Denbury

From Global Energy Monitor
This article is part of the Global Fossil Infrastructure Tracker, a project of Global Energy Monitor.
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Denbury Resources is an oil exploration and development company that specializes in injecting sequestered carbon dioxide (CO2) into old oil wells to decrease oil viscosity, increase flow rate, and help pump out difficult-to-reach oil. The company is looking to incorporate proposed coal plant carbon capture and storage technologies into their operations.[1] It is a member of the Carbon Capture and Storage Association.[2]

In November 2009, the company acquired another oil exploration company, Encore. Chief executive officer (CEO) Phil Rykhoek forecast that the company's $4.5 billion purchase of oil producer Encore would double the potential of its enhanced oil recovery (EOR) assets to almost 650 million barrels of "undeveloped" oil reserves, as Encore holds extensive acreage in the Williston and Powder River Basin of southeastern Montana and northwestern Dakota. These areas may yield oil from both primary and EOR fields, a project that would require significant supplies of carbon dioxide to pump through the fields.[1]

As of 2021, Denbury owned proved CO2 reserves of approximately 4.6 trillion cubic feet (TCF), extracted principally from the Jackson Dome CO2 source field, the most significant and only source of natural CO2 in the U.S. east of the Mississippi River. Most of these supplies, over 78%, are used to facilitate CO2 enhanced oil recovery (CO2 EOR). The CO2 is transported via pipelines, and Denbury spent almost $1 billion to construct its Green Pipeline to tap into oil fields in southeast Texas.[1]

As of April 2010, there is limited pipeline infrastructure to support the company's planned CO2-EOR operations in the Rockies. Encore management proposed to build compression facilities adjacent to a gas plant in Freemont County, Wyoming, and construct a 206-mile pipeline to transport the compressed CO2 to tertiary recovery projects at its Bell Creek Field in southeastern Montana, but this never expanded beyond the planning stage due to funding issues. Denbury is continuing to try and secure CO2 sequestered from coal-fired power plants or ethanol facilities, through government-funded carbon capture and storage tax credits.[1]

Jackson Dome

Jackson Dome is a natural carbon source field located in Rankin County and Madison County, Mississippi, operated primarily by Denbury and the company's largest current source of carbon dioxide for industrial purposes.[3]

Photo of the Jackson Dome in Mississippi. Credit: Southern States Energy Board.

Sitting about 25 miles northeast of Jackson, Mississippi, it is one of the largest natural CO2 fields in the United States and the largest and only one east of the Mississippi River. It is one of the five major carbon fields in the U.S., the country which is the top producer of natural CO2 in the world.

Tectonically an ancient volcano site called the Jackson Volcano, drilling for carbon in the field facilitates CO2 enhanced oil recovery (CO2 EOR) in Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas. Denbury acquired the Jackson Dome from Airgas in 2001 for $42 million.[4] Drilling at the field began in 1977 after discovery efforts began in the early-1970's, initially by Shell,[5] and CO2 initially got to oil fields via trucks in the pre-pipeline era.[6]

A 98% pure CO2 basin,[7] Denbury used 78% of the CO2 it produced from the Jackson Dome in 2020 for CO2 EOR, with the rest sent to third-party industrial users.[8] The carbon is sent via pipelines to 14 different oil fields, in which the produced carbon is injected under the ground to free up an additional 8-20% of oil in legacy oil fields, or residual oil zones (ROZs). CO2 EOR is also sometimes called "carbon flooding" or "tertiary recovery."[9] Denbury is both the owner of all of those pipelines and the CO2 EOR fields.[10][11]

Natural carbon dioxide is currently the source of over 80% of the CO2 for CO2 EOR in the United States[12]and CO2 EOR currently is the final carbon sink for nine of the ten biggest U.S.-based Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) projects currently commercially operational.[13]

Traditionally known as CCS, CO2 EOR is a central component of a rebranding effort which began in 2012 known as CCUS, or carbon capture utilization and storage. The "U" in CCUS, in this case, is using carbon to drill for more oil.[14]The vast majority of the rest of the CO2 used to do CO2 EOR comes from natural gas plants in Wyoming and Texas in which CO2 is produced as a by-product.[15] According to a 2014 U.S. Department of Energy study, 97% of the industrial marketed carbon is used for CO2 EOR.[16]

A 2020 study concluded that CO2 EOR using CO2 source fields like the Jackson Dome, McElmo Dome, Bravo Dome, Sheep Mountain, and Doe Canyon “cannot contribute to reductions in anthropogenic CO2 emissions into the atmosphere.”[17]

Multiple studies have also called into question the climate benefits of CO2 EOR production even with anthropogenic carbon, pointing to the process as a net-positive greenhouse gas emitting process.[18]

Location

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Field Details

  • Start Year: 1977[19]
  • Operator: Denbury
  • Controller: Denbury
  • Location: Rankin County and Madison County, Mississippi, United States
  • Proved reserves: 4.6 Trillion Cubic Feet[20] 28 active wells.
  • Production: 145.1 Million Cubic Feet in 2020, 198.37 Million Cubic Feet in 2019, 182.78 Million Cubic Feet in 2018, 183.03 Million Cubic Feet in 2017, 176.52 Million Cubic Feet in 2016, 117.39 Million Cubic Feet in 2015[21]
  • Status: Operating
2020 production at the Jackson Dome; Chart Credit: Mississippi Oil and Gas Board

Production

According to its 2020 annual report filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Denbury has 910.1 BCF (billion cubic feet) in probable reserves of CO2 at the Jackson Dome. In 2020, the company produced 4.6 million cubic feet (MCF) of CO2.[22] Production rates have fallen consistently at the field over the past decade.

Historic production levels at the Jackson Dome. Image Credit: Mississippi Oil and Gas Board

No Accounting for Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Natural CO2 Source Fields disclose their production levels under Subpart PP of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)'s Greenhouse Gas Reporting Rule, which is a self-reporting mechanism. As a CO2 producer, the company only must report its downstrema CO2 injection levels and not its emissions under the statute. The Jackson Dome injected 6.67 million metric tons of CO2 via EOR in 2019, according to EPA data.[23][24][25]

The operative language of Subpart PP of the Mandatory Greenhouse Gas Reporting statute reads, "The owner or operator of a CO2 production well facility must maintain quarterly records of the mass flow or volumetric flow of the extracted or transferred CO2 stream and concentration and density if volumetric flow meters are used."[26] CO2 enhanced oil recovery wells, a key component of Carbon Capture Utilization and Storage, also must report emissions generated via the production activity under the Greenhouse Gas Reporting Rule under Subpart UU of the Mandatory Greenhouse Gas Reporting statute."[27]

History/Background

Exploratory drilling began at the Jackson Dome in the early-1950's and commercial leasing began in 1973. Shell viewed the CO2 fields of Colorado (McElmo Dome, Sheep Mountain and Doe Canyon) and New Mexico (Bravo Dome), and the CO2 EOR production facilitated drilling carbon from those fields at Texas' Permian Basin, as a parallel.

Carbon was found in Mississippi by accident, as a by-product of prospecting for oil. The Continental Oil Company (predecessor to ConocoPhillips) first found CO2 in the state in 1951, back when the industry still called it "dry ice," and at the time its central purpose was as a coolant.[28] Continental's accidental find was 93% pure CO2.[29]

In 1954, Carter Oil Co. also found carbon while wildcatting for oil. The local newspaper described the 68% pure discovered CO2 as "useless" at the time.[30] Once again in searching for oil in 1967, Chevron stumbled across natural CO2 in Rankin County, Mississippi, doing so by accident. A year later, the company General Crude Oil Co. announced an additional accidental discovery.[31]

Shell was the first company to seek a permit to do CO2 EOR in Mississippi, applying for one in 1973 at the Little Creek Oil Field.[32] Commercial production of the CO2 began in 1977 and CO2 EOR using the Jackson Dome's carbon began in 1985 at the Little Creek Field.[33][34] Before the pipeline buildout began at the Jackson Dome, CO2 moved to CO2 EOR fields via rail.[35]

Map of the Jackson Dome in Mississippi. Credit: U.S. Department of Energy, National Energy Technology Laboratory

"Development of enhanced oil recovery techniques using (carbon dioxide) provides a major boost for our efforts to get more oil out of those oil fields," an executive for Shell told The Clarion-Ledger in 1985 of its CO2 EOR efforts using carbon drilled from the Jackson Dome. "It allows us to produce oil that cannot be recovered economically with any other known technology."[36]

Shell was the dominant CO2 producer in the field during the first quarter century of the Jackson Dome's production era, but with oil prices dropping, the company shed its Jackson Dome assets and sold the field to Airgas in 1997. Denbury then purchased Airgas' Jackson Dome assets in 2001, a $42 million acquisition.[37]

2020 Pipeline Explosions

In February 2020, the 24-inch Delhi Pipeline—which sends CO2 from the Jackson Dome to the Hastings Field in Alvin, Texas—exploded in Yazoo County, Mississippi. Documents obtained via open records request show the CO2 plume stretched for between 30-40 kilometers and the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency revealed the plume stretched all the way northwest beyond Holly Bluff, Mississippi.[38]

Aftermath of Feb. 2020 CO2 pipeline explosion in Yazoo County, MS. Credit: Mississippi Emergency Management Agency
Plume shown from NOAA program showing February 22 CO2 pipeline rupture in Yazoo County, MS from Denbury's Delhi Pipeline.

An on-scene investigator described a “green fog” of both hydrogen sulfide and CO2 leaking into the atmosphere across the highway from the ruptured pipeline at the scene of the incident. Though no one died, 46 people were hospitalized and 300 were evacuated from their homes.[39] Three men passed out in their cars at the scene of the pipeline rupture, knocked unconscious.[40]

A sheriff’s investigator stated that those rescued during the incident were acting “like zombies” and some were “foaming at the mouth.” The sheriff deputy called to the scene also had to be hospitalized.[41] Documents obtained via open records request show over 31,000 barrels of CO2 leaked into the atmosphere.[42]

An incident report obtained via Mississippi Public Records Act from the Yazoo County Sheriff's Department shows that the investigator wrote that he was "having difficulty breathing, as though I'd just run a mile and was out of breath," in explaining his on-scene response. That investigator further wrote that some people he approached on-scene seemed "confused" and did not "understand what I was saying" when he spoke to them. In that state, the investigator said he had to "forcefully" get them into his squad car.[43]

The class-action plaintiffs' law firm Morgan & Morgan is representing victims of the pipeline blowout, saying in a February statement, "Our hope is to uncover all the facts that led to this incident and hold those responsible accountable for their actions or omissions."[44] In October 2020, near the same area in Yazoo County, the same pipeline had another CO2 leak. It led officials to temporarily shut down State Highway 3.[45]

Records obtained via the Mississippi Public Records Act show that this pipeline blowout and leak was even bigger in size: just under 42,000 barrels of CO2 escaped from the pipeline.[46]

Other records obtained show the Chief Operating Officer of the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency, Matthew Hewings, critiquing Denbury. He wrote, "I can't help but wonder if Denbury is being entirely forthcoming in their [National Response Center] reporting, which makes getting accurate information from the field problematic. At some point, H2S was brought into the equation - then it was never spoken of again. I'm not saying it is cover up, but it would be awfully convenient for Denbury .. legally and financially ... if H2S was left out of the discussion."

According to a 2014 report by the U.S. Department of Energy's National Energy Technology Laboratory, the Jackson Dome CO2 stream consists of 5% H2S, the highest concentration for any the Natural CO2 Source Fields.[47]

In another email, Hewings wrote "It is curious that the H2S or anything other than CO2 is not annotated below, especially since the locals reported a green gas and noxious odor."

"[David] Battaly (Emergency Manager at the agency) reported an orange haze like a sand storm. CO2 is colorless and odorless at low concentrations, yet smells acidic at high concentrations," Hewings continued. "It sure seems as if something other than just CO2 was present. Additionally, the extreme symptoms reported by the victims are consistent with exposure to HZS. Something doesn't add up ..."[48]

A company pipeline also ruptured in 2012 at the Hastings Oil Field in Brazoria County, with no one suffering injuries and no reported spillage nor environmental damage relayed to the Houston Chronicle.[49]

2007 CO2 EOR Well Blowouts

In 2007 in Amite County at a Denbury-operated CO2 EOR well, a blowout led to the evacuation of three nearby homes. Residents in the area said it sounded like "a loud roaring noise" akin to "when an airplane flies over real low," even a mile and a half from the blowout site.[50][51]

Three days after the blowout started, it was "still spewing so much carbon dioxide, saltwater and oil that officials...closed a state highway and imposed a five-mile no-fly zone indefinitely," a local newspaper reported, also noting detectable levels of benzene in the area surrounding the well.[52]

In an editorial for the Enterprise-Journal, one of the state's biggest local newspapers, the editorial board wrote "If it happened...in Amite County, it certainly can happen anyplace where there's drilling activity. The recovery of oil and natural gas from thousands of feet below the surface—two or three miles below, and sometimes deeper—is an amazing technological achievement that we tend to take for granted. But it is dangerous work, and there is plenty of risk involved." The editorial goes on to ask questions about what the long-term impacts are of plugged CO2 EOR wells, calling on the state and Denbury to "be completely forthcoming about exactly what happened" in the incident.[53]

Half a year earlier in Lincoln County, Mississippi, a CO2 EOR well leaked also owned by Denbury leaked. It led to the evacuation of several homes. [54]

Legal, Regulatory Issues

James Wagoner and JWW Oil and Gas Exploration argued in the federal case Waggoner v. Denbury Onshore, L.L.C. that Denbury’s vertically integrated business model amounted to a monopoly. In 2015, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ruled that no monopoly existed, even if the arrangement created an “alleged injury of decreased royalty payments due to a conspiracy among oil companies.”[55]

Prior to that ruling, a legislative effort in the Mississippi Legislature also failed for two consecutive sessions in 2014 and 2015. The bills would have mandated common carrier status for Denbury's CO2 pipelines in the state which utilize eminent domain as part of their land use authority.[56][57]

The company also pays no severance tax in drilling for CO2 at the Jackson Dome and a legislative effort attempted to change that to a rate of 6%, but failed.[58] The author of the bill, Rep. Gary Staples, (R-Laurel), said not having a severance tax on CO2 drilling costs the state $20 million in tax revenue per year.[59]

“Denbury Resources is sending 500 million cubic feet of CO2 a day to Texas, and we’re not making a dime on it,” Staples told a local publication at the time. “The people in this state are not for giving away our natural resources, and they need to be aware that it’s happening.”[60]

Denbury fought against the measure, with a lobbyist for the company stating, "I contend the state is getting something from what we do in the state of Mississippi, regardless of where the carbon dioxide goes. We're bringing so much more to the table than that, that it's almost laughable to be sitting here talking about this." The tax would've yielded $20 million in tax dollars per year to the state.[61]

In Texas, Denbury also sat at the center of a landmark common carrier doctrine Supreme Court ruling on the issue of the use of eminent domain legal doctrine as it relates to common carrier status for its Green Pipeline, which connects to the Jackson Dome. The Court ruled in 2017 that Denbury could utilize the legal authority to condemn privately-held land in building out the CO2 pipeline.

"All that is required is a reasonable probability that the pipeline will, at some point after construction, serve the public by transporting a product for one or more customers who will either retain ownership or sell it to parties other than the carrier," explained an attorney of the ruling in the case Denbury Green Pipeline Texas LLC v. Texas Rice Land Partners Ltd.[62] A 'reasonable probability' is 'more likely than not.'"[63]

Pipeline Connections

Denbury has five pipelines connected to the Jackson Dome. They include the 183-mile Northeast Jackson Dome Pipeline,[64] the Free State Pipeline (90 miles), Delta Pipeline (110 miles), Green Pipeline Texas (120 miles), and Green Pipeline Louisiana (200 miles).[65]

CO2 EOR Field Connections

The CO2 produced at the Jackson Dome is sent via pipelines to the Delhi Field east of Monroe, Louisiana; the Hastings Field in Alvin, Texas; the Heidelberg Field in Jasper County, Mississippi; the Oyster Bayou Field in Chambers County, Texas; the Tinsley Field in Yazoo County, Mississippi; the West Yellow Creek and Eucutta Fields in Wayne County, Mississippi; the Little Creek, Mallalieu, and Brookhaven Fields in Lincoln County, Mississippi; the Cranfield Field in Natchez, Mississippi; Martinville Oil Field in Simpson County, Mississippi; McComb Oil Field in Pike County, Mississippi; and the Soso Oil Field in Jasper County, Mississippi.

Of those fields, the Hastings Field is the most prolific, producing 4,755 barrels of oil per day from CO2 EOR, or about 17.8% of the total oil produced in the Gulf region for the company in 2020.[66]

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Hastings Oil Field in Alvin, Texas[67]

Regulatory Enforcement Actions

According to a 2019 lawsuit brought jointly by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality, Denbury was responsible for 25 oil spills between 2008 and 2014, including spilling "5,000 barrels of oil and water mixture in the Tinsley field in central Mississippi’s Yazoo County after a pipe shifted because of ground settlement and erosion," the Associated Press reported.[68] The Tinsley Field is one of Denbury's CO2 EOR fields connected to the Jackson Dome.[69] The lawsuit was brought concurrently with a consent decree, with Denbury paying out $3.5 million in fines to both the EPA and MDEQ.[70][71]

Denbury also paid a $662,500 fine to the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality in 2013 after another CO2 blowout at the Tinsley Field. "So much carbon dioxide came out that it settled in some hollows, suffocating deer and other animals, Mississippi officials said," the Associated Press reported. "The company ultimately drilled a new well to plug the old one, and removed 27,000 tons of drilling mud and contaminated soil and 32,000 barrels of liquids from the site."

That same year, Denbury also had an underground CO2 EOR well blowout at its Delhi Field in Louisiana.

After a "monitor showed unsafe concentrations of methane in the air...authorities suspected a natural gas pipeline, but Louisiana Department of Natural Resources spokesman Patrick Courreges said it now appears two or more plugged wells gave way underground," the AP further reported. "Methane, carbon dioxide, oil, water, brine and sands pushed up through the earth in a sparsely populated, marshy area. Concentrations of carbon dioxide were so high initially that Courreges said responders wore breathing apparatus to keep from suffocating."[72]

Southeast Regional Carbon Sequestration Partnership

Denbury participated in the U.S. Department of Energy's Southeast Regional Carbon Sequestration Partnership, which monitored Carbon Capture Utilization and Storage and CO2 enhanced oil recovery as it pertains to the effectiveness of the CO2 injection process at the Cranfield oil field in Natchez, Mississippi. The science experiment did not measure CO2 emissions from the Jackson Dome, though, even though the CO2 originated from the field.[73][74]

According to an April 2020 story published by the outlet Capital & Main, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency "has not brought any enforcement actions against any companies in [the] carbon drilling space."[75]

Sequestering vs. Recycling

During the CO2 EOR process, CO2 is not merely stored underground immediately. Instead, it is recycled as part of what the Global CCS Institute describes as a "closed loop," which "reduces the need to purchase additional CO2."[76]

A closed-loop CO2 EOR system, exhibited in a 2013 NETL report.

A 1976 study commissioned by the Federal Energy Administration pointed out that, from the onset, CO2 EOR would not be economically feasible for the oil industry without recycling technology. The study explained the industry will necessitate "major improvements in...recycling...before the full potential of this recovery tech­nique can be realized."[77]

As early as 1981, a petroleum engineering coordinator for Shell told colleagues at the Society for Petroleum Engineers that CO2 for CO2 enhanced oil recovery should be recycled because it "is a very valuable commodity" and "it does involve large amounts for oil recovery."[78]

In 1991, a production supervisor at Shell at the Jackson Dome further explained, "We're recycling everything we produce. Eventually the flood will be mature enough that all we'll be doing is recycling. We won't have to bring any more down from Jackson Dome."[79]

In 2016, the U.S. Department of Interior's Office of Natural Resources Revenue also explained the CO2 EOR process as one centering around recycling in a legal ruling pertaining to disputes over royalty payments at the Bravo Dome. "At the surface, the CO2 is separated from the oil," explains the filing. "The oil is sold and the CO2 reused again in the EOR reservoir. This means the CO2 is part of a continual process and is not sold."[80]

In a 2018 presentation, Denbury further concluded that by 15 years into a CO2 EOR operation, 20% of its CO2 will be recycled. By 20 years, that number goes up to 50%. By 25 years, that number goes up to 70% and by 30 years, that number goes up to 80% recycled.[81]

The U.S. Department of Energy's National Energy Technology Laboratory put it more simply in a 2019 paper on CO2 EOR, writing, "the objective of CO2 EOR operations is not to store CO2, but to maximize oil production. However, some of the injected CO2 ultimately does get stored in the reservoir as part of the process.[82]

“The need for the field to purchase new CO2 is gradually reduced over time,” further explains a 2019 paper published by the U.S. Department of Energy. “As a result, a greater percentage of the CO2 injected is from production, separation, and recycling versus newly-purchased CO2.” That paper further explained that “approximately half has been recovered and recycled” and more broadly “CO2 EOR operators try to maximize oil and gas production and minimize the amount of CO2 left in the reservoir.”[83]

A 2010 paper by the National Energy Technology Laboratory also explains the exact money saved by doing the recycling process, writing that "Because of the cost of naturally sourced CO2—roughly $10-15 per metric ton—a CO2 flood operator seeks to recycle as much as possible to minimize future purchases of the gas."[84]

Politics, Lobbying

At the federal level, Denbury has deployed well-connected lobbyists to ensure more federal dollars for its Carbon Capture and Storage endeavors.

One of those lobbyists is Kyle Simpson,[85] a long-time lobbyist for the Gas Technology Institute and the former Associate Deputy Secretary of the Department of Energy during the Clinton Administration.[86] In 2005, Simpson successfully lobbied to get a provision tucked into the Energy Act of 2005, which created the "Halliburton Loophole," to grant $1.5 billion toward research and development efforts at universities which promoted fracking for natural gas and some of which became a part of frackademia scandals.[87]

Another is Adam Bramwell, a former senior aide to U.S. Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE).[88] Coons is the author of legislation, called the SCALE Act (S. 799), which would provide just under $300 million over a five-year period for Carbon Capture and Storage projects and $80 million over a four-year period for a carbon pipeline loan guarantee program.[89] The SCALE Act is endorsed within President Joe Biden's American Jobs Plan, the proposed infrastructure package.[90]

According to data compiled by OpenSecrets.org, Denbury gave at least $2,500 and as much as $5,000 to all four Mississippi Republican candidates for the U.S. House of Representatives during the 2020 campaign cycle, with the state being the home base of the Jackson Dome. Three of them are currently seated members.[91] At-large, the company gave over $52,819 for federal candidates during the 2020 cycle.[92]

"Carbon Negative" Oil

Denbury stated in its 2019 Corporate Responsibility Report that it complies with a few different U.S. Environmental Protection Agency regulatory measures pertaining to Carbon Capture and Storage. Those include Subparts PP, UU and W of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program. The company called its operations "carbon negative" in that same report, noting that we more than offset those emissions by annually injecting over three million tons of industrial-sourced CO2 into the ground as part of our CO2 EOR process."

The company further claims it will additionally beet up its "carbon negative" efforts by 2030 via the implementation of an offsets program for oil sold downstream after CO2 EOR production takes place.[93] But a 2017 study found levels of CO2 in the soil at the Cranfield production site at concentrations of 44%.[94]

Carbon Capture Projects

Leucadia

Denbury's Green pipeline will transport captured CO2 from Leucadia's Indiana Gasification SNG project and Mississippi Gasification SNG project, both syngas plants financed by the US Department of Energy.[95]

Rentech Natchez Project

In 2009, synfuels manufacturer Rentech contracted to sell all of the carbon dioxide to be captured at its proposed coal gasification facility, Belwood Coal-to-Liquids, to Denbury Onshore, LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Denbury. Carbon dioxide purchased under the contract would be used for enhanced oil recovery at Denbury's Cranfield oil field in Southwest Mississippi, as well as at the company's oil fields within the greater Gulf Coast area. The Cranfield oil field is currently hosting a U.S. Department of Energy-sponsored carbon capture and sequestration project to inject more than 1 million tons of carbon dioxide into an underground rock formation, followed by additional injections into the saline portion of the reservoir more than 10,000 feet below the surface.[2]

Taylorville Energy Center

On March 3, 2010 Tenaska announced that its proposed Taylorville Energy Center would cost $3.5 billion and would go on-line in 2014. The plant will burn coal to produce syngas. The U.S. Department of Energy agreed to give the project a $2.6 billion loan guarantee.[96] The plant will sell its captured CO2 to Denbury for "enhanced oil recovery" in west Texas oil fields.[97]

Carbon Dioxide Injections

The company is injecting CO2 in 14 oil fields in Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas. Companywide oil production is expected to average 28,500 b/d of oil equivalent in 2010, including a contribution from the Bakken in the Williston basin.[98]

In June 2010, Denbury started carbon dioxide injection in Oyster Bayou field in eastern Chambers County, TX, and hopes to begin injecting at Hastings field south of Houston by the end of 2010. Three rigs are drilling in Oyster Bayou, and the company is working on the remaining 60 miles of pipeline across Galveston Bay and the Houston Ship Channel. Denbury is running five rigs at Hastings field in northeastern Brazoria County, preparing wells for injection.[98]

The Green Pipeline is transporting 44 MMcfd 260 miles from the Jackson Dome in Mississippi to Oyster Bayou for injection into three wells. Denbury said it will be about a year until an oil production response can be expected from the high-permeability formation. Denbury averaged 768 MMcfd of CO2 production at [[Jackson Dome] in the quarter ended June 30 and is running two rigs in Gluckstadt field in Madison County, Miss., in hope of finding multiple fault blocks that would expand its carbon dioxide reserves.[98]

Denbury is also advancing with right-of-way work on Green Core, a planned 230-mile, 20-in. carbon dioxide pipeline from the Lost Cabin gas treatment plant in Fremont County, Wyo., to Bell Creek field in Montana. It has surveyed 95% and acquired 41% of the right-of-way. Denbury has converted 17 idle former Bell Creek water injection wells for carbon dioxide injection and will convert another 12 by the end of 2010. Pipeline construction is to start in August 2010, and injection is planned for late 2012 or early 2013. The company is negotiating with CO2 suppliers.[98]


Hydraulic Fracturing

Diesel in Fracking

From 2010 to July 2014 drillers in the state of Texas reported using 924.07 gallons of diesel injected into one well. The Environmental Integrity Project extensively researched diesel in fracking. The environmental research organization argues that diesel use in fracking is widely under reported.

The Environmental Integrity Project 2014 study "Fracking Beyond The Law, Despite Industry Denials Investigation Reveals Continued Use of Diesel Fuels in Hydraulic Fracturing," found that hydraulic fracturing with diesel fuel can pose a risk to drinking water and human health because diesel contains benzene, toluene, xylene, and other chemicals that have been linked to cancer and other health problems. The Environmental Integrity Project identified numerous fracking fluids with high amounts of diesel, including additives, friction reducers, emulsifiers, solvents sold by Halliburton.[99]

Articles and resources

Related GEM.wiki articles

References

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  27. ↑ Electronic Code of Federal Regulations, "Injection of Carbon Dioxide," Title 40, Chapter I, Subchapter C, Part 98, Subpart UU. Accessed May 2021
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  30. ↑ "Carter Runs Complicated Field Experiment in Madison," Clarion-Ledger, Aug. 22, 1954
  31. ↑ "Carbon dioxide gas tested at Rankin County wildcat," Hattiesburg American, June 15, 1968
  32. ↑ Sparks, Steve, "New Project at Little Creek," Enterprise-Journal, June 22, 1973
  33. ↑ Bowman, Bowman, "The History of Central Mississippi's Naturally Occurring CO₂ Fields," American Association of Petroleum Geologists Explorer, March 2016
  34. ↑ "SWEPI begins carbon dioxide injection at Little Creek," Enterprise-Journal, Dec. 29, 1985
  35. ↑ "Some Wells Producing But Oil Boom Slowing," Enterprise-Journal, March 18, 1979
  36. ↑ McCall, Mike, "Shell hopes to revive wells with carbon dioxide," The Clarion-Ledger, Dec. 29, 1985
  37. ↑ Bowman, Bowman, "The History of Central Mississippi's Naturally Occurring CO₂ Fields," American Association of Petroleum Geologists Explorer, March 2016
  38. ↑ "Mississippi Emergency Management Agency Feb. 23 Facebook Post," accessed May 2021
  39. ↑ "Pipeline Ruptures in Yazoo County, Dozens Rushed to the Hospital," Mississippi Emergency Management Agency, Feb. 23, 2020
  40. ↑ Kenney, David, "3 men were rescued after passing out in their car during Yazoo Co. gas leak," WLBT, Feb. 25, 2020
  41. ↑ Fowler, Sarah, "'Foaming at the mouth': First responders describe scene after pipeline rupture, gas leak," The Clarion-Ledger, Feb. 27, 2020
  42. ↑ "Dec. 14 Denbury MEMA Response Letter," Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality via Public Records Act Request, Dec. 14, 2020
  43. ↑ "Yazoo County Sheriff Records CO2 Pipeline Explosion Incident Report," Yazoo County Sheriff's Department, Feb. 22, 2020, Obtained via Mississippi Public Records Act Request
  44. ↑ Morgan & Morgan Facebook Press Release, Feb. 25, 2020
  45. ↑ Day, David, "CO2 leak closes Highway 3 near Satartia," Vicksburg Daily News, Oct. 7, 2020
  46. ↑ "Dec. 14 Denbury MEMA Response Letter," Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality via Public Records Act Request, Dec. 14, 2020
  47. ↑ J. Eppink, T. Heidrick, Et Al, "Subsurface Sources of CO2 in the Contiguous United States. Volume 1: Discovered Reservoirs," U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Fossil Energy, National Energy Technology Laboratory, DOE/NETL-2014/1637, March 5, 2014
  48. ↑ "Feb. 23-24 MEMA Emails on Denbury CO2 Pipeline Blowout", Mississippi Emergency Management Agency, Public Records Act Request, Feb. 23-24, 2020
  49. ↑ Nix, Kristi, "Pipeline rupture reported at Hastings Oil Field near Alvin," Houston Chronicle, Feb. 6, 2012
  50. ↑ Woerner, Timothy, "Cleanup ongoing at blowout," Enterprise-Journal, Dec. 18, 2007
  51. ↑ Woerner, Timothy, "Cleanup ongoing at blowout," Enterprise-Journal, Dec. 17, 2007
  52. ↑ Under pressure: No end in sight for Amite oil well blowout repair," Enterprise-Journal, Dec. 19, 2007
  53. ↑ Editorial Board, "Questions about oil well blowout," Enterprise-Journal, Dec. 18, 2007
  54. ↑ "Homes evacuated after well mishap," The Daily Leader, June 22, 2007
  55. ↑ Waggoner v. Denbury Onshore, L.L.C., U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, May 20, 2015
  56. ↑ Chandler, Clay, "Pipeline carrier bill dies quietly," The Clarion-Ledger, Feb. 15, 2014
  57. ↑ Chandler, Clay, "Investor: Legislation would free up millions of barrels of Miss. oil," The Clarion-Ledger, Feb. 18, 2015
  58. ↑ Amy, Jeff, "Denbury fights tax on carbon dioxide extraction," The Associated Press, Feb. 24, 2014
  59. ↑ Chandler, Clay, "Pipeline hearing gets testy," The Clarion-Ledger, Feb. 24, 2014
  60. ↑ "Rep: State missing out on millions in carbon-dioxide taxes," The Laurel Leader-Call, July 30, 2014
  61. ↑ "Rep: State missing out on millions in carbon-dioxide taxes," The Laurel Leader-Call, July 30, 2014
  62. ↑ "Denbury Green Pipeline-Texas, LLC v. Texas Rice Land Partners, Ltd. Et Al," Supreme Court of Texas, Jan. 6, 2017
  63. ↑ Sartain, Charles, "It’s Now Easier To Be a Common Carrier Pipeline in Texas," Gray Reed Attorneys & Counselors, Jan. 17, 2017
  64. ↑ "Denbury Reacquires the NEJD and Free State CO2 Pipelines," Denbury Resources, Nov. 4, 2020
  65. ↑ "Denbury - 2020 SEC Form 10K," U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, filed March 5, 2021
  66. ↑ "Denbury - 2020 SEC Form 10K," U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, filed March 5, 2021
  67. ↑ Daniels, Gary, "Hastings Oilfield", Texas State Historical Association, accessed May 2021
  68. ↑ Amy, Jeff"Company to pay $3.5M after Mississippi, Alabama oil spills," Associated Press, April 29, 2019
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  72. ↑ "Denbury pays big fine for 2011 oil well blowout," Associated Press, July 25, 2013
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  94. ↑ Anderson, Romanek, Et Al"Gas source attribution techniques for assessing leakage at geologic CO2 storage sites: Evaluating a CO2 and CH4 soil gas anomaly at the Cranfield CO2-EOR site," Chemical Geology, Volume 454, April 5, 2017, pp. 93-104
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  96. ↑ "Taylorville plant to cost $3.5 bln" Reuters, March 3, 2010
  97. ↑ "Company ties 2 planned power plants to emissions bill, financing" EE News, April 21, 2009.
  98. ↑ 98.0 98.1 98.2 98.3 "Denbury presses Gulf Coast EOR projects" Oil and Gas Journal, August 6, 2010.
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