Techno-Economic Analysis of CO₂-Soluble Surfactants for Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) and Carbon Dioxide (CO₂) Sequestration in Carbonate Reservoirs

Azeez, Sajjad Ali

doi:10.26706/ijaefea.13.3.20260802

Abstract

Economic analysis of the application of CO₂-soluble surfactants in carbon dioxide enhanced oil recovery (CO₂-EOR) and carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) demonstrates that this technology not only improves reservoir technical performance but also offers significant potential to enhance the profitability of oil projects while reducing environmental costs. This study evaluated the major economic components, including capital expenditure (CAPEX), operational expenditure (OPEX), revenues generated from incremental oil production and carbon credits, engineering economic indicators, sensitivity analysis, and cost-reduction strategies. The results indicate that the project CAPEX is approximately USD 60 million, while the annual OPEX is approximately USD 13 million, primarily associated with CO₂ injection facilities, compressors, transmission pipelines, surfactant procurement, and gas compression operations. The economic assessment further reveals that the application of CO₂-soluble surfactants increases the oil recovery factor by 8%, generates 12 million barrels of incremental oil production, enables the geological storage of 5 million tonnes of CO₂, and produces total revenues of approximately USD 1.09 billion, consisting of USD 840 million from additional oil production and USD 250 million from carbon credits. Moreover, the key economic indicators—including a Net Present Value (NPV) of USD 320 million, an Internal Rate of Return (IRR) of 23%, a Benefit-to-Cost (B/C) ratio of 2.4, a payback period of 5.2 years, an incremental oil production cost of USD 14 per barrel, and a CO₂ storage cost of USD 22 per tonne—demonstrate the economic viability of this technology under the base-case scenario. Sensitivity analysis identified crude oil price, surfactant price, CO₂ supply and transportation costs, discount rate, incremental oil production, and carbon credit value as the most influential parameters affecting project profitability. Increasing the oil price from USD 50 to USD 90 per barrel raises the NPV from USD 95 million to USD 545 million and the IRR from 13% to 33%, whereas increases in surfactant or CO₂ costs reduce project profitability. Furthermore, the development of low-cost surfactants, the implementation of hybrid surfactant systems, surfactant recycling, optimization of injection concentration, intelligent reservoir management, and optimized injection pattern design can reduce operational costs by up to 18% while increasing the NPV by approximately 10%. Overall, the findings indicate that despite moderate increases in capital and operating expenditures, the application of CO₂-soluble surfactants represents a competitive approach for the development of carbonate reservoirs by increasing oil production, improving CO₂ utilization efficiency, reducing the cost of incremental oil production, generating additional revenue through carbon credits, and enhancing overall economic performance. Nevertheless, reducing surfactant production costs, developing stable carbon markets, conducting pilot-scale studies, and implementing intelligent reservoir management technologies remain essential prerequisites for improving the commercial viability and facilitating the large-scale industrial deployment of this technology in the future.

Keywords

CO₂-enhanced oil recovery (CO₂-EOR) CO₂-philic fluorine-free surfactants Economic evaluation Discounted cash flow (DCF) Net present value (NPV) Carbonate reservoirs Sensitivity analysis

References

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[2] S. M. Mousavi et al., “Techno-economic evaluation of CO₂-EOR and carbon storage in a shallow incised fluvial reservoir using captured CO₂ from an ethanol plant,” Geoenergy Science and Engineering, vol. 246, p. 213559, 2025. doi: 10.1016/j.geoen.2024.213559.

[3] S. Liang, W. Luo, Z. Luo, W. Wang, X. Xue, and B. Dong, “Research of CO₂-soluble surfactants for enhanced oil recovery: Review and outlook,” Molecules, vol. 28, no. 23, p. 8042, 2023. doi: 10.3390/molecules28238042.

[4] J. Cho, M. S. Jeong, Y. W. Lee, H. S. Lee, and K. S. Lee, “Techno-economic analysis of intermediate hydrocarbon injection on coupled CO₂ storage and enhanced oil recovery,” Energy Exploration & Exploitation, vol. 39, no. 5, pp. 1532–1550, 2021. doi: 10.1177/0144598720927078.

[5] O. Massarweh and A. S. Abushaikha, “The use of surfactants in enhanced oil recovery: A review of recent advances,” Energy Reports, vol. 6, pp. 3150–3178, 2020. doi: 10.1016/j.egyr.2020.11.009.

[6] S. Bachu and W. D. Gunter, “CO₂ geological storage and enhanced oil recovery: Opportunities and challenges,” International Journal of Greenhouse Gas Control, vol. 5, no. 2, pp. 317–326, 2021.

[7] M. Godec, G. Koperna, and R. Petrusak, “Potential for large-scale CO₂ storage associated with enhanced oil recovery,” International Journal of Greenhouse Gas Control, vol. 15, pp. 72–80, 2021.

[8] J. J. Sheng, “Critical review of field EOR projects and their CO₂ utilization potential,” Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering, vol. 185, p. 106623, 2020. doi: 10.1016/j.petrol.2019.106623.

[9] C. Nwaoha, A. Behr, and M. Voldsund, “Techno-economic assessment of carbon capture, utilization and storage pathways,” Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, vol. 145, p. 111110, 2021. doi: 10.1016/j.rser.2021.111110.

[10] L. Li, Y. Zhang, and X. Zhang, “A comprehensive techno-economic assessment of CO₂ enhanced oil recovery projects using integrated simulation approaches,” International Journal of Greenhouse Gas Control, vol. 111, p. 103480, 2021. doi: 10.1016/j.ijggc.2021.103480.

[11] W. Yang, J. Lu, B. Wei, H. Yu, and T. Liang, “Micromodel studies of surfactant flooding for enhanced oil recovery: A review,” ACS Omega, vol. 6, no. 9, pp. 6064–6069, 2021. doi: 10.1021/acsomega.0c05750.

[12] H. Ghaseminezhad and E. Sahraei, “Experimental investigation of foam assisted water alternate gas injection in relation to enhanced oil recovery applications,” Petroleum Science and Technology, vol. 38, no. 17, pp. 859–869, 2020. doi: 10.1080/10916466.2020.1790599.

[13] R. Phukan, S. B. Gogoi, and P. Tiwari, “Enhanced oil recovery by alkaline-surfactant-alternated-gas/CO₂ flooding,” Journal of Petroleum Exploration and Production Technology, vol. 9, pp. 247–260, 2019. doi: 10.1007/s13202-018-0465-0.

[14] S. Chen, H. Li, and D. Yang, “CO₂ foam flooding for enhanced oil recovery: Mechanisms, modeling and field applications,” Fuel, vol. 290, p. 119988, 2021. doi: 10.1016/j.fuel.2020.119988.

[15] R. Farajzadeh, A. Andrianov, and P. L. J. Zitha, “Investigation of CO₂ foam stability and mobility control for improved oil recovery,” Fuel, vol. 265, p. 116934, 2020. doi: 10.1016/j.fuel.2020.116934.

[16] J. J. Sheng, “Enhanced oil recovery in unconventional reservoirs using CO₂ injection: Current status and future perspectives,” Fuel, vol. 308, p. 122045, 2022. doi: 10.1016/j.fuel.2021.122045.

[17] X. Sun, M. Dong, and Y. Zhang, “Economic optimization of CO₂-EOR projects considering oil price and carbon credit uncertainty,” Journal of Cleaner Production, vol. 330, p. 129845, 2022. doi: 10.1016/j.jclepro.2021.129845.

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[19] Y. Wang, L. Zhang, and J. Liu, “Economic feasibility analysis of CO₂ flooding projects under uncertainty conditions,” Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering, vol. 220, p. 111160, 2023. doi: 10.1016/j.petrol.2022.111160.

[20] K. Zhang, N. Jia, and S. Li, “Optimization of CO₂-EOR processes considering recovery efficiency and economic performance,” Energy, vol. 288, p. 129910, 2024. doi: 10.1016/j.energy.2023.129910.

[21] International Energy Agency (IEA), Carbon Capture, Utilisation and Storage: The Opportunity for Low-Carbon Energy Transitions. Paris, France: IEA, 2023.

[22] Y. Zhang, C. M. Oldenburg, S. Finsterle, and L. Pan, “Techno-economic evaluation of CO₂ enhanced oil recovery (EOR) with the optimization of CO₂ supply,” International Journal of Greenhouse Gas Control, vol. 58, pp. 169–184, 2017. doi: 10.1016/j.ijggc.2017.01.002.

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