U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve Big Hill 114 Leak Analysis 2012

Technical Report · Sat Jun 01 04:00:00 EDT 2013

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/1089994· OSTI ID:1089994

Lord, David L. ^[1]; Roberts, Barry L. ^[1]; Lord, Anna C. Snider ^[1]; Sobolik, Steven Ronald ^[1]; Park, Byoung Yoon ^[1]; Rudeen, David Keith ^[1]

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1. Sandia National Laboratories (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)

This report addresses recent well integrity issues related to cavern 114 at the Big Hill Strategic Petroleum Reserve site. DM Petroleum Operations, M&O contractor for the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve, recognized an apparent leak in Big Hill cavern well 114A in late summer, 2012, and provided written notice to the State of Texas as required by law. DM has since isolated the leak in well A with a temporary plug, and is planning on remediating both 114 A- and B-wells with liners. In this report Sandia provides an analysis of the apparent leak that includes: (i) estimated leak volume, (ii) recommendation for operating pressure to maintain in the cavern between temporary and permanent fixes for the well integrity issues, and (iii) identification of other caverns or wells at Big Hill that should be monitored closely in light of the sequence of failures there in the last several years.

• Research Organization: Sandia National Laboratories (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States); GRAM, Inc., Albuquerque, NM
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA)
• DOE Contract Number: AC04-94AL85000
• OSTI ID: 1089994
• Report Number(s): SAND--2013-4960; 456589
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English