Impact of faults and compartmentalisation on geological carbon storage estimates in highly faulted basins
Jorik W. Poesse A B , Ludovic P. Ricard B C and Allison Hortle BA Faculty of Geosciences, Utrecht University, 3584 CS Utrecht, The Netherlands.
B CSIRO Energy, 26 Dick Perry Avenue, Kensington, WA 6151, Australia.
C Corresponding author. Email: Ludovic.Ricard@csiro.au
The APPEA Journal 57(2) 789-792 https://doi.org/10.1071/AJ16237
Accepted: 20 March 2017 Published: 29 May 2017
Abstract
Faults have extensively been studied for hydrocarbon exploration and production; however, previous studies on fault behaviour for geological carbon storage have focused on sealing capacity or reactivation potential during injection or post-injection phases. Little is known on the impact of faults for estimating storage capacity in highly faulted basins. A geological conceptual model of a representative compartment was designed to identify the key drivers of storage capacity estimates in highly faulted basins. An uncertainty quantification framework was then designed upon this model to address the impact of geological uncertainties such as fault permeability, reservoir injectivity, compartment geometry and closure on the compartment storage capacity. Pressure-limited storage capacity was estimated from numerical simulation of CO2 injection under the constraints of maximum bottom hole pressure and fault reactivation pressure. Interpretation of the simulation results highlights that (1) two injection regimes are observed: borehole- or fault-controlled, (2) storage capacity can vary more than an order of magnitude, (3) fault and reservoir permeability can be regarded as the most influential properties with respect to storage capacity, (4) compartment geometry mainly influences the injection regime controlling the storage capacity and (5) the large sensitivity of storage capacity to the type of enclosure and fault permeability indicates that pressure build-up at the fault is often the deciding factor for CO2 storage capacity.
Keywords: capacity, CO2 storage, faulted basins, faults, pressure.
Jorik Poesse is an MSc student of geology and geophysics at Utrecht University in the Netherlands. Having completed modules in both ends of the field, he has worked as an industrial trainee at CSIRO Energy on reservoir modelling of CO2 storage and is currently working on his more geology-focused MSc thesis using paleomagnetism. His aim is to combine both disciplines in his future career. |
Ludovic Ricard is a reservoir engineer at CSIRO Energy. He holds a MSc from the University of Bordeaux 1 and a PhD in Earth Science from the University of Paris XI. He completed his Post-doctoral Fellowship at Heriot Watt University (Edinburgh, UK) focusing in well test and 4D seismic interpretation. He joined CSIRO Energy as a reservoir engineer for geothermal energy projects, later moving to carbon geosequestration storage and unconventional reservoirs. He is SPE WA Secretary. Member of ASEG, IAH, EAGE, PESA and SPE. |
Allison Hortle has been a Senior Researcher with CSIRO Energy since 1993 and leads the Reservoir Dynamics Group in the Oil Gas and Fuels Program. Allison is currently undertaking a PhD at the University of Western Australia. Allison’s most recent research addresses the need to couple large-scale deep reservoir processes (such as CO2 injection and unconventional gas production) to near surface techniques for determining environmental baselines and long-term monitoring and verification practises. |
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