The Cortez CO2 Pipeline

Duration: 24:07:00

Year Published: 1980s

Sound: sound

Description: Produced by Robert Yarnall Richie Productions for Willbros Energy Services Company, this 1980s industrial film chronicles the construction of the Cortez carbon dioxide pipeline. Stretching approximately 500 miles from the McElmo Dome Field in Colorado to Denver City, Texas, the pipeline transports more than a billion cubic feet of carbon dioxide per day. Oil producers then inject the carbon dioxide into the ground around oil reserves to extract further crude oil and natural gas after the original well pressure has decreased. To construct the pipeline, the Houston-based Cortez Pipeline Company (a joint venture between Shell Oil Company, Mobil Oil Company, and Continental Resources Company) turned to Willbros Energy Services Company. The Cortez Pipeline is now operated by Kinder Morgan. Robert Yarnall Richie, who produced and directed this film, was a freelance industrial photographer and filmmaker who worked with various large corporations in Texas and around the globe.