CO2 Storage in Depleted or Depleting Oil and Gas Fields: What can We Learn from Existing Projects?

Abstract Storing CO2 in depleted or depleting oil and gas fields has now been proven at a number of sites worldwide. Key risks have been overcome, for example, relating to site design for dealing with reduced reservoir pressure, re-using infrastructure and managing wellbore integrity risks. Despite this, large-scale “pure” CO2 storage in depleted fields remains to be tested and closure of a large-scale CO2-EOR site has not yet occurred. It is hoped that dissemination of key learnings from these sites will encourage and inform discussions on CO2 storage in depleting fields elsewhere, to allow the early consideration necessary for exploitation of existing facilities (prior to decommissioning), and ultimately fill the short-term CO2 storage gap for quick (and relatively cheap) climate abatement returns until large-scale storage in saline aquifers can be fully implemented.

[1]  Patrice de Caritat,et al.  Safe storage and effective monitoring of CO2 in depleted gas fields , 2011, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

[2]  Akand W. Islam,et al.  Using pulse testing for leakage detection in carbon storage reservoirs: A field demonstration , 2016 .

[3]  P. Lichtner,et al.  Analysis and performance of oil well cement with 30 years of CO2 exposure from the SACROC Unit, West Texas, USA , 2007 .

[4]  Michael Fehler,et al.  Time-lapse walkaway vertical seismic profile monitoring for CO2 injection at the SACROC enhanced oil recovery field: A case study , 2014 .

[5]  Curtis M. Oldenburg,et al.  Analysis of potential leakage pathways at the Cranfield, MS, U.S.A., CO2 sequestration site , 2013 .

[6]  David S. Hughes.  Carbon storage in depleted gas fields: Key challenges , 2009 .

[7]  Susan D. Hovorka,et al.  Monitoring a large-volume injection at Cranfield, Mississippi—Project design and recommendations , 2013 .

[8]  M. Rearick,et al.  Sensitivity of groundwater systems to CO2: Application of a site-specific analysis of carbonate monitoring parameters at the SACROC CO2-enhanced oil field , 2012 .

[9]  Seunghee Kim,et al.  Above‐zone pressure monitoring and geomechanical analyses for a field‐scale CO2 injection project in Cranfield, MS , 2014 .

[10]  Seyyed A. Hosseini,et al.  Integration of reservoir simulation, history matching, and 4D seismic for CO2-EOR and storage at Cranfield, Mississippi, USA , 2016 .

[11]  Jean-Philippe Nicot,et al.  Static and dynamic reservoir modeling for geological CO2 sequestration at Cranfield, Mississippi, U.S.A. , 2013 .

[12]  P. Cook,et al.  Geologically storing carbon: learning from the Otway Project Experience. , 2014 .

[13]  Weon Shik Han,et al.  Evaluation of trapping mechanisms in geologic CO2 sequestration: Case study of SACROC northern platform, a 35-year CO2 injection site , 2010, American Journal of Science.