The reservoir characteristics of 97 North Dakota oil reservoirs unitized for water flooding before January 2004 were evaluated. North Dakota has Probable carbon dioxide (CO2) miscible oil reserves of 181 million barrels of oil (MMbo) with Possible CO2 miscible oil reserves of 106 MMbo. A spreadsheet was created summarizing the key reservoir characteristics of a majority of the 97 unitized North Dakota oil reservoirs plus several non-unitized oil reserves to assess CO2 miscible flooding potential. Reservoirs with CO2 miscible flooding potential exceeding 2 MMbo are the most likely candidates for future CO2 miscible projects.

A review of the standardized CO2 reservoir screening methodology is presented. The authors applied a simple empirical screening methodology to assess the best North Dakota fields and reservoirs for application of CO2 flooding. The majority of the future potential for CO2 miscible flooding in North Dakota is in carbonate oil reservoirs. A summary of the results from successful carbonate CO2 miscible flooding projects in West Texas is presented. A comparison is made between North Dakota reservoir characteristics and those of the ongoing CO2 miscible flood in both West Texas and the Weyburn Unit in Southeast Saskatechewan. Constraints to future CO2 development in North Dakota are addressed.