Second CCUS Forum
On July 26, 2018 the Kansas Geological Survey (KGS) and the State CO2 EOR Deployment Workgroup (State Workgroup) hosted its second Carbon Capture and Utilization in Kansas conference. The meeting was held in the Beren Conference Center in the recently opened Earth Energy & Environment Center at the University of Kansas.
Nearly seventy individuals with wide-ranging interests and from different industry sectors participated in the one-day conference, including representatives from CO2 sources (coal power and ethanol plants), geologic sites (oil and gas industry—four largest oil producers in Kansas and largest CO2-EOR company in the U.S.), regulatory and public policy, governmental officials and scientists and researchers involved in two U.S. DOE-funded Phase 1 CarbonSAFE projects. Kansas government dignitaries included Andrew Wiens, Chief Policy Office for Governor Colyer, State representatives Tom Sloan and Mark Schreiber, and Commissioner Dwight Keen. On the regulatory and agency side, representatives from EPA Region 7, Kansas Department of Health and Environment, Kansas Corporation Commission, and the U.S. Department of Energy participated.
Andrew Wiens, Chief Policy Officer for Kansas Governor Jeff Colyer gives welcoming remarks during the morning session. Wiens commented that the first official letter Governor Colyer signed after being sworn in to office was in support of Phase II of the ongoing KGS CO2 project. Governor Colyer was unable to attend due to a busy campaign season.
Eugene Holubnyak, Kansas Geological Survey and Co-PI, gives an overview of the KGS CarbonSAFE Phase 1 study: Integrated Carbon Capture and Storage in Kansas (ICKan).
Dana Wreath, Vice President at Berexco, LLC. gives his view on strategies and considerations for operators to enter into the CCUS market and reviewed Berexco's CO2 EOR pilot project. Berexco has been a valuable and long-time partner in KGS CO2 research.
Greg Thompson, Chief Executive Officer with White Energy, speaks about the recently announced partnership with Occidental Petroleum to expand its investment in CCUS.
Martin Dubois, owner of Improved Hydrocarbon Recovery and Joint-PI for the KGS ICKan study, discusses the economics for various CCUS scenarios for Kansas and the Mid-Continent Region made feasible by the expansion and extension of the 45Q tax credits.