CO₂ EOR potential in the Cooper and Surat basins – a cost-effective pathway to reduce CO₂ emissions

Dr Mohammad Bagheri was the Subsurface Manager with CO2CRC at the time of submitting this paper. He is a reservoir engineer with 19 years of oil and gas as well as CCS experience in Australia, Europe, and the Middle East. Mohammad holds a PhD in Petroleum Engineering from the Sharif University of Technology. He started his career with NIOC in 2003 as a field engineer and subsequently worked for Statoil, Schlumberger, British Gas, and Santos as both production and reservoir engineer in different time periods between 2005 and 2017. Mohammad is recognised as a chartered professional engineer with Engineers Australia. He is a member of the Board of Professional Engineers of Queensland (RPEQ) and certified by SPE as a petroleum professional. Mohammad has been the program chair for the Victorian and Tasmanian chapter of SPE since 2018.

Mr Matthew Wallace is a Project Manager with Advanced Resources International specialising in unconventional oil and gas resource analysis and carbon storage. He has 15 years of experience in energy data management, and 10 years of experience in unconventional resource modelling, carbon storage assessment, and petroleum reservoir database development. Mr Wallace has contributed studies to the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL), and Energy Information Administration (EIA), as well as numerous unconventional resource and carbon storage assessments for international oil and gas operators. His work includes CO₂-enhanced oil recovery (CO₂ EOR) modelling analysis of both onshore and offshore reservoir environments using both decline curve analysis and streamtube reservoir models (CO₂ PROPHET). Presentations and studies include ‘Characterisation of Offshore CO₂ EOR Resource Potential’ presented at the Southeast Regional Carbon Sequestration Partnership meeting and contribution of carbon storage resource characterisation in the report ‘Making Carbon a Commodity’ published by ClearPath. Mr Wallace holds a BS degree in Environmental Studies from the Washington and Lee University.

Mr Vello A. Kuuskraa, President of Advanced Resources International, has over 40 years of experience in energy resources development, technology, and economics. He is an internationally recognised expert on the technologies of unconventional gas and enhanced oil recovery, and their adaptation for CO₂ sequestration. He serves as the Chairman of the Advisory Board for Carbon Capture Project, a major industry/government partnership involving BP, Chevron and Petrobras, working on advanced CO₂ capture and storage technologies. Mr Kuuskraa has been a two-time SPE Distinguished Lecturer on the topic of Integrating Enhanced Oil Recovery and CO₂ Sequestration. Mr Kuuskraa is a 2001 recipient of the Ellis Island Medal of Honor that recognises individuals for exceptional professional and patriotic contributions by America’s diverse cultural ancestry. He currently serves on the National Petroleum Council and on the Board of the University of Wyoming’s School of Energy Resources. Mr Kuuskraa holds a MBA, Highest Distinction from The Wharton Graduate School and a BS, Applied Mathematics/Economics, from the North Carolina State University.

Dr. Hadi Nourollah is a Senior Geophysicist with 20 years of international experience in Petroleum and CCS industries. Hadi received his Master’s degree in Petroleum Geosciences at Imperial College, London and completed his PhD in Geophysics at Curtin University. He has worked for National Oil Companies in the Middle East, operators in SE Asia and directed an international consultancy in Australia for a decade prior to joining the global CCS leader CO2CRC. Hadi has experience in seismic data acquisition, processing and static modelling of geological data in Australasia, South America and the Middle East. His research interests are the sealing potential of shales and innovative seismic techniques such as Fibre Optics.

Dr Matthias Raab is an experienced manager with international credentials in successful, high-profile, and complex projects in industry and academia. He has 23 years of experience in commercial and R&D environments with major sector clients. At CO2CRC Ltd, Dr Raab manages large project portfolios with teams of up to 70 people and annual budgets of up to $20M. As CEO, Dr Raab has strategic and operational responsibility for CO2CRC’s research facilities, research programs, and the delivery of major research and infrastructure projects. Dr Raab manages a group of Senior Program, Project, and Operations Managers and provides leadership to CO2CRC’s strategic planning and implements new strategic initiatives. Dr Raab’s overall portfolio includes the $45M research program in Carbon Capture and Geological Carbon Storage, the CO2CRC Otway Field Facility, the Stage 3 Expansion of the Otway Project, and the $51.6M infrastructure grant awarded to CO2CRC under the Education Investment Fund. In previous roles, Dr Raab managed Australia’s largest 2D marine seismic survey in Bass Strait, led the Victorian CCS initiative exploring for industrial-scale CO₂ storage in the Gippsland Basin, and was a project manager building and documenting the border between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Republic of Yemen.

Mr Tim Duff is Project Portfolio Manager at NERA. His role is to ensure the effective delivery of programs and designated projects. This includes managing key stakeholder relationships, promoting project outcomes and identifying opportunities for collaboration in the energy resources sector. Tim holds a Bachelor of Engineering and a Master of Business Administration.