As of September 30, 2016, the Carbon Capture and Sequestration Technologies program at MIT has closed. The website is being kept online as a reference but will not be updated.

Williston Project Fact Sheet: Carbon Dioxide Capture and Storage Project

Company/Alliance: PCOR: Partners - University of North Dakota Energy and Environmental Research Center, Basin Electric Power Cooperative, Encore Energy

Location: Williston Basin, Western North Dakota, USA (Specific oil field not yet decided)

Start: 2014

Size: 450 MW: 1 Mt/yr CO2

CO2 Source: CO2 will be supplied from Basin Electric Power Cooperative Antelope Valley Station.

CO2 Fate: EOR at Oil field in Williston Basin, operated by Encore Acquisition Company.

Motivation/Economics:

Total project cost $101.2 million. DOE share $36.9 million (36%).

This project was one of those which was awarded the DOE Phase 3 funding. The primary objective of the Williston Basin project is to verify and validate the concept of utilizing the region's large number of oil fields for large-scale injection of anthropogenic CO2. Also to demonstrate cost-effective MMV technologies and protocols in a working oil production environment; and to provide field validation testing of sequestration technologies and infrastructure approaches which can lead to wide-scale deployment in the region.

Comments:

The project is designed to last over 4 years. Williston Basin is estimated to have 1 billion tons storage capacity. CO2 is to be transported via pipeline to the sequestration site that is anticipated to be approximately 150 miles away.

The storage target is the Carbonate Devonian Duperow Formation or the Mississippian Madison Group, which are located between 10,000 and 12,000 feet respectively. Working at these depths will provide information on the technical challenges of injecting at high pressure (4900psi) and temperature (250 °F). Capture will occur at the Basin Electric Power Cooperative’s Antelope Valley Station in North Dakota. The selection of an exact site for the Williston Basin Phase 3 demonstration has been delayed for an unknown reason.

Deliverables:

Site Characterization 2008-9

Injection and MMV operations 2010-2014

Post Injection MMV 2014-2017

Project Link: PCOR Williston Basin fact sheet [PDF]

Other Sources and Press Releases:
PCOR website
PCOR phase 3 project presentation [PDF] (October 2008)
PCOR project outline [PDF] (October 2007)
Basin oriented strategies for CO2 EOR in Williston Basin (February 2006)
Bureau of Economic Geology UT Austin Madison Group, Williston Basin
Overview of Geology of Williston Basin as it relates to CO2 storage [PDF] (May 2005)
Sequestration potential in Petroleum reservoirs in the Williston Basin [PDF] (September 2005)