UND's EERC awarded more than $11 million for oil recovery, carbon storage projects

Apr. 24—GRAND FORKS — The Energy and Environmental Research Center at the University of North Dakota has been awarded $11.6 million for research related to enhanced oil recovery and carbon capture.

The funding was announced Wednesday, April 24 by the office of Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D.

According to the release from Hoeven, the funds, made available under the Department of Energy's Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management, "will enable EERC to conduct 18 months of field and laboratory research to study the viability of injecting CO2 into unconventional oil reservoirs for the purposes of enhanced oil recovery and long-term emissions storage."

The release said Hoeven, a member of the Senate Energy and Water Development Appropriations Committee, "secured strong support for the DOE's oil and gas research programs in annual funding legislation" and also "worked to advance EERC's application, stressing the project's benefits to both U.S. energy security and improved environmental stewardship."

"The EERC is a world-class research institution and has been a central player to North Dakota's efforts to crack the code on CCUS," Hoeven said. "This latest project will help maximize the full potential of the Bakken by advancing cutting-edge research for unconventional enhanced oil recovery operations, supporting U.S. energy security by making the best use of our abundant oil and gas reserves. At the same time, this provides a productive use for the CO2 that is being captured at a range of energy facilities in the state, including our coal and biofuel plants."