Implementing SRMS in the North Perth Basin: challenges and practical solutions

Abstract

The Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) published the CO2 Storage Resources Management System (SRMS) in 2017 to provide a CO2 Storage Resource classification. Guidelines for its application were published in July 2022. In this paper, Molyneux Advisors (MA) has used these principles to classify and categorise potential CO2 storage resources of Deep Saline Formations (DSFs) and Depleted Oil & Gas Accumulations (DOGAs) in the North Perth Basin (NPB). A subsurface inter-disciplinary approach was taken, integrating supporting data and interpretations in calculating storage volumes. Key challenges exist in: classification of storage resources for four DSFs which jointly constitute more than 90% of potential CO2 storage resources in the NPB; quantifying accessible and Inaccessible Storage Resource volumes; and determining the low-, base- and high-case estimates based upon the uncertainty ranges of inputs. Furthermore, approval of any CO2 storage development is yet to be granted by the Western Australian State Government.