--> Abstract: Maximum Sustainable Carbon Dioxide Injection Pressures in the Naylor Field, Otway Basin; #90063 (2007)

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Maximum Sustainable Carbon Dioxide Injection Pressures in the Naylor Field, Otway Basin

 

Van Ruth, Peter John1, Josh Qiang Xu2 (1) Adelaide Univerity, Adelaide, Australia (2) Curtin University of Technology, Perth, Australia

 

The Naylor field in the onshore Otway Basin, Australia has been chosen by the Cooperative Research Centre for Greenhouse Gas Technologies (CO2CRC) for a geosequestration research and demonstration project. Carbon dioxide (CO2) will be produced from the Buttress well (drilled into a natural CO2 accumulation) and injected into an adjacent depleted methane reservoir (the Naylor field) at a depth of ~2000 m. Methane production from Naylor resulted in a reservoir pressure reduction of 7 MPa. Pore pressure has since increased by 5.5 MPa and the CO2 injection is expected to increase reservoir pressure by a further ~ 3 MPa. The Naylor field is bounded by faults which are optimally oriented for reactivation in the current stress regime. Maximum sustainable pressures have been predicted for: • near-borehole failure during injection (i.e. fracture gradient); • failure of reservoir or cap rock, and; • the reactivation of faults due to pressure increase in the reservoir. However, such estimates are typically subject to large errors due, in part, to uncertainties in the stress response of the reservoir to pore pressure changes (i.e. the reservoir stress path). Hence, further calibration is required. The nearby Iona natural gas underground storage facility, initially a methane field, provides an analogy for carbon dioxide injection and storage in the Naylor Field. The Iona field is bounded by faults which are also optimally oriented to reactivate in the current stress field. The Iona structure was initially depleted and has since undergone multiple periods of gas injection and production without observable fault reactivation or damage to the structure. The Iona analogy provides additional support for the planned activities at Naylor.

 

AAPG Search and Discover Article #90063©2007 AAPG Annual Convention, Long Beach, California