SECARB Phase 3, Task 15 Geological CO 2 Sequestration Capacity Estimate Offshore Northern Gulf of Mexico March 9, 2011 Prepared by David L. Carr Project Team: Cari Breton, GIS Analyst David L. Carr, Reservoir Geologist/Stratigrapher Tip Meckel, Geologist Erin Miller, Petroleum Engineer Ramon Trevino, Project Manager Changbing Yang, Geochemist
Outline Gulf of Mexico Basin Geology & Sequestration Opportunity SECARB Phase 3, Task 15 Capacity Estimate Methodology Project Limits and Boundaries Data Set & Sources Workflow Capacity Results Quantity Distribution (maps)
What is Geological CO Sequestration 2 Concept is to dispose of CO 2 in deep brine-filled reservoirs where it will be trapped for a long time, > 1,000 years Typically think of injecting CO 2 into a formation within an oil field or salt-water saturated dome Capacity is amount of CO 2 that can be sequestered in a geological formation (typically measured in Metric Tons)
The Gulf of Mexico Basin is BIG Gulf of Mexico Basin is made up of a very thick wedge of many, many individual formations Vast area of very thick sedimentary rocks requires different approach (than for oil field site ) for high-level characterization and capacity estimation (Brown & Loucks, 2009)
Gulf of Mexico Basin is a World-Class Sedimentary Wedge (National Geophysical Center, Marine Geology& Geophysics Division)
Gulf of Mexico Basin Sediment Thickness Map: Up to 50,000 ft of sedimentary rocks containing a multitude of deep-saline sandstone aquifers and traps 100 mi 161 km Total Sediment Isopach Gulf of Mexico Basin CI = 10,000 000 ft (3,048 m) (modified from Schaub et al., 1984; Armentrout, 1999)
Excellent Source-Sink Sink Relationship CO 2 Sources: Power Refinery Ethylene Ox. Ethylene Gulf of Mexico Basin Total Sediment Isopach CI = 10,000 ft (3,048 m) Oil & gas pipelines 100 mi 161 km (Isopach modified from Schaub et al., 1984; Armentrout, 1999)
Project Boundaries for Task 15 Capacity Estimate CO 2 Sources: Power Refinery Ethylene Ox. Ethylene Oil & gas pipelines 100 mi 161 km (Isopach modified from Schaub et al., 1984; Armentrout, 1999)
Opportunity to Leverage Over 60 Years of Offshore Petroleum Exploration & Production Voluminous information, data, and methodologies General cultural acceptance of subsurface operations Focus of NETL/DOE-Texas GLO Miocene Offshore Repository Project Focus of Task 15 Capacity Estimate CO 2 Sources: Oil & gas pipelines 100 mi 161 km Power Refinery Ethylene Ox. Ethylene
SECARB Phase 3, Task 15 Capacity Estimate, Gulf of Mexico Focus on offshore Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi Excludes Texas State Waters Southern boundary of Project Area determined by continental shelf margin where water-depth increases dramatically ~200 m bathymetric contour (>656 ft/200 m). Small portions of Pliocene Units spilled over the shelf edge; we left them intact (did not clip)
Capacity Methodology Used MIT Capacity Method* Mass resource estimate potential of CO2, saline formations is Where G CO2 = A t h g φ t ρ E saline (Metric Tons) A t = geographical area defining region of CO 2 storage h g = gross formation thickness φ t = total porosity ρ = density of CO 2 estimated at temperature and pressure of anticipated storage (reservoir) conditions E saline saline = CO 2 storage efficiency factor (we used E (we used E P50 = 0.02) * U.S. DOE/NETL Carbon Sequestration Program, 2010, Draft Report: Method from Methodology for Development of Geologic Storage Potential for Carbon Dioxide
Summary Workflow Used voluminous previous geological l results and other available data as foundation for stratigraphic framework Main data sources: Geologist performed regional reservoir characterization in Petra (subsurface geoscience software) Created Maps (grids in computer): Structure Interval Isopach Net Sandstone (h) Porosity (PHI) PHI*h Geologist handed off PHI*h maps (grids) to GIS expert Aided by Geochemist & Petroleum Engineer, GIS expert calculated Pressure and Temperature (grids) from Structure Geochemist calculated CO 2 Density from Pressure and Temperature maps (grids) GIS expert calculated Capacity,, clipped grids above 800 m/2,600 ft and/or landward of Federal OCS boundary; summed individual units (Total) * Gulf Basin Depositional Synthesis, U. Texas Inst. for Geophysics ** Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement
Data Set & Sources Well Control: : Total wells (57,243) used in project. Sourced from IHS Energy and BOEMRE (MMS). Sand-Bearing Interval Thickness Maps: : Distilled from 9 maps, Pliocene-Oligocene stratigraphic intervals from GBDS. Structure Maps: : Distilled from 6 maps, Pliocene-Eocene stratigraphic intervals from GBDS and integrated with paleo tops from BOEMRE (MMS). Paleontology: : Reports available (17,885 wells) for Pleistocene-Oligocene stratigraphic intervals from BOEMRE (MMS). Reservoir Porosity: : Porosity data available (10,601 wells) for Pleistocene-Oligocene stratigraphic intervals from BOEMRE (MMS). GBDS = Gulf Basin Depositional Synthesis, U. Texas Inst. for Geophysics BOEMRE = Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement
Microfossil Zones Define Geologic Units GBDS* (Galloway et al. 2000) BOEMRE** aka MMS (2003) This study Geologic Sequestration Units (GSU) Pleistocene: lies in deep water (>1,000 ft) Upper Pliocene GSU Lower Pliocene GSU Upper Miocene GSU Eocene, Paleocene and Mesozoic: too deeply buried (>15,000 ft) and/or lie in deep water (>1,000 ft) Lower Miocene GSU Oligocene GSU * Gulf Basin Depositional Synthesis, U. Texas Inst. for Geophysics ** Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement
Results: Offshore Gulf of Mexico CO 2 Capacity Estimate (P 50 ) Deep-saline sandstones CO 2 Capacity for 5 GSU s: 2 Upper Pliocene GSU.... 105 Billion Metric Tons Lower Pliocene GSU.... 144 Billion Metric Tons Upper Miocene GSU.... 199 Billion Metric Tons Lower Miocene GSU......89 Billion Metric Tons Oligocene GSU.........21 Billion Metric Tons Total Capacity...... 559 Billion Metric Tons GSU = Geological Sequestration Unit
CO 2 Capacity Map: Oligocene GSU Offshore Gulf of Mexico 21 Billion Metric Tons High : 36 (Millon Metric Tons CO 2 ) GSU = Geological Sequestration Unit
CO 2 Capacity Map: Lower Miocene GSU Offshore Gulf of Mexico 89 Billion Metric Tons High : 57 (Millon Metric Tons CO 2 ) GSU = Geological Sequestration Unit
CO 2 Capacity Map: Upper Miocene GSU Offshore Gulf of Mexico 199 Billion Metric Tons High : 55 (Millon Metric Tons CO 2 ) GSU = Geological Sequestration Unit
CO 2 Capacity Map: Lower Pliocene GSU Offshore Gulf of Mexico 144 Billion Metric Tons High : 36 (Millon Metric Tons CO 2 ) GSU = Geological Sequestration Unit
CO 2 Capacity Map: Upper Pliocene GSU Offshore Gulf of Mexico 105 Billion Metric Tons High : 34 (Millon Metric Tons CO 2 ) GSU = Geological Sequestration Unit
CO 2 Capacity Map: TOTAL Offshore Gulf of Mexico Sum of 5 GSU s = 559 Billion Metric Tons High : 90 (Millon Metric Tons CO 2 ) GSU = Geological Sequestration Unit
Conclusions Gulf of Mexico Basin has world-class geological sequestration potential Very thick sedimentary wedge Many suitable sandstone reservoirs Cenozoic rocks have best potential Oligocene, Miocene and Pliocene Total Capacity is 559 Billion Metric Tons
THE END Thank You
Offshore Gulf of Mexico: Capacity for 50 years of CO 2 Sequestration for > 2,000 Average Coal-fired Power Plants? Average = 5 MM metric tons CO 2 per year