LEVERAGING ENHANCED OIL RECOVERY FOR LARGE-SCALE SALINE STORAGE OF CO₂

The document posits that EOR is currently the only viable private-market driver for carbon capture and storage (CCS) infrastructure due to its profitability compared to saline storage. It suggests that EOR can lower CCS costs through 'learning by doing' and provide a foundation for 'stacked storage,' where existing pipelines and wells are repurposed for saline reservoirs. The author notes that while EOR is a useful starting point, its global capacity (140 billion tonnes) is insufficient to meet the IPCC's 1.5°C goals, which may require storing up to 1.2 trillion tonnes of CO2, necessitating a transition to the much larger capacities available in saline formations.

• Saline storage currently lacks sufficient private market economic drivers compared to EOR. While the 45Q tax legislation provides a $50/tonne credit for saline storage, it is limited to 12 years; conversely, EOR provides a $35/tonne tax credit plus ongoing revenue from CO2 sales.
• The EOR industry can reduce the overall cost of CCS technologies through 'learning by doing' due to its scale. In the U.S., the industry has injected nearly 1 billion tonnes of CO2 since the 1970s and possesses over 5,000 miles of CO2 pipelines.
• Infrastructure developed for EOR can be repurposed for saline storage via 'stacked storage,' utilizing the same transmission pipelines and potentially the same wells to reach saline formations located above or below EOR reservoirs.
• EOR capacity is insufficient to meet global climate goals. The IPCC's 1.5°C report indicates a need to store between 350 billion and 1.2 trillion tonnes of CO2, but global EOR storage capacity is estimated at only 140 billion tonnes.
• In the United States, saline sites in the south offer significantly higher storage potential than EOR. Southern saline sites can accept nearly 6 trillion tonnes of CO2, while EOR in the same region is limited to approximately 5 billion tonnes.

APA

Clean Air Task Force (n.d.). LEVERAGING ENHANCED OIL RECOVERY FOR LARGE-SCALE SALINE STORAGE OF CO₂. https://cdn.catf.us/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/21093704/SteppingStone_Factsheet.pdf

Chicago

Clean Air Task Force. LEVERAGING ENHANCED OIL RECOVERY FOR LARGE-SCALE SALINE STORAGE OF CO₂. n.d. https://cdn.catf.us/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/21093704/SteppingStone_Factsheet.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Clean Air Task Force |title=LEVERAGING ENHANCED OIL RECOVERY FOR LARGE-SCALE SALINE STORAGE OF CO₂ |url=https://cdn.catf.us/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/21093704/SteppingStone_Factsheet.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{cleanairtaskforcendleveraging, author = {{Clean Air Task Force}}, title = {{LEVERAGING ENHANCED OIL RECOVERY FOR LARGE-SCALE SALINE STORAGE OF CO₂}}, institution = {Clean Air Task Force}, url = {https://cdn.catf.us/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/21093704/SteppingStone_Factsheet.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }