CO2/EOR and Geological Carbon Storage Resource Potential in the Niagaran Pinnacle Reef Trend, Lower Michigan, USA

Abstract

Early Silurian age, Niagaran pinnacle reef trend (NPRT) oil fields in the Guelph Formation in Northern Lower Michigan (NNPRT) comprise a giant oil province with nearly 63.6 million cubic meters (Mm3) of cumulative petroleum and 680 billion cubic meters (Bm3) of natural gas production (through 2010) from over 700 discrete reservoirs at depths of 800-2100 m. Several NNPRT fields are the main target of a proposed, DOE-NETL funded, large scale carbon dioxide (CO2) utilization and sequestration project. The NNPRT comprises closely-spaced, but highly geologically compartmentalized and laterally discontinuous oil and gas fields many of which have either reached or are nearing their economic limit in primary production mode. Total oil production from the largest 207 oil fields in the NNPRT, each with more than 80,000 m3 of cumulative oil production per field, constitutes 86% or 54.6 Mm3 of trend oil production totals and are considered most likely targets for CO2/EOR activities in the future. We have evaluated regional CO2/Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) potential in these NNPRT fields from historic production data in addition to recovery efficiencies observed in seven, on-going, commercial CO2/EOR projects and determined that incremental CO2/EOR potential in these fields ranges from 22-33 Mm3. We have also evaluated trend-wide Geological Storage Resource (GSR) potential using 2 different approaches: 1) a produced fluid volumes approach, and 2) a gross storage capacity approach using petrophysical well log estimates of net, effective porosity in NNPRT field wells and estimates of reservoir acreage from GIS data. These approaches provide robust low and high estimates of more than 200 Mmt but less than 500 Mmt (respectively) for Geological Storage Resource (GSR) potential in the NNPRT.