Browsing by Subject "Underground injection control"
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Item Constraining the data and investment needs for obtaining a carbon dioxide injection permit in the United States(2021-08-09) Barnhart, Taylor H.; Hovorka, Susan D. (Susan Davis)To keep global temperature increases below 2 ̊C, utilization of carbon capture and storage (CCS) must proliferate, but the U.S. has only issued two Underground Injection Control (UIC) Class VI permits for carbon dioxide (CO₂) storage in saline formations. An impediment to CCS development is uncertainty regarding investment requirements for selecting and characterizing a storage site to obtain an injection permit. A Class VI permit application requires adequate site characterization to ensure that no underground sources of drinking water (USDWs) will be negatively impacted by CO₂ storage. Collection of characterization data involves financial expenditures at different project development investment gates. Here these gates are designated as Feasibility, Site(s) Selection, Detailed Characterization, and Permit Preparation. To estimate the potential investments at each gate, a novel approach was developed and applied to 31 case study storage sites in the Southeast Regional CO₂ Utilization and Storage Acceleration Partnership (SECARB-USA) region. This approach included development of a data needs framework, which consists of data required under Class VI regulations, data for multiphase fluid flow modeling, and data for development of a site monitoring program. Two site evaluation rubrics were derived from this data needs framework to assess the urgency and availability of data at a site. The cost of site characterization is a function of the data density (data availability) and data urgency of a site. These rubrics were used to assign scores to the 42 data needs in the data needs framework, and the subsequent data need scores were referenced to a characterization activity cost index to estimate the costs at each investment gate for each site. Results indicate that the total characterization cost across the case study sites are nearly identical unless high cost characterization activities, such as conducting a 3-D seismic survey or drilling, coring, and testing a characterization well, are unnecessary because the data already exist. Existence of these data lowers project risk as early investment gates can be passed with lower investments. Other trends in the dataset reinforce the value of stacked storage sites for reducing costs and existing well penetrations for providing subsurface dataItem Determination of Texas Oil Fields Eligible for Variance from Area-of-Review Requirements in Underground Injection Control Regulations for Class II Injection Wells(1998) Smyth, Rebecca C.; Elliott, Benjamin P.; Nava, Robin C.Permitting of salt-water injection wells requires oil companies or operators to perform an Area of Review (AOR) study within a 0.25-mile radius of a proposed well. The purpose of an AOR study is to identify unplugged wells that may allow injected fluids to migrate upward from the production zone and endanger the overlying underground sources of drinking water (USDW). The Bureau of Economic Geology (BEG) at the University of Texas at Austin, in conjunction with the Railroad Commission of Texas (RRC), evaluated oil fields in Texas for possible variance to the AOR permitting process based on the separation between production-zone fluid levels and the base of USDW. The purpose was for RRC and the industry to use these data and methodology in AOR variance applications and the review of Texas oil fields.Item Methodology for Determination of Texas Oil Fields Eligible for Variance from Area of Review Requirements in Underground Injection Control Regulations for Class II Injection Wells- Revised Final Technical Report(1998) Smyth, Rebecca C.; Nava, Robin C.; Sullivan, E. J.The permitting process for salt-water injection wells mandates that oil companies or operators conduct an Area of Review (AOR) study within a 0.25-mile radius of a proposed well. The primary goal of an AOR study is to pinpoint unplugged wells that could potentially allow injected fluids to migrate upward from the production zone, posing a risk to the overlying underground sources of drinking water (USDW). In collaboration with the Railroad Commission of Texas (RRC), the Bureau of Economic Geology (BEG) at the University of Texas at Austin assessed oil fields across Texas to explore potential variations to the AOR permitting process. This assessment focused on evaluating the separation between production-zone fluid levels and the base of USDW. The aim was to provide the RRC and the industry with valuable data and methodology to facilitate AOR variance applications and the review of oil fields in Texas. Upon querying the RRC's H15 database, 1,587 oil fields were identified with an average static fluid level at least 500 feet below the deepest USDW. Further querying by BEG revealed 113 oil fields with sufficient data for AOR variance analysis.