New Mexico Geological Society Annual Spring Meeting — Abstracts

We use Petroleum System Modeling techniques to support ongoing and potential future carbon storage and utilization efforts in the western Anadarko Basin. Petroleum system characterization models are developed to better understand regional migration risks of CO2, as well as hydrocarbon sources and fluid properties. This research is part of ongoing field scale characterization conducted by the Southwest Regional Partnership on Carbon Sequestration at Farnsworth Unit’s large scale carbon capture, utilization and storage operation in the pandhandle of Texas. The goal of this project is to evaluate the injection and storage of 1 million metric tons of 100% anthropogenic sourced CO2 as part of a CO2-Enhanced Oil Recovery operation. Carbon stored by EOR operations can help minimize the impact of carbon emissions on the climate system while meeting energy demands.

2D reflection seismic data, well log and core data were interpreted and integrated into three Petroleum System Models across the northeast Texas panhandle. Results highlight three key issues: (1) the regional migration risk of CO2 is towards the northwest and northeast, and appears low, (2) upper Morrowan reservoir hydrocarbons in the region are not dominantly sourced locally, and are most likely sourced from the Thirteen Finger and upper Morrowan black shales deeper in the Anadarko Basin, (3) Petroleum System Models are useful aids in characterizing CO2 migration patterns and risk, seal bypass systems, and potential additional reservoirs for CO2 storage. In order for carbon storage technology to make a measurable impact on emissions, its implementation would need to expand greatly across the globe. Petroleum System Modeling techniques appear to work well as a 1st order characterization tool for many vital geologic aspects of carbon storage. Decision makers could use this information to aid ranking and selection of future regions if the technology is to be deployed on increasing scales.