Lessons Learned: IEAGHG Weyburn-Midale CO2 Monitoring & Storage

Research Project

Steve Whittaker, PTRC/GCCSI Neil Wildgust, IEAGHG/PTRC

Industry CCS Workshop, Dusseldorf, November 2011

CO2 Source: Great Plains Synfuel Plant

• 250 mmscfd CO2 by-product of coal (lignite) gasification

• approx. 8000 tonnes/day suitable for EOR

• CO2 purity 95% (less than 2% H2S)

• 180 mi pipeline (14 in & 12 in) built & operated by Great Plains

Research Project Objectives

Technical Components • Site Characterization • Monitoring • Wellbore Integrity • Risk & Performance

Management

Policy Components • Regulatory Issues • Public

Communications & Outreach (www.ccs101.ca)

Best Practice Manual Sept 2011

Transition of CO2-EOR

Operations to CO2-storage

Pre-injection, Operations,

Post-injection, Closure

SITE CHARACTERIZATION

ALBERTA MANITOBA

MONTANA

WYOMING SOUTH DAKOTA

NORTH DAKOTA

EDMONTON

SASKATOON

WINNIPEG REGINA

HELENA

BISMARCK

PIERRE

CALGARY

WILLISTON BASIN

HUDSON BAY

SASKATCHEWAN

WEYBURN

Weyburn Midale

6500 tonnes/day new CO2 6500 tonnes/day recycled

CO2 2.4 MT/year

~ 18 MT Stored

1250 tonnes/day new CO2 400 tonnes/day recycled

CO2 0.46MT/year

~ 2.5 MT Stored

Weyburn-Midale Area

Reservoir

• Industrial amounts of anthropogenic CO2 can be injected into geological formations

• ~ 5.6 MT annually (new & recycle)

Storage Estimates

18

Weyburn & Midale will store CO2 equivalent to removing about 9 million cars off the road for a year

Multiple Stakeholders

• Region is comfortable with CO2-EOR

• Long-term storage, however, still an uncertain concept

Key Stakeholder Questions

• Where will CO2 go after injected?

• Can it escape?

• How will it be monitored?

• If it migrates, can it be contained?

• Will it cause or be affected by earthquakes?

• Liability – Regulation

• Effect on reputation of the area

• How will community be engaged?

The One Stakeholder

• the influence of a single stakeholder may have significant impact on project (and beyond)

Communications

• Have a plan

• Press is ready to sensationalize

Monitoring

• usefulness (necessity?) of baseline surveys

• seismic

• reservoir fluids

• soil gas

• groundwater

Seismic Monitoring

• 4D seismic can be successfully deployed on land

• can describe CO2 distribution in subsurface

• Still a challenge to quantify amounts

• Reservoir specific rock physics an asset

Time-lapse 3D seismic

Passive Seismic

• Continuous monitoring since 2003

• Little microseismic activity resulting from injection of CO2

Reservoir Fluid Monitoring

• monitoring of brine chemistry can identify movement of CO2

• changes in brine chemistry provide insight into rock-CO2 interactions in the storage complex

Site Characterization

• Regional perspective critical for understanding long-term storage

• Natural Analog

• Hydrogeology of storage complex is important

• Discontinuities are difficult to characterize

Regional Hydrogeology

Performance Assessment

• variety of methods of RA used: probabilistic & deterministic; FEPs - Expert Judgment – Bowtie – Percolation Modeling: all are instructive exercises

• Weyburn has a very favorable risk profile

Wells

• Wells are the highest risk

• Wells are a manageable risk

Well Integrity Program

• Logging

• Cement samples

• Pressure Transient Tests

• Mini-frac

• Fluid sampling

What Else?

• how to most effectively monitor large land areas - what spacing - what frequency?

• what are threshold detection levels for different monitoring techniques

• How to re-engage press and public

THANK YOU

ACKNOWLEGEMENTS

• ALL SPONSORS

• ALL RESEARCHERS INVOLVED DURING THE PAST 10 YEARS