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Petrophysics, carbon dioxide sequestration, and storage potential of Montney Formation’s shale oil and shale gas pools, with implications for enhanced hydrocarbon recovery Sanlorenzo, Andrea
Abstract
Storage of carbon dioxide in depleted shale reservoirs represents a great opportunity to mitigate climate change events by offsetting part of the CO₂ emissions from the energy sector. The Montney Formation is a widely developed, low porosity and permeability unconventional shale oil and gas reservoir in northeastern British Columbia and western Alberta. Due to existing midstream infrastructure, it is an ideal candidate for CO₂ sequestration, which can potentially be coupled with CO₂-enhanced hydrocarbon recovery (EHR). This thesis investigates the potential to store carbon dioxide within representative Montney shale oil and gas pools, and coupling CO₂ sequestration with EHR. The Montney Formation is primarily composed of quartz and dolomite, although their relative abundances are spatially and stratigraphically variable. Clay content (< 20 wt.%) is comprised of exclusively non-swelling clays, and organic matter is found in trace amounts (< 5 wt.%). Exposure to supercritical CO₂-rich water has a negligible impact on mineral abundances, with only notable changes in calcite and dolomite wt.%. Apparent supercritical CO₂ matrix permeability, ranging between 3.45×10⁻⁴ to 4.07×10⁻² mD, is greater than the apparent gas and liquid CO₂ permeabilities. The higher apparent matrix permeability to supercritical CO₂ compared to the gas or liquid phase is attributed to the properties of the supercritical phase and the higher molecular kinetic energy, which promotes slip flow on the pore walls. The low permeability of the Montney Formation, coupled with the high capillary entry pressure, ensures that the injected CO₂ will be contained within the formation with insignificant leakage risks. Carbon dioxide storage capacities vary among investigated Montney pools. The Northern Montney pool has a significant storage capacity but exhibits poor reservoir properties for CO₂ storage compared to the Kakwa and Waskahigan Montney pools. Exploiting CO₂ injection for enhanced hydrocarbon recovery provides an opportunity to support more carbon-neutral hydrocarbon production with subsequent CO₂ storage. Supercritical CO₂ and a propane/butane (C₃/C₄) hydrocarbon mixture prove effective in recovering liquid hydrocarbons, with the C₃/C₄ mixture outperforming CO₂ at early Huff and Puff cycles and at heavy hydrocarbon mobilization. Supercritical CO₂ remains a viable recovery agent, recovering between 70 and 90% of the hydrocarbons in place.
Item Metadata
Title |
Petrophysics, carbon dioxide sequestration, and storage potential of Montney Formation’s shale oil and shale gas pools, with implications for enhanced hydrocarbon recovery
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Creator | |
Supervisor | |
Publisher |
University of British Columbia
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Date Issued |
2024
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Description |
Storage of carbon dioxide in depleted shale reservoirs represents a great opportunity to mitigate climate change events by offsetting part of the CO₂ emissions from the energy sector. The Montney Formation is a widely developed, low porosity and permeability unconventional shale oil and gas reservoir in northeastern British Columbia and western Alberta. Due to existing midstream infrastructure, it is an ideal candidate for CO₂ sequestration, which can potentially be coupled with CO₂-enhanced hydrocarbon recovery (EHR). This thesis investigates the potential to store carbon dioxide within representative Montney shale oil and gas pools, and coupling CO₂ sequestration with EHR.
The Montney Formation is primarily composed of quartz and dolomite, although their relative abundances are spatially and stratigraphically variable. Clay content (< 20 wt.%) is comprised of exclusively non-swelling clays, and organic matter is found in trace amounts (< 5 wt.%). Exposure to supercritical CO₂-rich water has a negligible impact on mineral abundances, with only notable changes in calcite and dolomite wt.%.
Apparent supercritical CO₂ matrix permeability, ranging between 3.45×10⁻⁴ to 4.07×10⁻² mD, is greater than the apparent gas and liquid CO₂ permeabilities. The higher apparent matrix permeability to supercritical CO₂ compared to the gas or liquid phase is attributed to the properties of the supercritical phase and the higher molecular kinetic energy, which promotes slip flow on the pore walls. The low permeability of the Montney Formation, coupled with the high capillary entry pressure, ensures that the injected CO₂ will be contained within the formation with insignificant leakage risks.
Carbon dioxide storage capacities vary among investigated Montney pools. The Northern Montney pool has a significant storage capacity but exhibits poor reservoir properties for CO₂ storage compared to the Kakwa and Waskahigan Montney pools.
Exploiting CO₂ injection for enhanced hydrocarbon recovery provides an opportunity to support more carbon-neutral hydrocarbon production with subsequent CO₂ storage. Supercritical CO₂ and a propane/butane (C₃/C₄) hydrocarbon mixture prove effective in recovering liquid hydrocarbons, with the C₃/C₄ mixture outperforming CO₂ at early Huff and Puff cycles and at heavy hydrocarbon mobilization. Supercritical CO₂ remains a viable recovery agent, recovering between 70 and 90% of the hydrocarbons in place.
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Genre | |
Type | |
Language |
eng
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Date Available |
2024-04-18
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Provider |
Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library
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Rights |
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International
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DOI |
10.14288/1.0441421
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URI | |
Degree | |
Program | |
Affiliation | |
Degree Grantor |
University of British Columbia
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Graduation Date |
2024-05
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Campus | |
Scholarly Level |
Graduate
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Rights URI | |
Aggregated Source Repository |
DSpace
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Rights
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International