2 that is not captured and sold for use in enhanced oil recovery projects is stored by reinjection through the acid gas injection unit at Shute Creek.

"As a last option, the remainder is vented," Eglinton said in an e-mail from Houston.

He said the volume of CO2 that is vented at the Shute Creek facility each day is "determined by facility processing capacity and market constraints," but he did not provide an exact figure.

Wyoming Oil and Gas Conservation Commission Supervisor Tom Doll was not available for comment Wednesday afternoon.

CO2 emissions

The expansion brings to completion a high-profile case regarding the carbon dioxide that is vented at the Shute Creek facility.

In recent years, the Oil and Gas Conservation Commission has pushed ExxonMobil and other companies to divert CO2 emissions to pipelines for the oil industry.

In 2008, the commission -- which is charged with ensuring the state's resources are not wasted -- took a look at possibly modifying ExxonMobil's permit to vent CO2. The commission questioned ExxonMobil's efforts to market the CO2 and wondered how much of that gas could be commercially sold.

At the time, ExxonMobil was venting about 180 million cubic feet of CO2 per day at the plant. The company was selling another 225 million cubic feet per day to enhanced oil recovery operations in Colorado and Wyoming.

ExxonMobil officials contended that the vented CO2 was too dirty and at too low pressure to sell to enhanced oil recovery operators.

But in June 2008, ExxonMobil was ordered by the commission to curb carbon dioxide emissions at Shute Creek and redirect the greenhouse gas into pipelines for enhanced oil recovery.

The commission also passed a resolution requiring the company to submit progress reports to the commission detailing its progress in marketing much of the CO2 it vents.

Carbon research

Broiles said to date, ExxonMobil has invested more than $2.6 billion in Wyoming.

He said since 2005, the company has paid more than $237 million to the state in severance and property taxes.

In 2008, the company committed more than $100 million to research carbon capture and storage technologies that included plans to build a commercial demonstration plant at Shute Creek.

The new demonstration plant will advance the company's "controlled free zone" technology. It's described as a a single-step, cryogenic separation process that freezes out and then melts the carbon dioxide and removes other components, including hydrogen sulfide.

If successful, the process can reduce the cost of CO2 removal from produced natural gas, company officials said.

"ExxonMobil is a leader in the research, development and application of carbon capture technologies," Broiles said. "These technologies could play a significant role in the future management of greenhouse gas emissions worldwide."

Southwest Wyoming bureau reporter Jeff Gearino can be reached at 307-875-5359 or at [email protected].