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Title: Transport and Fate of Natural Gas and Brine Escaping from a Hydrocarbon Reservoir Through a Failed Deepwater Well in the Oceanic Subsurface of the Gulf of Mexico

Abstract

The possibility of broaching, or the release of fluids at the seafloor due to a damaged or faulty well, is a hazard that must be assessed in the well permitting process. Here, this paper describes a numerical simulation study of a real-life scenario where a complex, permeable sandy formation, connected to the seafloor via known chimneys/seeps, is intersected by a damaged production well that drains another deeper, gas-bearing formation. The objective of the study is to determine the transport and fate of hydrocarbon reservoir fluids (gas and brines) escaping into the sandy formation through the casing shoe of the failed well, and to determine the time it takes for these contaminants to reach the ocean floor. We conducted a detailed simulation study to represent the conditions, properties, and behavior of the system under such failure conditions, and we investigated the migration of gas and brine for a range of reservoir and chimney properties. A key conclusion is that, for such complex systems, modeling the three-dimensional geometry of the system in detail is the key to describing transport and assessing the time and magnitude of potential releases. For the system studied here, transport times range from under 2 years (highest permeabilities) tomore » many decades, ensuring significant time to respond to potential broaching hazards. Lastly, under the conditions investigated in this study, we also determine that gas-dominated releases associated with low rates of water flow into the sandy formation are likely to cause hydrate formation that can reduce permeabilities in the colder, upper regions of the chimneys and possibly mitigate releases.« less

Authors:
 [1];  [2];  [1];  [3];  [4];  [4];  [4]
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  1. Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
  2. Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Texas A & M Univ., College Station, TX (United States)
  3. Texas A & M Univ., College Station, TX (United States)
  4. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, New Orleans, LA (United States)
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE Office of Science (SC)
OSTI Identifier:
1532286
Grant/Contract Number:  
AC02-05CH11231
Resource Type:
Accepted Manuscript
Journal Name:
Transport in Porous Media
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 127; Journal Issue: 2; Journal ID: ISSN 0169-3913
Publisher:
Springer
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
58 GEOSCIENCES; Broaching; Hydrate formation; Well failure; Hazard assessment; Reservoir simulation

Citation Formats

Reagan, M. T., Moridis, G. J., Keen, N. D., Lee, K. J., Natter, M., Bjerstedt, T., and Shedd, W. W. Transport and Fate of Natural Gas and Brine Escaping from a Hydrocarbon Reservoir Through a Failed Deepwater Well in the Oceanic Subsurface of the Gulf of Mexico. United States: N. p., 2018. Web. doi:10.1007/s11242-018-1207-y.
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Reagan, M. T., Moridis, G. J., Keen, N. D., Lee, K. J., Natter, M., Bjerstedt, T., & Shedd, W. W. Transport and Fate of Natural Gas and Brine Escaping from a Hydrocarbon Reservoir Through a Failed Deepwater Well in the Oceanic Subsurface of the Gulf of Mexico. United States. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11242-018-1207-y
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Reagan, M. T., Moridis, G. J., Keen, N. D., Lee, K. J., Natter, M., Bjerstedt, T., and Shedd, W. W. Thu . "Transport and Fate of Natural Gas and Brine Escaping from a Hydrocarbon Reservoir Through a Failed Deepwater Well in the Oceanic Subsurface of the Gulf of Mexico". United States. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11242-018-1207-y. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1532286.
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@article{osti_1532286,
title = {Transport and Fate of Natural Gas and Brine Escaping from a Hydrocarbon Reservoir Through a Failed Deepwater Well in the Oceanic Subsurface of the Gulf of Mexico},
author = {Reagan, M. T. and Moridis, G. J. and Keen, N. D. and Lee, K. J. and Natter, M. and Bjerstedt, T. and Shedd, W. W.},
abstractNote = {The possibility of broaching, or the release of fluids at the seafloor due to a damaged or faulty well, is a hazard that must be assessed in the well permitting process. Here, this paper describes a numerical simulation study of a real-life scenario where a complex, permeable sandy formation, connected to the seafloor via known chimneys/seeps, is intersected by a damaged production well that drains another deeper, gas-bearing formation. The objective of the study is to determine the transport and fate of hydrocarbon reservoir fluids (gas and brines) escaping into the sandy formation through the casing shoe of the failed well, and to determine the time it takes for these contaminants to reach the ocean floor. We conducted a detailed simulation study to represent the conditions, properties, and behavior of the system under such failure conditions, and we investigated the migration of gas and brine for a range of reservoir and chimney properties. A key conclusion is that, for such complex systems, modeling the three-dimensional geometry of the system in detail is the key to describing transport and assessing the time and magnitude of potential releases. For the system studied here, transport times range from under 2 years (highest permeabilities) to many decades, ensuring significant time to respond to potential broaching hazards. Lastly, under the conditions investigated in this study, we also determine that gas-dominated releases associated with low rates of water flow into the sandy formation are likely to cause hydrate formation that can reduce permeabilities in the colder, upper regions of the chimneys and possibly mitigate releases.},
doi = {10.1007/s11242-018-1207-y},
journal = {Transport in Porous Media},
number = 2,
volume = 127,
place = {United States},
year = {Thu Nov 29 00:00:00 EST 2018},
month = {Thu Nov 29 00:00:00 EST 2018}
}
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https://doi.org/10.1007/s11242-018-1207-y
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Works referenced in this record:

Cold-seep carbonates of the middle and lower continental slope, northern Gulf of Mexico
journal, November 2010

  • Roberts, Harry H.; Feng, Dong; Joye, Samantha B.
  • Deep Sea Research Part II: Topical Studies in Oceanography, Vol. 57, Issue 21-23
  • DOI: 10.1016/j.dsr2.2010.09.003

Numerical simulations of the Macondo well blowout reveal strong control of oil flow by reservoir permeability and exsolution of gas
journal, July 2011

  • Oldenburg, C. M.; Freifeld, B. M.; Pruess, K.
  • Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Vol. 109, Issue 50
  • DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1105165108

A Closed-form Equation for Predicting the Hydraulic Conductivity of Unsaturated Soils1
journal, January 1980

Remote-sensing evaluation of geophysical anomaly sites in the outer continental slope, northern Gulf of Mexico
journal, November 2010

  • Garcia-Pineda, Oscar; MacDonald, Ian; Zimmer, Beate
  • Deep Sea Research Part II: Topical Studies in Oceanography, Vol. 57, Issue 21-23
  • DOI: 10.1016/j.dsr2.2010.05.005

Gas Production From Oceanic Class 2 Hydrate Accumulations
conference, April 2013

  • Moridis, George J.; Reagan, Matthew T.
  • Offshore Technology Conference
  • DOI: 10.4043/18866-MS

TOUGH+Hydrate v1.0 User's Manual: A Code for the Simulation of System Behavior in Hydrate-Bearing Geologic Media
report, March 2008

  • Moridis, George; Moridis, George J.; Kowalsky, Michael B.
  • Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
  • DOI: 10.2172/927149
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    Works referencing / citing this record:

    Anaerobic digestion, mixing, environmental fate, and transport
    journal, September 2019

    • Chang, Chein‐Chi; Kuo‐Dahab, Camilla; Chapman, Tom
    • Water Environment Research, Vol. 91, Issue 10
    • DOI: 10.1002/wer.1216
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