Register      Login
Australian Energy Producers Journal Australian Energy Producers Journal Society
Journal of Australian Energy Producers
RESEARCH ARTICLE (Non peer reviewed)

Integrating underground gas storage experience for CCS optimisation

Zis G. Katelis A * and William J. Askham A
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A GaffneyCline, Sydney, Australia.

* Correspondence to: zis.katalis@gaffneycline.com

The APPEA Journal 63 S404-S408 https://doi.org/10.1071/AJ22056
Accepted: 20 March 2023   Published: 11 May 2023

© 2023 The Author(s) (or their employer(s)). Published by CSIRO Publishing on behalf of APPEA.

Abstract

Carbon capture and storage (CCS) sites require diligent assessments to account for potential leakage over time. Leakage pathways include both natural and engineered (e.g. wells) invoking the requirement for a structured technical analysis as part of a risk inventory. This paper focuses on lessons learnt from underground gas storage (UGS) sites to guide CCS technical workflows to handle natural geological risk elements. UGS facilities have been operating for over a 100 years. Their injection and withdrawal histories, by their very nature, test the complex changes that occur to the reservoir and cap-rock over time and provide valuable insight to demonstrate the feasibility of CCS and its potential for long-term storage. Geomechanical assessment of the reservoir and cap-rock requires an inventory of core material, log and seismic data with the aim of selecting the appropriate data to model the ability of that formation to contain a column of CO2. As supercritical CO2 is injected into the formation and pore pressure builds, the geomechanics of the reservoir needs diligent review to assess the potential to trigger failure on the cap-rock and pre-existing faults and fractures. UGS injection/withdrawal histories assist in the reservoir and overburden static and dynamic modelling along with designing a measurement, monitoring and verification process for CCS sites. Technical workflows, from seismic and static modelling to geomechanics and dynamic simulation and back to seismic for containment monitoring, are discussed that have been refined by UGS experience to benefit the selection of potential CCS sites.

Keywords: carbon capture and storage, CO2, core, cushion gas, fluid substitution modelling, geomechanics, maximum pressure, salt cavern, seismic, SHmax, Shmin, supercritical, tracers, underground gas storage, uniaxial compressive strength, working gas.

Zis G. Katelis (zis.katalis@gaffneycline.com), GaffneyCline Technical Director. Zis has 25+ years of experience working on seismic processing, interpretation projects and workflows, log data integration as well as contributing to and leading integrated technical studies. With GaffneyCline since July 2007, he has managed and contributed to reserves and resource assessments and technical and commercial studies for conventional and unconventional reservoirs and gas storage projects. Zis has had prior assignments in Singapore, Thailand, Middle East, Indonesia, China and Australia with GaffneyCline, as an independent consultant and SLB. He has been based in Sydney since 2010. He has been professionally involved with SPE, is a SEAPEX member in addition to being a SPE 2022 APOGCE Technical Committee member. He received a BSc. (Hons.) in Geophysics from Monash University, Australia.

William J. Askham (william.askham@gaffneycline.com), GaffneyCline Senior Advisor. William has 15+ years of industry experience as a Geoscientist working in a wide range of project-focused roles for both technical and commercial studies including M&A due diligence, reserve and resource assessments, asset valuation and UGS projects. He has been based in Sydney since 2013 and in the United Kingdom prior to that. He has a MSc in Petroleum Geoscience from Imperial College London and a BSc. (Hons.) in Geology from Cardiff University.


References

Habibi R (2019) An investigation into design concepts, design methods and stability criteria of salt caverns. Oil & Gas Science and Technology - Rev. IFP Energies nouvelles 74, 14
An investigation into design concepts, design methods and stability criteria of salt caverns.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |

Huseby O, Andersen M, Svorstøl I, Dugstad Ø (2008) Improved understanding of reservoir fluid dynamics in the North Sea Snorre Field by combining tracers, 4D. SPE Reservoir Evaluation & Engineering 11, 768–777.
Improved understanding of reservoir fluid dynamics in the North Sea Snorre Field by combining tracers, 4D.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |

Ong SH (2022) ‘Internal Geomechanics Training Class Material.’ (Baker Hughes)

Vikara D, Zymroz T, Withum JA, Shih CY, Lin SM, Hoffman H, Guinan A, Carr T (2019) Underground Natural Gas Storage – Analog Studies to Geologic Storage of CO2. National Energy Technology Laboratory: USA.
| Crossref |