54 TEXAS JOURNAL OF OIL , GAS , AND ENERGY LAW [ Vol . 16:1
2 . EOR as a Climate Change Mitigation Strategy for the Fossil Fuels Industry
The Texas legislature and Texas Supreme Court have each acknowledged the importance of the role that secondary recovery operations play in enabling responsible operation and preventing waste . One Texas Supreme Court case noted :
Secondary recovery operations are carried on to increase the ultimate recovery of oil and gas , and it is established that pressure maintenance projects result in more recovery than was obtained by primary methods . It cannot be disputed that such operations should be encouraged , for as the pressure behind the primary production dissipates , the greater is the public necessity for applying secondary recovery forces . 49
The examples discussed above indicate the deployment of CCUS technology for EOR operations would increase efficiency in recovery and prevent waste in the same manner as secondary recovery .
In the last several years , the upstream and midstream sectors have seen an increased scrutiny placed on the overall environmental and climate change impacts of their businesses . 50 In Colorado for instance , the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission expanded the factors considered for approval of a drilling permit to include public safety and welfare . 51 Further , under the National Environmental Policy Act and analogous state laws , federal and state agencies permitting oil and gas projects have expanded their consideration of environmental impacts to include , in some cases , consumption ( i . e . burning ) of the fossil fuels produced or transported by the project being permitted . Opponents of fossil fuels , like non-governmental organizations pushing the “ Keep It In the Ground ” initiative , have seized upon these environmental reviews to delay , and in some cases prevent , projects from coming to fruition . As a result , the need and importance of CCUS technology only increases as regulatory agencies continue to place more focus on the environmental impact of development .
The use of CCUS technology can mitigate the climate change impacts associated with oil and gas development , meaning state regulators will no longer be forced to make a binary choice with respect to allowing oil and gas development that is often vital to their area ’ s economy and their constituents ’ concerns for climate change . Similarly , CCUS technology may also help mitigate investors ’ environmental and social governance ( ESG ) concerns surrounding the production and development of hydrocarbons . As noted above , according to the EIA , approximately 76 % of U . S . energy-related CO 2 emissions came from
49 . R . R . Comm ’ n of Tex . v . Manziel , 361 S . W . 2d 560 , 568 ( Tex . 1962 ). 50 . See generally , Tara K . Righetti et al ., The New Oil and Gas Governance , 130 YALE L . J . F . 51 ,
51 – 77 ( 2020 ). 51 . Id . at 60 .