AQUISTORE

Saskatchewan’s Deep Geological Carbon Capture & Storage Project

Note: Aquistore project partners will be hosting an open house to expalin the project on Thursday, August 19, 2010 from 4 to 8 p.m. at the Regina Trap and Skeet Club (Zora Road and Inland Drive). This is an informal, come-and-go event. Complimentary snacks and beverages will be provided.

Aquistore is a project designed to capture carbon dioxide (CO₂), a greenhouse gas currently being released into the atmosphere from the Consumers’ Co-operative Refinery (CCRL) in Regina, compress the captured CO₂ and transport it by pipeline to a site where it will be injected to be permanently stored. CO₂ capture and storage is a viable option to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and this project has the potential to eliminate the annual CO₂ emissions, which are equivalent to 45,000 vehicles.

The CO₂ will be injected into a deep geologic formation that contains very saline brines at over 2 km depth. Deep saline formations are very deep, porous rocks containing water that is unusable because of its high salt or mineral content. These formations meet all the necessary criteria to provide safe, long-term storage of CO₂. Once CO₂ is injected into a deep saline formation, it is trapped by tiny pores within the storage rocks. Over time the CO₂ dissolves in unusable water already in the rock formation and becomes securely trapped. The CO₂ remains far below the surface, separated from usable groundwater by thick, impermeable barriers of dense rock.

Aquistore, which is being managed by the Petroleum Technology Research Centre, with 10 years of experience managing the IEA GHG Weyburn-Midale CO₂ Monitoring and Storage Project, will conduct a detailed characterization of the deep saline formation near CCRL and identify a suitable storage location for CO₂ injection. PTRC will also conduct a CO₂ measurement, monitoring and verification program prior to and during the injection. SaskEnergy and Enbridge Inc. will build the pipeline to transport the CO₂ from the refinery to the injection point.

At the storage location, one injection and two monitoring wells will be drilled. Schlumberger Carbon Services will oversee the drilling of these wells. Injection of small amounts of CO₂ will commence in 2011, prior to commercial-scale delivery. Commercial-scale storage begins with the completion of the capture and pipeline portions of the project. Once the CO₂ captured is injected, PTRC and researchers will employ advanced technologies to measure and monitor it in the geological formation.

Partners on the Aquistore project include:

Consumers’ Co-operative Refineries Ltd.

Enbridge Inc.

Petroleum Technology Research Centre

Saskatchewan Ministry of Environment (Go Green Fund)

SaskEnergy

SaskPower

Schlumberger Carbon Services

Sustainable Development Technology Canada

For further information please call the toll free number 1-888-248-1412 or email us at information@aquistore.ca