Energy Transition
Energy Transition | Carbon Capture, Storage and Utilisation
Storage Exploration – Screening and Selection of CO2 Sites
Format and Duration:
2 days
3 sessions
This course considers the systematic evaluation of regional structure and stratigraphy to identify potential sites for geological storage of CO2, beginning with the typically wide range CCS development concepts, potentially encompassing onshore or offshore, new or adaptation of existing infrastructure and open aquifers as well as closed structures. It explores identification of potential storage complexes, assessment of storage capacity and relative CO2 containment risks of potential storage sites.
One of the main targets for CO2 storage is in depleted oil fields which have rock volumes which are already well characterised geologically, and much relevant infrastructure is already in place. CO2 injection may also generate enhanced oil recovery. This course outlines criteria and approaches that can be used for such screening, based on methods that have already been applied successfully. It concludes with formulation of an indicative development plan and integrated economic/technical criteria for ranking sites for further investigation.
Schedule
Duration and Training Method
This is a virtual interactive classroom course comprising presentations, discussions and case studies.
Course Overview
Learning Outcomes
Participants will learn to
- Evaluate potential storage sites in terms of regional structure and stratigraphy, depths and pressures, reservoir quality
- Consider storage capacity, injectivity and pressure management in potential storage sites
- Carry out a risk assessment of legacy wells and infrastructure
- Undertake a portfolio evaluation adopting a criteria-based scoring methodology
- Consider the technical, operational and economic criteria in the selection of potential storage sites
- Formulate an indicative development plan integrating economic, operational and technical criteria for ranking sites for further investigation
Course Content
Selection of CO2 storage sites
- Development concept – CO2 sources, economic drivers, infrastructure
- Onshore vs offshore
- Greenfield vs depleted fields
- Regional stratigraphy – reservoirs and seals
- Regional structure – open aquifers vs closed structures
- Depth, reservoir pressure and overpressure
- Reservoir quality – injectivity and storage capacity
- Screening estimates of storage capacity
- Pressure management
- Legacy well risk assessment
- Infrastructure re-use – legacy wells
- Infrastructure re-use – pipelines and facilities
- Initial development plan
- Indicative costs
Screening of oilfields and portfolios for CO2 storage
- Overview of how CO2 is stored in an oilfield during and after CO2 EOR.
- Identification of screening criteria that are relevant for CO2 EOR and storage. These include:
- Technical criteria (e.g., temperature, pressure, oil composition) that determine whether CO2 EOR will actually work;
- Operational criteria (e.g., geography, field maturity, existing infrastructure) that affect the complexity of implementing CO2 injection
- Economic criteria (e.g., NPV) that determine whether CO2 EOR is likely to be commercially attractive
- Storage-specific criteria (e.g., STOIIP, pressure) that determine how much CO2 can be injected and safely retained permanently
- Building a screening framework, where the criteria are codified into “scores”, weighted according to their relative importance, and the scores are processes into an overall “suitability” score
- Converting the scores into predictions of outcomes (e.g., incremental oil, CO2 storage efficiency) using analogue-based rules and correlations
- Portfolio screening
- Data requirements: what needs to be known about each field, and how critical data can be acquired or estimated
- Batch processing of calculations and post-processing/synthesis of results
Who Should Attend and Prerequisites
This course is aimed at subsurface oil and gas professionals who are familiar with CCS and would like to understand the issues relating to the screening and selection of potential CO2 storage sites.
Instructors
James Lorsong
Background
James Lorsong is Director of Subterra Energy Consultants in Aberdeen, UK. He provides specialist advice and technical services to the global carbon capture and storage and petroleum industries, focussing on all aspects of CO2 storage and enhanced oil recovery as well as reservoir management and development. He is currently involved in development of CO2 storage and utilisation projects in the US Gulf Coast and the North Sea.
James Lorsong is Director of Subterra Energy Consultants in Aberdeen, UK. He provides specialist advice and technical services to the global carbon capture and storage and petroleum industries, focussing on all aspects of CO2 storage and enhanced oil recovery as well as reservoir management and development. He is currently involved in development of CO2 storage and utilisation projects in the US Gulf Coast and the North Sea.
Jim has been involved in CCUS projects since 2005, when he led a subsurface and wells team in developing a fully engineered CO2 EOR storage solution for BP’s proposed hydrogen power plant in Scotland. When the initial project was deferred, he became a founding member of BP’s Hydrogen Energy joint venture (with Rio Tinto), where he was responsible for developing CO2 storage in depleted hydrocarbon fields and saline formations for GW-scale hydrogen power projects worldwide, including advanced projects in Abu Dhabi and California. He returned to BP as Storage Technology Manager, leading US and UK teams creating new subsurface, monitoring, and well technology and contributing to emerging regulatory frameworks for CO2 storage. In 2010, he left BP for start-up 2Co Energy, to develop commercial-scale CCUS projects. As Exploration and Production Director, he screened CO2 storage opportunities, contributed to further CCUS regulatory developments, and managed subsurface and engineering activities (to pre-FEED) for re-development of two North Sea oil fields with a new pipeline for storage of CO2 from the proposed GW-scale Don Valley CCS plant. Despite substantial EU support and winning a European competition for capital funding, the project did not proceed. In 2014, Jim founded Subterra Energy Consultants to continue development of potential CO2 storage and utilisation projects.
Prior to his CCUS activities, Dr Lorsong worked in a variety of management and subsurface technical roles with BP in the UK and ARCO in the US. His principal activities were in oil field development, enhanced oil recovery (EOR) with miscible gas injection, and technology development. In his early career Dr Lorsong owned petroleum consulting and mineral exploration businesses, worked as a government research scientist and lectured at the Universities of Regina and Saskatchewan in Canada.
Affiliations and Accreditation
PhD University of Cambridge – Sedimentology and Structural Geology
BSc University of Toronto – Geology
Advisory Board - Industrial Decarbonisation Research Innovation Centre (UK)
Member - AAPG, PESGB, SPE, The Geological Society (London), Institute of Directors
Courses Taught
N584: Storage Exploration – Screening and Selection of CO2 Sites
N585: CO2 Containment and Storage Monitoring
Pete Smith
Background
Pete Smith is Director of ReganSmith Associates, a company offering training and consultancy to the Oil and Gas Industry. Pete trained as a reservoir engineer and researcher firstly at the UK government research Institute of Hydrology, Oxford, before joining BP’s research team to lead the development of novel modelling methods; building the first stochastic models to describe multi-phase fluid-flow in reservoir rocks. Moving into BP operational activities, he was responsible for creating the processes for managing the uncertainty in value and reserves in new field developments that became the BP standard approach.
Assignments with BP included lead engineer on Dukhan, Arab C Reservoir, Qatar; the appraisal and financial sanction of the Harding, Andrew, Foinaven and Schiehalion fields in the UKCS and managing the operated production in the Gulf of Mexico. Pete was also the founding director of the BP Institute at Cambridge University concerned with fundamental research in fluid-flow and was responsible for building their environmental technology across the BP group as Technology Vice President.
Pete helped establish the new Engineering University in Trinidad & Tobago as Associate Provost (R&D) and Professor of Petroleum Engineering between 2004 and 2008. On return to the UK, Pete became Principal Advisor in Reservoir Engineering at RPS Energy leading company reserve audits. In 2010 Pete led the Upstream Risk Management advisory activity and in 2011 became Chief Reservoir Engineer.
Affiliations and Accreditation
BSc Mathematics
MSc Differential Equations
PhD Earth Sciences
C Eng. FEI Chartered Petroleum Engineer
Courses Taught
N401: Multi-Disciplinary Skills for Field Development Planning and Approval
N412: A Critical Guide to Reservoir Appraisal and Development
N415: Reservoir Characterisation for Appraisal and Development
N541: Petroleum Economics, Rick and Uncertainity
N584: Storage Exploration – Screening and Selection of CO2 Sites
N593: Reservoir Characterisation and Simulation for CCS
N716: Reservoir Engineering Aspects of Reservoir Modelling
N954: Practical Approaches to Increased Recovery
N995: Managing Uncertainty and Risk in Appraisal and Development
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.