Energy Transition
Energy Transition | Carbon Capture, Storage and Utilisation
Subsurface Characterization, Screening and Site Selection for Geologic CO2 Storage Sites
Format and Duration:
2 days
3 sessions
Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) is a key means of mitigating climate change and is the only option currently available to decarbonize industries such as cement, steel, petrochemicals and LNG. As opportunities in oil and gas decline, they are growing in CCS. Human activities now generate about 35Gt of CO2 (1 gigatonne=1 billion tonnes) per year. At ~$50/ton for sequestration, the potential opportunity is enormous, both in new business revenue and in repurposing old assets and delaying decommissioning costs. Mitigation of the worst effects of climate change will require storing billions of tons per year, with an industry to match. In the US alone, the National Petroleum Council estimates that CCS could employ ~230,000 people, similar to the current oil industry.
This course empowers attendees to develop and apply their skills to the growing industry of Carbon Capture Utilization and Storage. Attendees will be guided through the subsurface characterization and risk assessment of a storage site. Focus will be on the geologic needs for site definition, screening and development.
Schedule
Duration and Training Method
This is a classroom or virtual classroom course comprising a mixture of lectures, discussion, quizzes and interactive exercises.
Course Overview
Learning Outcomes
Participants will learn to:
- Identify and describe key subsurface parameters
- Assess static and dynamic capacity
- Calculate injectivity and calibrate project requirements
- Discuss the pros and cons of different storage schemes
- Define and evaluate potential storage sites
- Identify and address subsurface risks
Course Content
Session 1: Characterization, Part 1
- Carbon storage sites: Goals, boundary conditions and needs
- Natural CO2 accumulations
- Characteristics
- Long-term retention
- Leakage causes and pathways
- Trapping mechanisms for storage
- buoyant, residual, local capillary, dissolution and mineralization
Session 2: Characterization, Part 2
- Reservoir systems
- Capacity
- Key variables and requirements
- Calculation of static and dynamic capacities
- Controls on storage efficiency
- Injectivity
- Variables and requirements
- Calculation and calibration
- Characterization needs
- Depositional architecture
- Porosity and permeability structure
- Confining systems
- Key variables and requirements
- Calibration of seal capacity
- Seals vs baffles
- Characterization needs
- Risk assessment and mitigation
- Area of review
- Faults
- Legacy wells
Session 3: Integration
- Rock-fluid interactions
- Pros, cons and evaluation of different storage schemes
- Depleted fields
- CO2-EOR
- Saline storage
- Site screening and surface requirements
- Data requirements and novel solutions
Exercises Included
This course integrates practical exercises to complement theoretical learning. You will:
- Simulate CO₂ storage capacity using EASiTool, a specialized software for analyzing and optimizing CO₂ storage in geological formations. You’ll explore different boundary conditions and well configurations to assess optimal storage potential.
- Conduct sensitivity analysis to identify key reservoir parameters that impact storage efficiency, using EASiTool to test variations in conditions.
- Determine the Area of Review (AoR) for CO₂ storage projects by using EASiTool to analyze how factors like injection rates, reservoir properties, and boundary conditions influence the pressure front.
- Perform scoping studies with EASiTool to compare open and closed boundary conditions, evaluating their effects on CO₂ and pressure plume sizes.
These EASiTool exercises provide hands-on experience with real-world CCS project scenarios, enhancing your ability to evaluate and optimize CO₂ storage in geological formations.
Who Should Attend and Prerequisites
This course is aimed at subsurface oil and gas professionals and first-level leaders who would like to develop their skills for the emerging industry of carbon capture and geologic storage (CCUS). It is recommended specifically for:
- Geologists, geophysicists, reservoir engineers and other technical subsurface O&G professionals interested in CCUS
- First-level leaders and others tasked with developing and/or assuring geologic storage for CCUS projects
- Recent graduates in petroleum geoscience and reservoir engineering who want to develop skills in CCUS
Instructors
Alex Bump
Background
Dr. Alex Bump is a geologist with broad experience in both CCUS and in the petroleum industry. He held a variety of exploration roles over 16 years with BP, including Advisor in Structural Geology and Head of Discipline for Exploration Structure and Tectonics. He has worked over 50 basins on 5 continents and taught courses in exploration and structural geology to hundreds of geoscientists in BP and partner companies and universities. Since joining the Gulf Coast Carbon Center in 2019, he has focused on adapting petroleum exploration workflows to defining, screening and de-risking storage sites for CO2. He has authored reports on site screening for IEAGHG and multi-national companies. He is currently leading work on subsurface containment risk assessment and mitigation.
Affiliations & Accreditation
PhD University of Arizona - Structural Geology and Tectonics
BA Williams College - Physics
Courses Taught
N538: Repurposing Subsurface Petroleum Skills for CCUS
N549: Subsurface Characterization, Screening and Site Selection for Geologic CO2 Storage Sites
Susan Hovorka
Background
Dr. Susan Hovorka is a sedimentologist who works on fluid flow in diverse applications, inlcuding water resource protection, oil production, and waste storage. She has led a team working geologic storage of CO2 since 1998, with a focus on field studies, monitoring, and capacity estimation. Projects include saline injection at the Frio Test site and Cranfield Field and EOR studies at SACROC oil field, Cranfield, Hastings and West Ranch industrial CO2 utilization projects and GoMCARB offshore charaterization study. She specializes in monitoring to document retention. The Gulf Coast Carbon Center is leading efforts to develop offshore storage capacity in the the US and globaly.
She has a long-term commitment to public and educational outreach.
Affiliations & Accreditation
PhD University of Texas - Geology
MA University of Texas - Geology
BA Earlham College - Geology
Courses Taught
N549: Subsurface Characterization, Screening and Site Selection for Geologic CO2 Storage Sites
N553: Monitoring Geologic CO2 Storage Sites
Accreditation and Certification
CEU: 1.4 Continuing Education Units
PDH: 14 Professional Development Hours
Certificate: Certificate Issued Upon Completion
RPS is accredited by the International Association for Continuing Education and Training (IACET) and is authorized to issue the IACET CEU. We comply with the ANSI/IACET Standard, which is recognised internationally as a standard of excellence in instructional practices.
We issue a Certificate of Attendance which verifies the number of training hours attended. Our courses are generally accepted by most professional licensing boards/associations towards continuing education credits. Please check with your licensing board to determine if the courses and certificate of attendance meet their specific criteria.