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Engineering parameters used in geopressured geothermal Fairway evaluation and test-well site location, Frio formation, Texas Gulf Coast

Conference ·
OSTI ID:7369254
;
Adequate deliverability of fluids from reservoirs with temperatures higher than 300/sup 0/F is a key factor in evaluating geopressured geothermal resources. In the Austin Bayou Prospect, Brazoria County, Texas, permeability is difficult to evaluate before wells are drilled and tested. However, this report discusses how reservoir pressure decline and high temperature reduce permeability. The history of gas-condensate production from geopressured reservoirs in the Chocolate Bayou field, located near the Austin Bayou Prospect, shows that deliverability of hydrocarbons is high in the early life of the reservoirs but drops sharply as pressure declines. Average geothermal gradient is 1.8/sup 0/F per hundred feet and reservoir pressure gradients lie between 0.465 and 0.98 psia per foot for depths below 10,000 feet. Salinities vary from 40,000 to 80,000 ppM and methane content may range from 25 to 45 cubic feet per barrel for formation waters commonly found in the Chocolate Bayou field. The effective gas permeabilities determined from production flow tests are estimated to range from 1 to 6 millidarcys and absolute permeabilities lie between 2 and 10 millidarcys. More than 10 billion barrels of water inferred to occur in place in the prospective sandstone reservoirs of the Austin Bayou prospect contain potentially 1,733 MW-years of electrical energy and 400 billion cubic feet of methane in solution.
Research Organization:
Univ. of Texas, Austin
OSTI ID:
7369254
Report Number(s):
CONF-771153-P1-11
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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Related Subjects

03 NATURAL GAS
030200 -- Natural Gas-- Reserves
Geology
& Exploration
15 GEOTHERMAL ENERGY
150904* -- Geothermal Engineering-- Geothermal Reservoir & Well Performance
ALKANES
CRYOGENIC FLUIDS
ENGINEERING
EXPLORATORY WELLS
FLOW RATE
FLUIDS
GEOPRESSURED SYSTEMS
GEOTHERMAL GRADIENTS
Geothermal Legacy
HYDROCARBONS
METHANE
NORTH AMERICA
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
PERFORMANCE
PERMEABILITY
POROSITY
PRESSURE GRADIENTS
PRODUCTION
RESERVOIR ENGINEERING
RESERVOIR PRESSURE
RESERVOIR TEMPERATURE
RESOURCE POTENTIAL
SALINITY
SOUTHWEST REGION
TEMPERATURE GRADIENTS
TEXAS
THERMAL WATERS
USA
WELLS