Carbon-Neutral Economic Viability of Enhanced CO2 Storage and Gas Recovery in Natural Gas Reservoirs Under Strong Bottom Water Drive

Summary Primary production strategies in conventional natural gas (NG) reservoirs under strong waterdrive result in low recovery efficiency as encroaching water traps NG in the pore space and minimizes gas expansion recovery by disabling the reservoir pressure decline. Recent results show that CO2 injection can enhance gas recovery (EGR) and CO2 storage (ECS) while mitigating water influx. This study evaluates project economics including reservoir management strategies and revenue generation processes that result in a carbon-neutral outcome. Economic analysis considers five carbon-neutral processes and concludes that SMR-based blue hydrogen generation with the 45 V tax credit is the most profitable option where applicable. Integrating advanced reservoir management strategies with a carbon-neutral process improves NG recovery, maximizes CO₂ storage, and achieves significantly better performance than conventional production strategies in reservoirs with strong waterdrive.