China's first Carbon Capture, Utilization and Storage (CCUS) project, which could reduce CO_2 emissions by one million tons per year, began operation on August 29 in Shengli Oil Field, east China's Shandong province, according to SINOPEC.

　　The cut of CO_2 emissions per annum by the project equals planting about nine million trees.

　　The project covers a reserve of more than 25 million tons of petroleum, and over 1,000 tons of CO_2 will be injected into 73 oil wells in 15 years. The project is expected to increase oil production by nearly three million tons, and lift the recovery ratio by over 12 percent, said Chen Jun, manager of the project at Shengli Oil Field.

　　The CO_2 is first captured by SINOPEC Qilu Petrochemical company from the gasification equipment in one of its chemical fertilizer factories, then transported by land to Shengli Oil Field, where the CO_2 is used for oil displacement and then stored.

　　Underground, CO_2 mixes with crude oil to lower the viscosity of the oil and accelerate its flow, according to Zhang Chuanbao, researcher at Shengli Oil Field. He said that such oil displacement by CO_2 both increases the production of crude oil and realizes underground storage of CO_2.

　　Data shows that the efficiency of CO_2 oil displacement is 40 percent higher than that of water. The primary sequestration proportion of CO_2 can reach 60 to 70 percent, and 100 percent of the CO_2 can be sequestrated with multiple recapture and reinjection.

　　Researchers at Shengli Oil Field have been working on CO_2 oil displacement since 1967, and more than 500,000 tons of CO_2 have been stored, while over 100,000 more tons of oil have been extracted.

　　Based on SINOPEC's plan, the pipeline for transporting CO_2 from Qilu Petrochemical to Shengli Oil Field is expected to start operation by the end of 2022, which will be the first time that CO_2 is transported in a pipeline over a long distance, under supercritical pressure.