Whitecap ResourcesA Responsible Energy Story

At Whitecap Resources, we're proud to be the operator and majority owner of the Weyburn Unit in southeast Saskatchewan and the sole owner and operator of the Joffre Unit in central Alberta. These developments inject carbon dioxide (CO2) safely, responsibly, and permanently deep underground to increase oil production from two crude oil reservoirs. The Joffre Unit is Canada's first commercial CO2 flood for enhanced oil recovery. Weyburn is backed by years of extensive scientific research and today is recognized as the world's largest carbon capture, utilization and storage project for enhanced oil recovery in the world using anthropogenic CO2.

Frequently Asked Questions

Here's How it Works

  1. Collecting waste emissions

    At Weyburn, we purchase CO2 from the Boundary Dam Power Station in Estevan, Saskatchewan, and the Great Plains Synfuels plant in North Dakota. At Joffre, we purchase CO2 from the NOVA Chemicals' Joffre manufacturing facility in central Alberta. Without these two operations, the majority of the CO2 would otherwise be released to atmosphere.

    1.5 to 2.0 Million Tonnes of CO2

    are sequestered each year (equivalent to 2,300 to 3,125 square kilometers of mature trees growing for one year).

  2. Safe Injection of CO2

    wcap-process-injection.pngWe inject CO2 at high pressure into the producing formation 1,500 metres underground. Injecting CO2 deep underground safely stores carbon.

    3X1,500 metres is equivalent to three times the height of the CN Tower in Toronto.

  3. Sustainable Oil Production

    The CO2 acts likes a solvent to flush otherwise unrecoverable oil from pores in the rock. This results in incremental oil production that could not be achieved with conventional means.

    wcap-process-production.png
  4. Extracting Valuable Products

    At the surface, oil and natural gas liquids are extracted for sale. The CO2 produced during oil recovery is returned to the reservoir so that all injected CO2 is permanently stored deep underground.

CO2 Captured

At Weyburn, we purchase CO2 from the Boundary Dam Power Station in Estevan, Saskatchewan, and the Great Plains Synfuels plant in North Dakota. At Joffre, we purchase CO2 from the NOVA Chemicals' Joffre manufacturing facility in central Alberta. Without these two operations, the majority of the CO2 would otherwise be released to atmosphere.

Safe Injection of CO2

We inject CO2 at high pressure into the producing formation 1,500 metres underground. Injecting CO2 deep underground safely stores carbon.

Sustainable Oil Production

The CO2 acts likes a solvent to flush otherwise unrecoverable oil from pores in the rock. This results in incremental oil production that could not be achieved with conventional means.

Extracting Valuable Products

At the surface, oil and natural gas liquids are extracted for sale. The CO2 produced during oil recovery is returned to the reservoir so that all injected CO2 is permanently stored deep underground.


Small Footprint Big Impact

We inject CO2 to maximize well performance, keeping a small 
footprint and safely storing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions underground.

1.5 to 2.0 million tonnes CO2

are stored each year as part of CO2 enhanced oil recovery.

> 40 Million Tonnes CO2

over the lifetime of these projects

 

= 8m

That’s equal to taking 8 million cars off
the road for an entire year.

Locations

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Joffre Unit

The Joffre Unit is Canada's first commercial CO2 enhanced oil recovery project.
 

Year C02 Injection Began

1984

 

Average Annual Injection Since Inception

31,000 Tonnes

 

Total Sequestered To Date

1,400,000 Tonnes

 

Current Production Rates

240 BOE/D

 

 

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Weyburn Unit

Weyburn remains the world's largest anthropogenic CO2 
sequestration project.
 

Year C02 Injection Began

2000

 

Average Annual Injection Since Inception

1,700,000 Tonnes

 

Total Sequestered To Date

40,000,000 Tonnes

 

Current Production Rates

21,500 BOE/D

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FAQs

WHAT IS CARBON CAPTURE, UTILIZATION AND STORAGE?
WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF USING CO2 IN ENHANCED OIL RECOVERY?
HOW IS CO2 SAFELY INJECTED AS PART OF ENHANCED OIL RECOVERY?
HOW DO WE KNOW THE CO2 STAYS IN THE GROUND?

"The Weyburn unit's 65 years of sustainable production has provided meaningful work for three generations of my family."

Colby Mainil, Production EngineerWeyburn Unit, Whitecap Resources

Learn more about our Southeast Saskatchewan (SESK) Business Unit