Saturday, January 22, 2011

Weyburn CO2 Leak Update

Original post - 1/18   Updated 1/22

News reports continue regarding the purported leak of sequestered carbon near Weyburn, Sask. The majority of the CO2 stored at the site--approximately 18 million tons in all--is from the Dakota Gasification Co. synfuels plant near Beulah, North Dakota, which sends the captured carbon via pipeline to the Weyburn-Midale area where it's used for enhanced oil recovery. A consultant's report released last week concluded that carbon dioxide found in the soils on private land near an CO2 injection site was from the associated underground storage reservoir.The operator of the site has disputed the consultant's conclusions. Read more...

Update

The New York Times has quoted geologists from Stanford University and the University of Texas, both of whom question the conclusions reached by the independent consultant who investigated the situation near Weyburn.  A report that strongly rebuts the consultant's findings has also been issued by the Petroleum Research Technology Center, a Saskatchewan-based research group overseeing the Weyburn project.
IPAC-CO2, a carbon-storage research institute, has proposed an independent investigation of the matter. Read more...

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