home news release 2014 News release details news release 2014 July 15, 2014 About the start of a crude oil production increase project by utilizing exhaust gas from coal-fired power plants in the United States Our company (President: Shunsaku Miyake) is a US subsidiary JX Nippon Oil Exploration (USA) Limited (President: Kazuo Tanabe) invested by JX Nippon Oil Exploration (EOR) Limited ( * 1 ) (President: Kazuo Tanabe) (hereinafter " JX " Through " EOR "), we built a plant in the United States to recover carbon dioxide ( CO2 ) from the combustion exhaust gas of coal-fired power plants, and started a project to increase crude oil production by injecting the recovered CO2 into the oil field. We will inform you of this. This is an epoch-making project that can simultaneously realize a dramatic increase in crude oil production in aging oil fields and a reduction in global warming gas ( CO2 ) emitted from coal-fired power plants into the atmosphere . This project will be carried out through a 50:50 joint venture between a subsidiary of NRG Energy, Inc. (“ NRG ”), a major US electric power company , and JX EOR . The joint venture will be the world's largest plant to recover CO2 from flue gas at the WA Parish coal-fired power plant in Texas, USA ( NRG 's largest coal-fired power plant in the United States, located in the southwestern part of Houston). * 2 ) will be constructed and the recovered CO2 will be injected underground into the West Ranch oil field in Texas ( located approximately 130km southwest of the power plant ) to increase crude oil production. At the same time, through this scheme, it will be possible to reduce the CO2 emitted from the coal-fired power plant into the atmosphere by about 1.6 million tons per year . Commercial operation of the CO2 capture plant and injection of CO2 into the West Ranch oil field are scheduled to begin in the fourth quarter of 2016 , and the production volume of the oil field will increase from the current 500 barrels per day to about 12,000 barrels per day (project period). It is expected to increase dramatically to (average), and the cumulative production increase is expected to be about 60 million barrels. We own a 25% stake in the West Ranch oil field through a joint venture with NRG . Under the Clean Call Power Initiative Program ( * 3 ), a subsidy ( US $ 167 million) will be obtained from the US Department of Energy for the necessary funds for this project, as well as Japan Bank for International Cooperation and Japan Bank for International Cooperation. We have agreed with Mizuho Bank to provide a project finance loan. Mizuho Bank's loans are insured by Nippon Export and Investment Insurance. The total investment scale of this project is expected to be approximately US $ 1 billion. 本プロジェクトは、CO2の圧入により石油の増産を目指す取り組み（石油増進回収技術：CO2-EOR（Enhanced Oil Recoveryの略））の中でも、石炭火力発電所から排出されるガスを活用して商業化に導いた案件という点で、先進的なものといえます。CO2-EORは、地球温暖化の原因となるCO2を地中に貯留し、同時に石油の増進回収も可能とするもので、当社グループは、2011年に独立行政法人石油天然ガス・金属鉱物資源機構およびベトナム国営石油会社とともに、ベトナム洋上ランドン油田においてCO2-EORパイロットテストを実施するなど、原油の増進回収を重点的な技術と位置付けております。 当社は、今後も、新しい発想のもとで、地球環境と調和した事業展開に積極的に取り組んでまいります。 以　上 （*1）当社が100％出資するJX Nippon Oil Exploration (U.S.A.) Limitedの100％子会社 ( * 2 ) The CO2 capture plant for this project will be constructed by a consortium of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd., a US operating company of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd., and TIC ( The Industrial Company ), a major US construction company . With a daily CO2 capture capacity of 4,776 tons, it is the largest plant in the world that captures CO2 from combustion exhaust gas . ( * 3 ) Policy to promote environmentally friendly coal utilization technology in the United States [Contact for inquiries regarding this matter] General Affairs Group, General Affairs Department, JX Nippon Oil & Energy Development Co., Ltd. 2-6-3 Otemachi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 100-8163 TEL: 03-6275-5241 Attachment Attachment (PDF: 543.8 KB / 2 pages) news release 2014 2013 2012 2011 2010 2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 home news release 2014 News release details news release 2014 2013 2012 2011 2010 2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 Business Activities｜Flow of Oil Development｜Company Information｜Safety / Environment / Social Contribution｜Recruitment Information Home｜Site Map｜Contact