Application of Active Reservoir Management to Enable Geologic CO2 Storage

Active reservoir management (ARM) can enhance geologic CO2 storage activities via strategic extraction of formation water and can provide site operators with a means of managing risks and costs associated with carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) projects. Implementation of ARM strategies for CCUS can provide several advantages to a project, including 1) reducing stress on sealing formations and separating pressure from the CO2 footprint; 2) geosteering of injected fluids away from hazards or permitted storage facility boundaries; 3) reducing area of review (AOR) and/or amalgamated lease area; and 4) improving injectivity, capacity, and storage efficiency to reduce infrastructure and operating requirements. The Energy & Environmental Research Center (EERC) is conducting field tests of ARM strategies for CCUS at a commercial saltwater disposal facility in western North Dakota, USA. Ongoing commercial injection of oilfield produced brine serves as a proxy for CO2 injection at the site. Initial interference testing has substantiated connectivity between project wells and that extraction response should be observable in the injection wells. A water treatment development and test facility has also been established at the North Dakota Brine Extraction and Storage Test (BEST) site to enable the development and demonstration of new and emerging water treatment technologies on produced or extracted waters. The test bed facility enables pilot testing, demonstration, and performance monitoring of novel water treatment technologies capable of treating high-salinity (average of 180,000 mg/L total dissolved solids [TDS]) fluids associated with CO2 storage in deep saline formations (DSFs).