ANALYSIS OF FAULT SEAL POTENTIAL FOR KNOX RESERVOIRS IN THE SOUTHERN ILLINOIS BASIN

Other · Tue Sep 30 00:00:00 EDT 2014

OSTI ID:1202270

Hickman, John; Leetaru, Hannes

The presence of known faults near potential geologic CO2 sequestration sites significantly raises the uncertainty of having a sufficient seal to prevent leakage along the fault plane from the intended reservoir. In regions where relocating a large sequestration project a considerable distance away from any known faults is impractical, a detailed analysis of the sealing potential of any faults within the projected future injection plume must be performed. In order to estimate the sealing potential of faults within the Late Cambrian-Early Ordovician Knox Supergroup in the Illinois Basin, two well-based cross sections were produced across two different regional fault systems (Rough Creek Fault Zone in Kentucky, and the unnamed core fault of the LaSalle Anticlinorium in Illinois) to calculate subsurface stratigraphic juxtapositions across each fault zone. Using this stratigraphic and lithologic data, three different algorithms were used to calculate the sealing potential of a theoretical Knox reservoir at each section location. These results indicate a high probability for sealing within the Rough Creek Fault Zone, but a much lower probability for a continuous seal within the LaSalle Anticlinorium.

• Research Organization: Univ. of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, IL (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE
• DOE Contract Number: FE0002068
• OSTI ID: 1202270
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English