Energy Transition
Energy Transition | Carbon Capture, Storage and Utilisation
Monitoring Geologic CO2 Storage Sites
Format and Duration:
2 days
3 sessions
Next Event
Location: Virtual
Date:
2nd - 4th Dec 2025
Start Time:
14:00 GMT
Event Code: N553a25V
Fee From: GBP £1,740
(exc. Tax)
This course is based on the international ISO standard for CO2 geological storage and empowers attendees to implement the many phases of CO2 storage monitoring in saline reservoirs, depleted fields and active CO2 EOR fields. Delegates will learn the basic requirements for gaining a permit for CO2 storage, and how to develop monitoring programs to attain permits and achieve long-term project success. Attendees will be guided through the life-cycle of a CO2 storage project with an emphasis on technical considerations, key concepts, processes, and workflows of the permitting process. Focus will be on providing applicable skills to real-world project development.
Business Impact: Carbon capture and geologic storage CCS is a recognized technology for mitigating CO2 emissions. Monitoring geological CO2 storage sites is a critical element of a CCS project and is required to gain emissions reduction credits and to ensure environmental protection. Monitoring is generally required over all phases of a project and throughout the entire stratigraphy from reservoir to surface. The choice of tools and approach is highly specific to site conditions, project goals and regulatory requirements with important technical nuances specific to CO2 storage.
Schedule
Event Code: N553a25V
Sessions: 3 sessions
Instructors: Katherine Romanak, Susan Hovorka
Dates:
2nd - 4th Dec 2025
Start Time:
14:00 GMT
Location: Virtual
Fee From
GBP £1,740
(exc. Tax)
Good Availability
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Duration and Training Method
This is a classroom or virtual interactive classroom course comprising presentations, discussions, case studies and interactive exercises.
Course Overview
Learning Outcomes
Participants will learn to:
- Describe why, how, and where monitoring is accomplished.
- Delineate the different monitoring challenges of the various reservoir types (saline, depleted fields, EOR).
- Outline the different goals and strategies for monitoring over the lifecycle of a project and within the different zones of a project area stratigraphy.
- Recognize the elements of a permit and the various strategies for fulfilling regulatory requirements.
- Use risk assessment to aid in choosing monitoring strategies using an ALPMI method.
- Design a workflow and perform the key tasks for defining, developing and permitting a CCUS project, beginning with characterization, risk assessment, and monitoring for operational and post-operational phases.
Course Content
Session 1: Overview of CO2 storage concepts
- Why do we monitor?
- Regulations, guidance and emissions accounting
- Overview of geological storage reservoirs (depleted reservoirs, saline reservoirs and CO2-EOR monitoring)
- Importance of well infrastructure
- Overview of Monitoring zones and phases
- Risk assessment and the monitoring plan - ALPMI
- Attribution and environmental monitoring - Kerr Farm Case study
- Environmental impacts and underground sources of drinking water, soil, and the biosphere
- Safety and public perception
Session 2: The elements of a storage permit
- Monitoring and verification program objectives and plan design
- Monitoring to the risk assessment
- Site characterization/baseline monitoring
- Conformance monitoring
- Monitoring for assurance
- Seismic and geomechanical monitoring
- Injection period monitoring
- site closure criteria and plan
Session 3: Putting it all together
- Permitting exercise
- Attribution game
- Wrap up
Who Should Attend and Prerequisites
This course is aimed at project developers, regulators, subsurface oil and gas professionals who are familiar with CCUS as a technology and would like to further develop their skills for CO2 storage project development. It is recommended specifically for:
- Geologists, geophysicists, reservoir engineers and other technical subsurface professionals working in CCS who are interested in CO2 storage monitoring
- Consultants in related fields who want to understand the nuances of CO2 storage monitoring
- Professionals developing geologic storage for CCUS projects
- Recent graduates in petroleum geoscience and reservoir engineering who want to develop skills in CCUS monitoring
Instructors
Susan Hovorka
Background
Dr. Susan Hovorka is a sedimentologist who works on fluid flow in diverse applications, inlcuding water resource protection, oil production, and waste storage. She has led a team working geologic storage of CO2 since 1998, with a focus on field studies, monitoring, and capacity estimation. Projects include saline injection at the Frio Test site and Cranfield Field and EOR studies at SACROC oil field, Cranfield, Hastings and West Ranch industrial CO2 utilization projects and GoMCARB offshore charaterization study. She specializes in monitoring to document retention. The Gulf Coast Carbon Center is leading efforts to develop offshore storage capacity in the the US and globaly.
She has a long-term commitment to public and educational outreach.
Affiliations & Accreditation
PhD University of Texas - Geology
MA University of Texas - Geology
BA Earlham College - Geology
Courses Taught
N549: Subsurface Characterization, Screening and Site Selection for Geologic CO2 Storage Sites
N553: Monitoring Geologic CO2 Storage Sites
Katherine Romanak
Background
Dr. Katherine Romanak is a Research Scientist of the University of Texas at Austin, Bureau of Economic Geology. She is a geochemist who has developed and implemented environmental monitoring programs at several large-scale U.S. Department of Energy CCUS project sites. Dr. Romanak has developed an innovative process-based method for environmental monitoring at CCUS projects and has collaborated on international projects in Canada, Australia, and Japan. She led a response team of scientists to determine that alleged leakage at the Kerr Farm near the Weyburn CO2 Storage project in Canada was a false alarm. She serves on multiple international CCUS Advisory boards and regularly informs global policy within the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.
Affiliations & Accreditation
PhD University of Texas - Geology
MSc University of Texas - Geology
BSc Southern Methodist University - Geology
Courses Taught
N538: Repurposing Subsurface Petroleum Skills for CCUS
N553: Monitoring Geologic CO2 Storage Sites
Accreditation and Certification
CEU: 1.4 Continuing Education Units
PDH: 14 Professional Development Hours
Certificate: Certificate Issued Upon Completion
RPS is accredited by the International Association for Continuing Education and Training (IACET) and is authorized to issue the IACET CEU. We comply with the ANSI/IACET Standard, which is recognised internationally as a standard of excellence in instructional practices.
We issue a Certificate of Attendance which verifies the number of training hours attended. Our courses are generally accepted by most professional licensing boards/associations towards continuing education credits. Please check with your licensing board to determine if the courses and certificate of attendance meet their specific criteria.