SPE-210059-MS

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General Considerations for the Use of Offshore Depleted Reservoirs for CO2
Sequestration

Amin Amirlatifi, Mississippi State University; Adriana Ovalle, Advantek Waste Management Services; Somayeh
Bakhtiari Ramezani, Mississippi State University; Ibrahim Mohamed and Omar Abou-Sayed, Advantek Waste
Management Services

Copyright 2022, Society of Petroleum Engineers DOI 10.2118/210059-MS

This paper was prepared for presentation at the 2022 SPE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition held in Houston, Texas, USA, 3 - 5 October 2022.

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Abstract
Carbon dioxide (CO2) sequestration is one of the most effective ways of overcoming the excessive emissions
of anthropogenic CO2 and the resulting climate change. The existence of large and accessible pore space,
along with the wells, pipelines, and surface facilities, makes depleted oil and gas reservoirs a prime target
for the deposition of CO2. This study aims to outline the primary considerations for sequestration of CO2
in abandoned oil and gas reservoirs, with a particular focus on offshore reservoirs in the Gulf of Mexico
(GOM).
We examine publicly available data from the Bureau of the Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) to gather
insight into the existing porous formations in the GOM. Particular interest is given to the formations that
have been assessed, developed, and are now abandoned. This approach has enabled us to identify significant
storage potentials in shelf, shallow and deep parts of the GOM, making it possible to offer an abundance
of safe and long-term storage options in this region.
The first productions in the GOM started back in 1947. As of January 2018, over 900 GOM fields,
including more than 5,000 reservoirs (also known as "Sands"), have since ceased production. The total pore
volume of these reservoirs is over 175 million cubic feet or over 6.1 million cubic meters. Although many
of the wells in these reservoirs are permanently plugged and abandoned (P&A), the existing knowledge
about the pore space, the presence of proven seal and geomechanical stability, and the favorable depth of
such sands are still highly relevant to commercially viable CO2 sequestration scenarios. Such knowledge
can provide a wealth of knowledge, which had to be acquired otherwise prior to the development of the
sequestration project.
The present paper offers an overview of the potential CO2 sequestration candidates in the GOM and
practical considerations for commercially viable and environmentally friendly sequestration sites. We
examine the main factors contributing to the safety and sustainability of long-term storage and sequestration
projects, along with remedial techniques that would pave the road for commercial leasing of pore space in
the GOM for safe and effective disposal of CO2.
2 SPE-210059-MS

Introduction
Despite numerous efforts to combat climate change and reduce the level of greenhouse gases (GHG)
in the atmosphere, we are still several years away from practical reduction and mitigation of their side
effects. In 2020, CO2 emissions from various sources in the United States alone were estimated to be 5,222

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million metric tons (the United States Environmental Protection Agency, 2022). Carbon dioxide Capturing,
Utilization and Sequestration (CCUS) is arguably one of the most promising and quickest techniques that
would allow us to combat the negative impacts of anthropogenic CO2 emissions (Mortezaei et al., 2021).
Over the past several years, global initiatives have been undertaken to combat GHG emissions, and
governments have offered tax incentives to the companies that provide negative CO2 emissions. One such
incentive is the Tax Credit for Carbon Sequestration (Section 45Q) (Congressional Research Service, 2021),
which would offset most of the cost associated with capturing and sequestration of CO2. This incentive
and similar moves towards carbon neutrality have transformed GHG mitigation from pure research into
a commercial reality. However, several aspects of this process still require further delineation and many
physical obstacles that need to be overcome.
In the following sections, we discuss a general background on CCUS and evaluate using the depleted
and abandoned oil and gas reservoirs in the Gulf of Mexico as an option to address geographic limitations
of capable storage media for permanent sequestration of CO2.

Carbon Dioxide Capturing, Utilization, and Sequestration

The CCUS process is composed of three major components:

• CO2 capturing and transportation,

• Possible utilization of the CO2, and

• Permanent storage of the captured CO2

Below we discuss each of these components in more detail.

CO2 Capturing and Transportation. Depending on the source, operating conditions, and process-specific
requirements, CO2 can be achieved through various physical (e.g., membrane separation) and chemical
approaches, including the use of different adsorbents such as activated carbon, zeolites, Metal-Organic
Frameworks (MOFs), and amine-based solutions (DOE/NETL, 2020). Most of these techniques can be
classified as physisorption, i.e., the CO2 molecule would physically attach to the adsorbent in the inlet
stream and will be later removed (either via elevated temperature or applying negative pressure). There
are several chemisorption processes as well, where CO2 undergoes a chemical process as it is captured and
separated from the N2 and other gases. In amine-based separation, for example, an inlet stream of flue gases
is fed into a high-pressure and moderate-temperature amine bed. The CO2 binds to amine molecules and
drops to the bottom of the bed. The CO2-rich amine is then fed to a low pressure and higher temperature
regeneration tank, where CO2 is separated, and CO2-free amine is fed back to the cycle for a continuous
capturing operation.
The capturing aspect of CCUS can also be evaluated from the perspective of working conditions. CO2
may be captured from a flue gas stream, e.g., from a coal-fired power plant or a factory exhaust. In this case,
impurities, other flue gases, and pollutants (such as SOx, NOx, and PM) must be removed first, then CO2
capturing can occur(DOE/NETL, 2015). Alternatively, direct from the air capturing (DAC) of CO2 can take
place under low temperature and pressure (i.e., atmospheric) conditions.
The source of CO2 can indirectly dictate its possible uses. Once captured, CO2 needs to be compressed
and transported via pipeline, trucking, ships, and railroad. Compression of CO2 into supercritical conditions
itself requires considerable energy and adequate infrastructure. For example, compressing the CO2 that
SPE-210059-MS 3

results from a 550 MW net power generation would require two parallel multi-stage centrifugal compressor
trains and 45 MW of power, which is more than 8% of the generated power (DOE/NETL, 2015).
Utilization of the Captured CO2. The CO2 captured from various sources (e.g., the flue gas from coal-
fired power plants) can contain impurities (e.g., residual ash, NOx, SOx, water, CO, H2S, O2). While most

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of these impurities are removed during the capturing process, there remain a few percentages (typically
less than 3%) of them in the CO2 stream. The use of CO2 in depleted oil and gas reservoirs for Enhanced
Oil Recovery (EOR) is heavily influenced by the purity of the injectant and its guaranteed supply volume.
While it is easy to assume that a dependable supply of CO2 will be available, transporting the gas from the
source to the target site is often expensive and is a bottleneck. Oftentimes, the transportation cost (nearly $1
million/mile of an onshore pipeline) and the risk of plugging the pores due to injecting impurities make it
unfeasible to consider and realize a commercially viable CCUS project. As a result, it is favorable to shorten
the distance between the source and the target and avoid introducing impurities into the injection stream.
Even with these considerations, maintaining the volume of high purity CO2 that needs to be available at the
injection site for a prolonged period is open for debate.
CO2 Sequestration. Long-term and permanent storage of CO2 is another challenge that must be addressed
in a cost-effective, risk mitigated, and reliable manner. Several short- to mid-term approaches aim at using
the captured CO2 (for example, in extending coral reefs, manufacturing concrete, or growing algae and its
numerous by-products). Underground storage, however, is still the most sought-after approach for long-
term storage of waste materials in general and CO2 in particular. Such geologic sequestration requires
suitable traps, high enough temperature and pressure conditions, and adequate pore space and permeability
(Amirlatifi, 2013).
Underground storage can take place in high salinity brine aquifers (total dissolved solid content over
10,000 PPM), un-mineable coal seams, or the most practical of them all, in Depleted and Abandoned oil and
gas Reservoirs (DAR). What makes the latter a very intriguing option is the fact that we have a thorough
understanding of the underground formation and its rock properties, its reservoir extent, and the exact
storage capacity, along with extensive data and analysis related to the existence of faults or fractures, and
the type of the boundary. It should be noted that such knowledge is required for permitting and sequestration
in other underground storage media as well, but we do not always have the liberty of knowing them prior
to commissioning the project. This gives the DAR a much higher upfront advantage than other long-term
storage options.
Another inherent benefit of using DAR comes from the existing infrastructure, transportation routes, and
pipelines that are in place for an oil and gas field that otherwise need to be designed and implemented. While
most of these comparative assessments are valid for both onshore and offshore sites, the transportation
aspect is especially true for offshore fields, where pipeline cost is on average $2.76 million/mile and can
go as high as $12.94 million/mile (Kaiser, 2016).

Methodology
This study utilizes data on the location, formation properties, development and completion characteristics,
production history, and the remaining volumes of oil and gas fields in the GOM, which are publicly available
through the BOEM website. The retrieved data dates from late 1947 through December 31, 2019, and
includes monthly production data from each field and their corresponding reservoirs (also referred to as
"Sands"). A field is considered to be decommissioned if no production is reported from the field for the last
two years, i.e., no more production is observed past January 1st, 2018. This indicates that over nine hundred
GOM fields, including over 5,000 reservoirs, have since ceased production. The total pore volume of these
reservoirs is over 175 million cubic feet or over 6.1 million cubic meters.
4 SPE-210059-MS

To determine the storage capacity of each reservoir, the reported bulk volume is multiplied by the average
porosity of the reservoir.
(1)
Equation (1) gives the pore volume in barrel, where A is the area in acres, h is the net pay thickness

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in feet and ϕ is the average porosity of the reservoir, as reported by the BOEM. The most efficient form
of CO2 storage is its supercritical form, which maintains its gas-like viscosity but has liquid-like density.
The critical pressure of CO2 is about 1,070 psi, and its critical temperature is 87.8 °F (Kamari et al., 2017).
The favorable temperature and pressure conditions for maintaining supercritical CO2 are used to filter out
shallow reservoirs.
We use a representative temperature and pressure of 140°F and 2175 psi which is well above the
supercritical conditions, for CO2 density calculations. The CO2 has a density of 604 kg/m3 or 0.0963 ton/
bbl at 140°F and 2175 psi (Lemmon et al., 1998; Span & Wagner, 1996). To determine the CO2 storage
capacity of each reservoir, the total pore volume of the reservoir is multiplied by the density of CO2, as
shown in equation (2):
(2)
Since the reported reserves for the fields and their corresponding sands are zero, it is not immediately
possible to estimate the residual reservoir volume of hydrocarbons. Ideally, the remaining volume of
hydrocarbons, along with any injected fluids, such as water, need to be subtracted from the available
reservoir volume. For the present study, however, we assume that the reported reservoir volume is available
for storage. The resulting CO2 storage capacities are further converted into megatons. Figure 1 shows the
storage capacity of abandoned oil and gas fields in the GOM.

Figure 1—CO2 Storage Capacity of Abandoned Oil and Gas Fields in the GOM

As of January 1, 2018, the total pore space available for CO2 storage in the DAR fields of GOM is
16,623 megatons. However, it should be noted that in addition to having adequate capacity to receive the
SPE-210059-MS 5

CO2, a favorable formation needs good vertical pay, acceptable permeability, and high enough pressure and
temperature to result in supercritical CO2 storage.
Permeability and net pay thickness can be combined into a single quantity, the transmissivity or T, to
denote the potential of a formation for receiving fluids:

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(3)
A transmissivity cutoff of 1,500 md-ft, along with a storage capacity of 30 megatons and previously
discussed temperature and pressure constraints, was used to identify favorable formations. Such restrictions
bring the total number of suitable DAR to forty-nine reservoirs, with a viable CO2 storage capacity of 2,593
megatons, Figure 2.

Figure 2—Storage Capacity of Abandoned GoM Reservoirs Favorable for CO2 Sequestration

Results and Discussion

Figure 2 shows the storage capacity of favorable abandoned reservoirs in the GOM. The best candidate in
this figure is the AT426, also known as Bass Lite. This reservoir was discovered in January 2001 and had
its first production in February 2008. This gas field under water drive continued its production by Apache
until mid-2014 when it was abandoned (Nixon et al., 2016). The two 13,000 ft deep wells in this reservoir
were plugged and abandoned in the same year. Produced gas from this reservoir was transferred to shore
through a 56-mile-long subsea pipeline tied back to the Devils Tower Spar in Mississippi Canyon Block
773 (Offshore Energy, 2018). The pipeline, however, was later decommissioned as well (Offshore Energy,
2018). With a transmissivity of over 776,500 mD.ft, Bass Lite has an estimated capacity of 131 megatons
of CO2. Assuming the average current commercial sequestration rates of about 1 megaton/year (Herzog,
2011), this formation is well suited to receive CO2 for permanent sequestration; however, its distance to the
shore, along with the fact that existing wells and its subsea pipeline were decommissioned in 2016 (Offshore
Energy, 2018), makes it a substantial investment to use Bass Lite as the first target for sequestration.
Alternatively, one can use a threshold value of 30 ft for the pay thickness and 50 md for permeability,
along with the previously discussed storage capacity, to identify favorable formations for CO2 storage.
Distance to the shore, water depth, and reservoir depth are the main factors contributing to the cost of
6 SPE-210059-MS

preparing an abandoned field for CO2 sequestration. For this reason, we focus on favorable formations with
shallower reservoir depths that are close to the shore and on the shelf (water depth less than 1,000 ft). As
such, several other favorable reservoirs can be identified. Figure 3 shows the favorable abandoned reservoirs
color-coded with their permeability.

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Figure 3—Storage Capacity (Size of the Bubbles) and Permeability (Color
Scale) of Abandoned GoM Reservoirs Favorable for CO2 Sequestration

A viable candidate that can be identified along the Mississippi coast is the MO864, with a storage capacity
of 44.0 megatons and a transmissivity of 125,300 mD.ft. Although new well(s) need to be drilled into this
reservoir and a new pipeline to the shore needs to the put in place, the proximity of this shelf reservoir to
the shore, along with the shallow water depth of only 63ft, and the TVD of 2,400 ft, make it a suitable
candidate for CO2 sequestration.
Another promising candidate along the Texas coastline is MI623_SD122, with a CO2 storage capacity
of 68 megatons, a permeability of 1,247 md, and a pay thickness of 120 ft. This field is also located on
the shelf, with a water depth of 83 ft and a reservoir depth of 13,290 ft. Other viable candidates along the
coastline are listed in
Table 1.

Table 1—Favorable CO2 Sequestration Candidates in Shallow Waters, Close to the Shore Line

BOEM Field Name  CO2 Storage Capacity (megatons) k (md) h (ft) Water Depth (ft) Reservoir Depth
(ft)

MI668_12000 73 175 58 95 12,248

MI623_SD122 68 1247 120 83 13,290

WC180_I1 53 391 42 48 8,407

WC180_K2 47 735 41 48 9,936

VR014_R_L16 46 496 53 26 14,704

SPE-210059-MS 7

BOEM Field Name  CO2 Storage Capacity (megatons) k (md) h (ft) Water Depth (ft) Reservoir Depth
(ft)

MO864 44 3686 34 63 2,400

EC033_KN 44 95 39 39 10,153

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VR014_ROTE1 38 142 116 26 15,099

VR014_CIBOP11 37 381 53 26 11,423

WD027 32 378 91 27 13,460

WC149_30 32 233 44 40 7,991

MU757_6250 32 113 45 146 6,090

It should be noted, however, that injection into any underground formation requires a thorough evaluation
of the boundary conditions, as well as the availability of ample pore space that would allow for injection of
the fluids without exceeding the rock strength or triggering seismic effects. Numerous examples of excessive
fluid disposal in deep formations and the resulting seismic activities prove that formation limits must be
honored. While seismicity in an offshore setting may have little to no effect on human activities, its side
effects, including the formation and seafloor displacement, can cause severe issues. Creep is another concern
when it comes to the injection or production from underground formations. For example, the Ekofisk field
experienced subsidence of the sea floor and damage to the wells and pipeline because of creep (Keszthelyi
et al., 2016) as it was producing.
As noted in
Table 1, the abandoned fields close to the shore and still meet the requirements for favorable sequestration
offer pore space for safe storage of nearly 550 megatons of CO2 in its ideal supercritical form. While this
value is not nearly one-tenth of the annual CO2 emissions in the US (the United States Environmental
Protection Agency, 2022), it is still a considerable and readily available storage space that can be utilized
to combat the adverse effects of the climate change.

Conclusions
Combating climate change requires a global initiative to capture GHG, utilize them as much as possible,
and safely contain them for permanent storage. Geologic sequestration has proven to be an effective way
of storing CO2 for prolonged periods. This is, however, challenged by the need for a suitable trap capable
of containing the injected fluids, adequate storage capacity, and high enough temperature and pressure to
assert supercritical storage of CO2. This work highlighted the importance of leveraging the knowledge
from depleted and abandoned oil and gas fields in the GOM to reduce the cost of exploration, assessment,
development, and operation of sustainable, long-term, commercially viable CO2 sequestration projects.
We discussed the general considerations for CO2 storage projects in the GOM and identified several
candidates that have favorable conditions to serve as sequestration sites. It should be noted that locating
a plausible storage site is only the first step in a long process, which needs to be followed by a detailed
engineering review and financial analysis before full-on engagement and commitment to permitting process;
however, knowing that the potential pore space is available and the wealth of information that is already
gathered on the formation, make it possible for speedy engineering review and more straightforward
permitting process. Altogether, the present research identified that as of January 1, 2018, the GOM has
enough pore space to store 16,623 megatons of CO2. Since this storage space is staggered among over
5,900 reservoirs, we identified the most favorable candidates for this purpose. We also identified twelve
shallow reservoirs on the shelf that offer viable storage potential, with high transmissivity depth suitable
for supercritical storage of CO2.
8 SPE-210059-MS

Although this work does not offer a definitive solution to combat the issue of CO2 emissions, the authors
hope that it will open the floor for discussion regarding the use of abandoned fields for CO2 storage before
the decommissioning or P&A of the fields.

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Symbols

Symbol Units Description

A acres Areal Extent of the Reservoir
h ft Net Pay Thickness of the Reservoir
k md Average Permeability of the Reservoir
T mD.ft Transmissivity (k.h)
Vp bbl Pore Volume
ϕ _ Porosity (fraction)

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