Technology and economics of methane production from geopressured aquifers

Conference · Mon Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1979 · Soc. Pet. Eng. AIME, Pap.; (United States)

OSTI ID:5878818

Cox, D; Doscher, T M; Kuuskraa, V; Osborne, R H; Rhee, S; Wilson, T

The purpose of this study was to estimate the cost of producing methane (natural gas) from geopressured aquifers inland from and along the coast of the Gulf of Mexico. No other economic values of the geopressured brines were considered for exploitation. There were several component tasks of such an overall analysis which had to be completed in order to arrive at the final conclusion: (1) an estimate of the reservoir parameters of the geopressured aquifers-their areal extent, net thickness of productive sand, porosity, permeability, and effective compressibility; (2) an estimate of the production rates and cumulative production of geopressured aquifers; (3) an estimate of the operating and capital costs of drilling wells and producing such geopressured aquifers (an integral and significant part of the operating costs is the cost of disposing of the large quantities of produced brines following the desorption of the methane); and (4) an estimate of the sales price of the recovered methane using appropriate discount rates. 32 references.

• OSTI ID: 5878818
• Report Number(s): CONF-790913-
• Conference Information: Journal Name: Soc. Pet. Eng. AIME, Pap.; (United States) Journal Volume: SPE-7827
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

03 NATURAL GAS
030300* -- Natural Gas-- Drilling
Production
& Processing
ALKANES
AQUIFERS
ATLANTIC OCEAN
BRINES
CARIBBEAN SEA
COMPRESSIBILITY
COST
DRILLING
ECONOMICS
ENERGY SYSTEMS
GEOPRESSURED SYSTEMS
GULF OF MEXICO
HYDROCARBONS
MECHANICAL PROPERTIES
METHANE
NATURAL GAS WELLS
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
PERMEABILITY
POROSITY
PRODUCTION
RESERVOIR ROCK
SEAS
SURFACE WATERS
WELLS