CARBON CAPTURE, UTILIZATION AND STORAGE IN PETROLEUM OPERATIONS: FEASIBILITY AND RISKS

Abstract

The technical performance, economic viability, and risks of any particular project are all important to the deployment of carbon capture, utilisation, and storage (CCUS), a technology that is increasingly seen as one of the main options to reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from operations in the petroleum sector. The feasibility and risk of CCUS technology were evaluated for onshore and offshore oil fields, gas processing plants, refineries, and enhanced oil recovery projects through quantitative comparative and analytical assessments. The technical, economic, geological, and risk-related indicators were evaluated, and descriptive statistics, one-way analysis of variance, Welch’s ANOVA, Pearson correlation, and multiple linear regression were performed. The average technical feasibility score was 3.31 on a five-point scale, with a mean CO₂ capture efficiency of 90.51%. The technical feasibility did not differ significantly between the petroleum operation types (p = 0.942), but the economic feasibility did (p = 0.006), and enhanced oil recovery projects performed comparatively well. There was also significant variation in overall risk by operation type (p < 0.001), with offshore oil-field operations being the riskiest. The value of the carbon credit was positively correlated with the project net present value (r = 0.530, p < 0.001), and the energy penalty was negatively correlated with the technical feasibility (r = −0.576, p < 0.001). Multiple regression accounted for 68.3% of the variance in project NPV, with the carbon-credit value, total CCUS cost, and capital expenditure as significant predictors. Technically, CCUS seems viable for petroleum operations, but the economics and operations of the project depend on the project configuration, cost structure, policy incentives, and risk management conditions.