Cost-effective imaging of CO2 injection with borehole seismic methods

Abstract

Currently there is a critical need to increase oil and gas recovery from existing and new reservoirs. In addition, the ever-increasing need to sequester CO2 in the subsurface places further emphasis on accurate imaging methods to validate CO2 injection strategies. Two obstacles to increased efficiency are (1) a thorough understanding of the geologic complexity and fluid distribution and (2) the scaling relationships between fine scale/point measurements and larger scale/volumetric measurements. Although initially expensive, borehole methods may offer a cost-effective solution when integrated into a drilling and development program. New technology such as fiber-optic sensors emplaced during drilling and completion, microhole drilling, and other advances in sensors will make borehole technology much more cost effective when used over the long run. If deployed in a multicomponent and time-lapse fashion, seismic methods also offer the ability to define contrasts in properties, detecting subtle changes in prop...