Sleipner

Knowledge sharing in CCS projects - Workshop Mobile, Alabama

Sveinung Hagen and colleagues - Statoil

May 16 and 17 – 2012

 Mongstad
Talk Outline and Context Full-scale

Test Centre
• Storage operations overview Mongstad
• Sleipner background
Snøhvit
• Technology used and outcomes
LNG
• Lessons learned

In Salah

Sleipner
Statoil’s CCS projects
An Industrial Approach to the Climate Change Challenge

1996- 2004- 2008- 2012- ?

Overview Sleipner Background Technology used and… Lessons learned

Diverse Storage Experience

1
Sleipner

Depth (km)
In Salah

• Offshore/onshore
• Shallow/deep 2
• Horizontal/vertical wells
• High/low por-perm parameters
Snøhvit
Eiken et al. 2011

Overview Sleipner Background Technology used and… Lessons learned

 Sleipner CO2 injection site - Location

• CO2 from the Sleipner field is stored in the Utsira Formation, North Sea
CO2 Plume outline
• Reservoir unit at 800-1100 m depth
• One CO2 injector - 36 meter perforation at ~1012 meter (TVD)
• Injected gas is ~98% CO2
• 13,5Mt CO2 have been injected (as of May 2012, ~0,9M per annum)

Overview Sleipner Background Technology used and… Lessons learned

The Sleipner Vest Field - Key Characteristics

• Largest gas/condensate field in the Sleipner area (North Sea), on stream in 1996

• Partners: Statoil - operator (58,35 %), ExxonMobil* (32,24 %), Total** (9,41 %)

• Higher CO2 content (4-9%) than the gas export quality specification allows (2,5%)

• Capture absorption at 100 bar, 60-80ºC, Amine 45wt% MDEA

• Decision to store geologically the captured CO2 was based on willingness to try
out new technology and the CO2 tax incentive

• Sleipner CCS is an internationally-recognised benchmark project

* ExxonMobil Exploration & Production Norway AS

** Total Norge AS

Overview Sleipner Background Technology used and… Lessons learned

The Utsira Formation 0
GR
150
DT
240 40
TVD
(m)

Net/gross: 0.98
850
Top Utsira TWT Porosity: 35-40 %
Permeability > 1 Darcy
~ 200 m thick

900

950

1000

1050

Overview Sleipner Background Technology used and… Lessons learned

Phase Behaviour at Operating Conditions
10000

solid
1000
Pressure [bar]

liquid
100
10

vapour

-40 -20 0 20 40 60 80 100

Temperature [oC]

Overview Sleipner Background Technology used and… Lessons learned

Operating the Sleipner CO2 Project
Operational Performance
• Stable wellhead pressure ~65bar
• Wellhead temperature held at 25oC

Monitoring Data
• Wellhead pressure and flow rate is monitored
continuously
• Gas composition samples are taken intermittently
• Seven time-lapse (4D) seismic surveys
• Two repeat gravimetric surveys
• Electromagnetic survey
• Seabed surveys (2006 & 2011)

Key subsurface uncertainties

• Role of internal Utsira shale layers, plume propagation
• Reservoir and wellbore processes
• Maximum injection capacity (rate)

Overview Sleipner Background Technology used and… Lessons learned

 Cumulative CO2 injection to date

14
13
Accumulated injected CO2

12 CO2 Injection rate ~0.9Mtpa

11
10 Baseline seismic survey in 1994
[million tons]

9
8
7 Seven repeats thereafter
6
5 CSEM survey
4
Seismic surveys
3
2 Gravity surveys

1 Seafloor mapping
0
1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013

Year

Overview Sleipner Background Technology used and… Lessons learned

 Sleipner CO2 Time-lapse Seismic Data

1994 2001

Injection at 1010-1013 meter depth (TVD)

2008 2008-1994

Layer 9

Overview Sleipner Background Technology used and… Lessons learned

Sleipner Movie

Overview Sleipner Background Technology used and… Lessons learned

 Sleipner CO2 seismic monitoring
(Alternative if movie does not work)

Top Utsira Formation (TWT) All layers

855

Increasing amplitude
Time [ms]
910

Injection point
1 km 2008
2006
2004
2002
2001
1999

Overview Sleipner Background Technology used and… Lessons learned

 Gravimetric monitoring

• CO2 displacing water causes a negative change in the gravity field

• Temperature measurements imply an average density from 705 to 675 kg/m3
• Gravimetric measurements constrains the in-situ CO2 density to 720 +/- 80 kg/m3
‒ Seismic data is used for geometry definition
• This suggests a maximum dissolution rate of 1.8% per year*

*Alnes et al. 2010

Overview Sleipner Background Technology used and… Lessons learned

Other monitoring at Sleipner

• Seabed surveys in 2006 - side scan sonar and multi

beam echosounding
• Synthetic Aperture sonar 2011 from Autonomous
Underwater Vehicle (AUV)
• CSEM survey also done (no clear signal interpretable
so far)
• Visual observations of the seafloor (ROV), no gas
bubbles observed

Overview Sleipner Background Technology used and… Lessons learned

Lessons learned
• Geophysical, non-invasive monitoring at Sleipner has been extremely valuable and
has been used to address most of the operational questions
• Down hole gauges, which are now available in the industry, would have improved
the accuracy to constrain temperature/pressure
• Improved understanding of fluid dynamic processes (CO2 brine) has resulted from
the Sleipner pioneering case (sharing of data has improved this)
• Detailed geological features controls the CO2 distribution and are difficult to predict
in advance

Overview Sleipner Background Technology used and… Lessons learned

References
• Alnes, H., Eiken, O., Nooner, S., Sasagawa, G., Stenvold, T. and Zumberge, M., 2010. Results from Sleipner gravity
monitoring: updated density and temperature distribution of the CO2 plume. 10th International Conference on Greenhouse
Gas Technologies, 19-23 Sept. 2010, Amsterdam, Netherlands. www.sciencedirect.com
• Eiken, O., Ringrose, P., Hermanrud, C., Nazarian, B. & Torp, T., 2011. Lessons learned from 14 years of CCS Operations:
Sleipner, In Salah and Snøhvit. 10th International Conference on Greenhouse Gas Technologies. Energy Procedia, Volume
4, 5541-5548.
• Hansen, H., Eiken O., Aasum T. O., 2005. Tracing the path of carbon dioxide from a gas-condensate reservoir, through the
amine plant and back into a subsurface aquifer. Case study: The Sleipner area, Norwegian North Sea. Helga Hansen, Ola
Eiken og Thor Olav Aasum. SPE 96742, 2005.
• Singh, V., Cavanagh, A., Hansen, H., Nazarian, B. Iding, M. and Ringrose, P., 2010. Reservoir modeling of CO2 plume
behavior calibrated against monitoring data from Sleipner, Norway. SPE paper 134891 presented at the SPE Annual
Technical Conference and Exhibition held in Florence, Italy, 19–22 September 2010
Thank you

Sveinung Hagen
Leader - CO2 Storage Exploration
svehag@statoil.com, tel: +47 41 51 37 06
www.statoil.com