Opportunities for Producing Hydrogen and Low-carbon Fossil Fuels from Venezuelan Conventional and Unconventional Hydrocarbon Reservoirs: An Idea in Times of Energy Transition to Net Zero-Carbon

Venezuela has a big potential for the generation of energy from renewable resources (e.g. water, wind, solar, biomass, etc.), geothermal reservoirs, and from its huge reserves of hydrocarbons in conventional and highly viscous oil reservoirs. Due to the great efforts being made by several countries worldwide to reduce the emission of greenhouse gases and global warming, the production of clean fuels (e.g. hydrogen) with low-carbon content to reach net zero is a great challenge, but yet of keen interest, for the Venezuelan industry. The objective of this article is to review most of the relevant techniques and propose potential scenarios/technologies for the reduction of greenhouse gases and the generation of clean fuels from reservoirs in Venezuela. The methodologies that have been envisaged in various industry and research segments in hydrogen and low-carbon fuels include, but are not limited to, steam reforming, pyrolysis, gasification, combustion, CCUS, oil, etc. A detailed description of each technology along with relevant scenarios and main conclusions are given. Also, the processes and procedures undertaken in these clean fuel generation technologies are addressed in this article to cover advances made in various industry disciplines and to highlight potential future breakthroughs. For the Venezuelan particular case, the following major scenarios are predicted for the generation of clean fossil fuels: 1) production of hydrogen from natural gas with CO₂ capture and storage in aquifers or in depleted hydrocarbon reservoirs, 2) use of the produced or sequestered CO₂ for Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) in reservoirs with production decline, 3) production of clean fossil fuels from upgrading techniques and applicable EOR methods (e.g. in-situ combustion), 4) perspectives for the generation of hydrogen from renewable resources, among others. The application of each of these technologies/scenarios is closely linked to underlying technical feasibility and economics. This article presents an approach to producing hydrogen and low-carbon fossil fuels, upstream and downstream, with CO₂ capture and storage. The sequestered CO₂ could then be used in miscible gas floods in conventional oil reservoirs for improved recovery, despite the possible effect on asphaltene precipitation and related flow assurance issues. Reconversion schemes for existing flow lines and new infrastructure designs would be necessary for the application of hydrogen and low-carbon fuel technologies, which would involve significant investments in terms of OPEX and CAPEX.