Application of Geostatistical 3D Earth Model for CO₂ Storage Capacity Estimation in Jacksonburg-Stringtown Oil Field, West Virginia, USA.

Abstract

As concerns around global warming increase, carbon capture, utilization and geological storage (CCUS) is a promising way to reduce the emissions of anthropogenic CO₂ into the atmosphere. Sequestering the CO₂ into depleted hydrocarbon reservoirs with associated enhanced oil recovery (EOR) is the most achievable approach under current economic constraints since it increases recovery of existing oil reserves, and bridges the gap between regional-scale CO₂ capture and geologic sequestration. However, one of the challenges is the paucity of modern subsurface data required for adequate reservoir characterization and storage estimates. The Upper Devonian fluvial sandstone reservoirs in the Jacksonburg-Stringtown oil field in West Virginia, which have produced over 22 million barrels of oil since 1895, are ideal candidates for CO₂ sequestration coupled with EOR. Reservoir storage capacity and oil recovery factors are keys for the evaluation of coupled CO₂ storage and CO₂-EOR process. Regression relationships between wireline logs and core measured data for porosity, permeability are constructed by artificial neural network and support vector machine in core-scale; then extended from core-scale to well-scale, where wells do not have porosity and permeability wireline logs; finally a 3D static geological model is generated based on the Random Gaussian Function simulation method and well-established variogram models generated by detailed data analysis. A static 3D reservoir model, which integrates detailed geological knowledge and existing legacy geological data from Jacksonburg-Stringtown oil field, is constructed to estimate theoretical CO₂ storage capacity. Depending on the proposed 3D geological model, the best regions for coupled CCUS-EOR are located in southern portions of the field, and the estimated CO₂ theoretical storage capacity for Jacksonburg-Stringtown oil field varies from 24 to 383 million metric tons. The estimated results of CO₂ sequestration indicate that the Jacksonburg-Stringtown oilfield has significant potential for CO₂ storage and value-added EOR.

AAPG Datapages/Search and Discovery Article #90350 © 2019 AAPG Annual Convention and Exhibition, San Antonio, Texas, May 19-22, 2019