Projec t Fac ts

Carbon Sequestration

Gulf of Mexico Miocene CO2 Site

contacts
Characterization Mega Transect Sean Plasynski
Sequestration Technology Manager
National Energy Technology Laboratory
Background 626 Cochrans Mill Road
The need exists to further explore research on carbon sequestration technologies P.O. Box 10940
to capture and store carbon dioxide (CO2). Carbon capture and storage (CCS) Pittsburgh, PA 15236
technologies offer the potential for reducing CO2 emissions and, in turn, mitigating 412-386-4867
global climate change without adversely influencing energy use or hindering sean.plasynski@netl.doe.gov
economic growth. Deploying these technologies in commercial-scale applications
requires adequate geologic formations capable of (1) sequestering large volumes of Bruce M. Brown
CO2, (2) receiving CO2 at an efficient and economic rate of injection, and (3) retaining Project Manager
CO2 safely over extended periods. Five major types of geologic formations, each
National Energy Technology Laboratory
having their own unique opportunities and challenges, are being considered by the
U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) for CO2 storage. These include saline formations, 626 Cochrans Mill Road
P.O. Box 10940
coal seams, oil and gas reservoirs, organic shales, and basalt formations.
Pittsburgh, PA 15236-0940
The DOE’s National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) has selected 10 projects 412-386-5534
to receive more than $70 million in total funding to characterize promising geologic bruce.brown@netl.doe.gov
formations for CO2 storage. The majority of this funding is provided by the American
Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) which was enacted to create new Timothy Meckel
jobs, spur economic activity, and promote long-term economic growth. The 10
Principal Investigator
projects will provide greater insight into the potential for geologic formations across
the United States to safely and permanently store CO2 and further advance DOE’s University of Texas at Austin
efforts to refine a national assessment of CO2 storage capacity in deep geologic University Station Box X
formations. Austin, TX 78713-8924
512-471-1524
tip.meckel@beg.utaxas.edu
Project Description
The University of Texas at Austin, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Environmental
Defense and Sandia Technologies LLC are investigating Texas’ offshore subsurface
storage resources in the Gulf of Mexico as candidate geologic storage formations. PARTNERS
This project will identify one or more CO2 injection site(s) within an area of Texas Environmental Defense Fund
offshore state lands that are suitable for the safe and permanent storage of CO2 Los Alamos National Laboratory
from future large scale commercial CCS operations. The approach for identifying Sandia Technologies, LLC
these injection sites is to use both historic and new data to evaluate the candidate
geologic formations. Additional work will be conducted to evaluate the effects of
chemical reactions resulting from injection of CO2 into the identified formations and
their effects on potential commercial level injection. A risk analysis and mitigation
plan will also be generated in support of near-term commercial development efforts.
The University of Texas at Austin will accomplish the project objectives over a
three-year period. Project tasks will include:

Albany, OR  •  Fairbanks, AK  •  Morgantown, WV  •  Pittsburgh, PA  •  Sugar Land, TX
Website: www.netl.doe.gov
Customer Service: 1-800-553-7681
 • Characterizing an area of Texas offshore submerged lands for potential CO2
injection.
PROJECT DURATION
• Refining of CO2 storage capacity estimates for Miocene sequestration forma-
Start Date tions and specific candidate reservoirs, and coordinating with the National
12/08/2009 Carbon Sequestration Database and Geographical Information System (NATCARB).

End Date • Evaluating reservoir injectivity using historical or site specific data to simulate
12/07/2012 injection scenarios to satisfy the 30 million tons of CO2 injection goal set by
the Department of Energy.

• Assessing the effectiveness of caprock layers for retaining CO2 over a period
COST of centuries.
Total Project Value
• Conducting brine chemical reactions simulations and modeling.
$5,994,350
• Assessing the rate of mineralization in the formation and the potential effects
DOE/Non-DOE Share on injection and storage.
$4,794,350/$1,200,000
• Identifying, characterizing, and summarizing potential formation leakage
pathways.
Government funding for this project
is provided in whole or in part • Selecting and ranking one-to-four specific reservoirs based on their ability to
through the American Recovery and contain 30 million metric tons of CO2.
Reinvestment Act.
• Identifying strategies to monitor and, if necessary, mitigate those risk
components that may impact future commercial development.

• Evaluating of well bores within the study area and the developing a “Wellbore
Management Plan” to mitigate potential risks of undesirable CO2 migration.

Benefits Goals/Objectives
The overall effort will provide greater The goal of this project is to advance the United States as the leader in tech-
insight into the potential for geologic nology for addressing climate change by developing and deploying CCS
formations across the United States to technologies to significantly reduce CO2 emissions from various sources.
safely and permanently store CO2. The The main objective of the project is to identify at least one specific site within
information gained from this endeavor Texas offshore state lands capable of safely and permanently storing at least
will further the DOE’s efforts to refine 30 million tons of CO2 from future commercial CCS operations. The short-term
a national assessment of CO2 storage objectives are to use existing data from hydrocarbon exploration activity to
capacity in deep geologic formations. identify candidate CO2 storage opportunities and refine capacity calculations for
optimal Miocene age rock formations within a regional area of Texas offshore
Specifically, the project’s ability to
state lands.
develop and utilize offshore geological
storage capacity Project goals specific
could contribute to the DOE’s Carbon
significantly to Sequestration program
the management are stakeholder partici-
of CO2 emissions pation in technical
working groups on
best practices for
geologic site character-
Figure 1. Depiction of ization, approval of
State of Texas offshore storage site selection,
state-owned lands, and augmenting
existing pipelines, existing data sets
CO2 point sources,
through coordination
and existing land
with the NATCARB
leases. The University
of Texas at Austin will data-base.
investigate candidate
sequestration sites off
the coast of Texas
for future CCS
opportunities.
FE0001941, May 2010