National assessment of carbon dioxide enhanced oil recovery and associated carbon dioxide retention resources — Results

In 2020, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) completed a probabilistic assessment of the volume of technically recoverable oil resources available if current carbon dioxide enhanced oil recovery (CO₂-EOR) technologies were applied to amenable oil reservoirs underlying the onshore and State waters areas of the conterminous United States. The assessment also includes estimates of the mass of CO₂ that could be stored (retained) as a result of CO₂-EOR activities. The USGS assessment team evaluated more than 3,500 oil reservoirs that were miscible to injected CO₂. The assessed reservoirs are in 185 previously defined USGS plays in 33 petroleum provinces of 7 national regions. The assessment team estimated that the technically recoverable oil associated with CO₂-EOR ranges from approximately 25,000 million barrels (MMbbl) at the P₅ percentile to as much as 32,000 MMbbl at the P₉₅ percentile, with a mean of 29,000 MMbbl. The associated CO₂ retention ranges from approximately 7,400 million metric tons (Mt) at the P₅ percentile to as much as 9,500 Mt at the P₉₅ percentile, with a mean of 8,400 Mt. The West Texas and Eastern New Mexico region and the Gulf Coast region together contain 60 percent of the mean assessed CO₂-EOR oil potential and 61 percent of the mean assessed CO₂ retention. Other regions with significant resource potential include the Midcontinent region and Rocky Mountains and Northern Great Plains region.