Reservoir Characterization from Pressure Monitoring during CO2 Injection into a Depleted Pinnacle Reef – MRCSP Commercial-scale CCS Demonstration Project

Abstract

Abstract The Midwest Regional Carbon Sequestration Partnership (MRCSP) is implementing a commercial-scale carbon capture and storage (CCS) project in multiple Silurian carbonate pinnacle reefs in northern Michigan that are in various phases of enhanced oil recovery. This paper presents analyses of five pressure fall-off tests performed sequentially during the injection of 166,000 tonnes of CO2 into a Type-1 (depleted) reef which has undergone primary and secondary production. Bottom-hole pressures were monitored in the injection well and in two observation wells to record progressively increasing reservoir pressure during the injection period, which also included five fall-off tests. Pressure data were analyzed using combined history-matching and pressure derivative matching techniques implemented with a commercial well-test interpretation program, FAST WellTest™. The paper illustrates the challenges of consistently interpreting CO2 injection fall-off tests under multi-phase flow with varying pressure conditions using a single-phase analytical model. This work is relevant to CO2 sequestration in depleted oil reservoirs because regular fall-off testing is required under the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Underground Injection Control (UIC) Program for CO2 geologic sequestration (75 FR 77230).