OTC-29268-MS

What Offshore CCS Will Look Like in the Gulf of Mexico - Perspectives from
Texas

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Tip A Meckel, Sue Hovorka, and Ramon Trevino, Gulf Coast Carbon Center – The University of Texas at Austin

Copyright 2019, Offshore Technology Conference

This paper was prepared for presentation at the Offshore Technology Conference held in Houston, Texas, USA, 6 – 9 May 2019.

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Abstract
Since 2009, the Gulf Coast Carbon Center at the Bureau of Economic Geology (The University of
Texas at Austin) has undertaken multiple integrated geologic and geophysical studies to evaluate the
continental shelf in the Gulf of Mexico for CO2 storage. Funding for these studies has come primarily
from the U.S. Department of Energy (NETL), but also from the State of Texas General Land Office,
which administers the State offshore resources. A recent award-winning publication (BEG Report of
Investigations No. 283) compiles the diverse topics explored during this long history of characterization:
Geological CO2 Sequestration Atlas for Miocene Strata Offshore Texas State Waters. This is the first
attempt to comprehensively address CO2 storage topics for the near offshore in the Gulf Coast. Topics
addressed in the volume include Miocene stratigraphy and depositional systems with regional cross sections,
implications of petroleum systems for CO2 storage, microscopic and stratigraphic evaluation of anticipated
primary seals, regional static capacity estimates, and field-scale examples of storage reservoirs (including
modelling and simulation). Detailed stratigraphic and structural interpretation of hundreds of wells and
faults using integrated 3D seismic data is now continuous over an area greater than 5,000 square kilometres
(2,000 square miles). In three localities a total of 137 square kilometres (53 square miles) of novel high-
resolution 3D seismic data has been acquired to understand technological capabilities for imaging the
overburden above injection reservoirs, and to address characterization, risk reduction, and monitoring needs.
General conclusions from this work are that the inner shelf of the Gulf of Mexico presents superb geology
for CCS with ample storage capacity. Sources and developing pipeline infrastructure are well located
for development of offshore storage hubs. The thick and relatively young and porous clastic Miocene
stratigraphy has multiple regional confining intervals deposited during regional sea level transgressions.
Static CO2 storage capacity estimates beneath the Texas State waters between Mexico and Louisiana
total more than 30 Gt, including both depleted hydrocarbon reservoirs and saline intervals. More regional
assessments identify approximately 125 Gt of storage. This offshore geologic CO2 storage resource is
regionally and nationally significant, is available for both CO2 sequestration and enhanced oil recovery
(EOR), and is likely to be the most appropriate region for giga-tonne scale storage in the United States.
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Summary of Characterization Efforts

The Gulf of Mexico is one of the world's largest accumulations of porous sedimentary rocks with proven
fluid trapping capabilities and one of the most prospective basins in the U.S. for industrial-scale CO2
utilization and storage. Injecting CO2 into onshore locations may seem logistically easier, but there are
several reasons to focus on offshore locations in general and the near offshore waters of Texas in particular.
Some reasons include:

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• excellent suitable geology and world-class storage capacity

• abundant and high quality geologic datasets

• geographically advantageous CO2 source-sink relationships

• reduced risk to shallow sources of drinking water

• favorable culture/ likelihood of public acceptance

• favorable leasing scenario (single landowners)

In addition, the petroleum industry's historic and ongoing hydrocarbon exploration efforts provide
abundant geologic data. The data include thousands of wells with full well log suites and in some cases
hydrocarbon fluid production histories. Importantly, there are also numerous high quality regional 3D
seismic datasets available for interpreting regional and site-specific structure and stratigraphy thus providing
a significant advantage to future carbon sequestration efforts. In short, the prior hydrocarbon exploration
history has set the stage for successful and low-risk CCS deployment throughout the Gulf, likely beginning
in the near offshore for logistical reasons.

Miocene stratigraphy and depositional systems

The Lower to Middle Miocene in the nearshore waters of Texas and Louisiana contain abundant highly
suitable reservoirs for geologic storage of carbon dioxide due to their appropriate depth, accessibility,
geology, and proximity to industrial emissions sources along the Gulf Coast (Fig. 1). The thick (5,000
– 15,000') clastic Miocene geologic section, with porous (>25% porosity) reservoirs and numerous
regional confining zones (a.k.a., seals) in the near offshore waters is readily available for commercial CO2
sequestration or enhanced oil recovery (EOR) operations. Approximate depths to the top of the Miocene
interval lie at favorable drilling depths of 1000 m (3300 ft) and typically contain a 300–600-m (1000–2000-
ft) thickness of stacked sandstone reservoir intervals.
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Figure 1—Map of the eastern Texas and western Louisiana coasts and near offshore (see location inset upper right),
with emphasis on the Texas State waters inboard of the Federal-State boundary (solid yellow line). Note the extensive
structural interpretation of a Lower Miocene stratigraphic surface in Texas State waters, shown with inset colour scale.

Implications of petroleum systems for CO2 storage

Petroleum systems analysis can inform how future industrial-scale engineered CO2 injection projects may
perform in near offshore. Stratigraphic targets of interest and prior natural gas field analyses indicate that
it will be necessary to consider fault-bounded traps and the faults’ static and dynamic sealing capacities
in order to properly model how traps will behave in specific engineered injection scenarios. Storage of
significant quantities of anthropogenic CO2 will likely require larger storage volumes than those represented
by historically produced natural gas accumulations. Nonetheless, the large amount of data available from
historic natural gas production provides an excellent starting point to predict how future CO2 injections may
function in the Miocene geologic section.
Although EOR offers a favourable early economic driver for CO2 capture, compression, and transmission,
brine storage will eventually need to be utilized to achieve significant long-term reduction in Gulf Coast CO2
emissions through time. As onshore Gulf Coast EOR infrastructure develops, expansion to near offshore
waters would benefit from synergy with nearby onshore facilities and operations.
Miocene gas fields of the Texas State Waters represent demonstrable locations of buoyant fluid trapping,
natural analogs for engineered CO2 injections, and prospective storage targets. From the assessment of the
Miocene petroleum systems, we conclude that the regional structural features that exert primary control on
the trapping and distribution of Miocene hydrocarbons should perform similarly for CCS. Approximately
shore-parallel, early Miocene fault zones, such as the Clemente-Tomas in offshore Texas State Waters,
typically mark the landward extent of Miocene hydrocarbon accumulations and likely prevented large
hydrocarbon volumes from moving into updip traps onshore. Because dominant Miocene-age displacement
along regionally extensive growth faults is primarily responsible for hydrocarbon trapping, CO2 injected
into Miocene-age reservoirs of the Texas State Waters also has high potential for regional entrapment in
the offshore setting.
Miocene-age gas reservoirs predominantly occur in faulted anticline and rollover anticline trap types
with water drive mechanisms, which contain the largest OGIP volumes among all gas fields analyzed in this
study. Depositional environments including shore-zone (strand plain and barrier island) and large deltaic-
reservoir systems host most of the largest gas fields. These characteristics are therefore the most prospective
for near-term CO2 sequestration targets.
Miocene oil and gas fields are aerially smaller than their typically much larger structural closure areas.
As such, existing Miocene gas volumes likely represent CO2 capacity minima. Within Texas State Waters,
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depleted gas fields alone will not provide enough capacity for commercial-scale CO2 sequestration. The
volume of the Miocene gas fields converted to CO2- saturated pore space equates to approximately 550
Mt of CO2, but only the largest 10% of fields have CO2 capacities greater than 10 Mt each. Industrial-
scale CCS will require storage capacity comprising both the well-documented Miocene hydrocarbon fields
and their larger closure and fetch areas, as well as barren (unproductive, brine-filled) closures. A regional
structural-closure analysis helps identify those locations. The potential for building CO2 column heights
greater than those of natural petroleum accumulations indicates that fault and top-seal analyses are critical

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for understanding long-term CO2 storage potential at individual sites.

Primary confining units

Core-based analyses suggest that the studied clay-rich lower Miocene mudrocks have sealing ability
sufficient for potential CO2 storage in the underlying sandstone units. The sealing capacity of the studied
samples has positive correlations with clay content and calcite cementation. Clay-rich mudstone samples
typically show higher capillary entry pressure and smaller pore-throat size than underlying sandstones. SEM
imaging shows that claystone samples contain mostly isolated intraparticle pores, which are not effectively
connected to form pore networks. The multiple data sets suggest that the studied mudstone unit is compacted
sufficiently enough to provide adequate seal for up to 240 ft of CO2 column. However, it is noteworthy
that lower Miocene mudrocks in Texas State Waters are shallower than the studied core and that their fluid
attenuation capacity may be affected by more primary pores and less cementation and mineral dissolution.
The Amph B transgressive mudrock unit is a proven confining zone for lower Miocene natural
hydrocarbon accumulations in the area. We recognized and mapped the Amph B in geophysical well logs
in a large study area of 42,261 km2 (16,317 mi2) centered on the offshore Texas State Waters and also in a
regional 3D seismic data set of 625 km2 (241 mi2). The Amph B net mudstone thickness varies from zero
to 1524 m (5,000 ft) in the project area.
A high concentration of lower Miocene hydrocarbon accumulations occurs on the hanging wall of the
Clemente-Tomas fault zone where Amph B net mudstone is thick, ranging from 1,000 ft (305 m) to 3,000 ft
(914 m). These natural analogs of fluid entrapment suggest that fairways characterized by a thick regional
Amph B confining zone defined by net mudrock values of more than 1,000 ft (305m) might provide an
excellent long-term confining mechanism for injected CO2.

Regional static capacity estimates

Significant work has been conducted in the Gulf Coast region investigating the potential reservoirs for a
CCS project. Using a large and robust subsurface data set covering 42,261 km2 (16,317 mi2) of coastal Texas
and the adjacent offshore, including the immediately adjacent 9,875 km2 (3,813 mi2) of the offshore Texas
State Waters, the Miocene sandstone-bearing interval presents a world-class opportunity for geological
CO2 sequestration. Using a modified NETL-DOE static CO2 "net"-capacity estimate methodology [3,4],
we estimate P50 net capacity for the Miocene sandstone-bearing interval to be 124.5 Gt CO2. In the smaller
offshore Texas State Waters, which is a subset of the Total Project Area, we estimate P50 net capacity for
the Miocene interval to be 30.1 Gt CO2.
Our offshore Texas Miocene CO2 capacity estimates are noticeably high compared to estimates from
similar areas for many other states and countries. This is due to the unusually large pore volumes offered
by the thick, high net-to-gross, and high porosity Miocene strata of the northern Gulf of Mexico Basin,
which are derived from a continental-scale drainage system (Mississippi River) and geologically young
and typically only have mild diagenesis compared to those of many areas. Future, more detailed studies
that consider confining and fault seal capabilities, and dynamic parameters will undoubtedly reduce these
storage capacity estimates.
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However, the Miocene of the northern Gulf of Mexico is well documented and well understood such
that we feel confident that it provides excellent CO2 sequestration potential. Multiple stacked reservoir
sandstones with high porosity and permeability provide very large pore volumes for potential CO2 injection
and storage. Thick mudrock intervals provide low-permeability regional seals that have proven to be
adequate for natural-gas trapping on geologic time scales. Structural deformation from salt tectonism and
extensional growth faulting has created numerous effective trap types that are observed throughout the
region.

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Field-scale examples of storage reservoirs
Depleted hydrocarbon fields provide historic data for geologic characterization, as well as some indication
of large-scale fluid trapping and production performance, and therefor make ideal candidates for CCS
projects. To date, three field-scale settings along the Texas coast have been evaluated for CO2 storage: Brazos
Block 440-L, San Luis Pass, and High Island Block 24-L. These sites have seen different degrees of study,
with some having static capacity assessment only, and others having detailed reservoir simulation (Fig. 2).
Ongoing work attempts to inform porosity distributions through seismic inversion and rock physics model.
Our experience indicates that initial regional static capacity estimates are reduced when individual
reservoir intervals are further evaluated, as to be expected. Overall, individual reservoir simulations produce
dynamic capacity estimates in the range of 5-25 Mt per sand interval, depending on sand quality and
thickness. In order to validate the large regional static capacity assessments (section 2.4), stacked storage
reservoir scenarios are needed, but suggest substantial storage may be accessible through time.

Figure 2—Reservoir model constructed or the HI-24L field area. Color scale bar at left is porosity value. Ornage
features are faults (N=49). Model is based on interpreted structure maps generated from 3D seismic data.

Plausible offshore CCS development scenarios

The western Gulf Coast region provides excellent source-sink matching for full scale CCS development,
with many large CO2 emissions sources co-located with large-scale storage opportunities. Initially, injection
wells drilled from onshore and deviated into the offshore State waters are likely to be the most effective
and economic starting point for offshore CCS. Enhanced oil recovery (CO2-EOR) is likely to remain an
onshore activity until the vast recoverable resources in the coastal counties has been exhausted, mostly
for economic development reasons. Precedent for deviated CO2 injection wells exists in the Tomakomai
project on the northern island of Hokkaido. Another analgous scenarios is the hydrocarbon development of
the Wytch Farm field in the UK, where many deviated lateral wells into the offshore occur from strategic
onshore coastal localities. Deviated onshore wells allow for easier and timelier (less costly) access to
wellheads. Beyond deviated wells, future developments may evolve incrementally with offshore pipeline
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development and subsea well completions, similar to the proposed Northern Lights project in the Norwegian
continental shelf. This model foresees CO2 regional hubs and spoke pipelines for subsurface injection. It
makes most sense that CCS will follow the hydrocarbon development trend of starting nearshore and moving
progressively farther offshore, with some potential to re-purpose infrastructure to advoid decommissioning
and reduce development costs. These may be niche opportunities in the end.

Conclusions

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General conclusions from this work are that the inner shelf of the Gulf of Mexico presents superb geology
for CCS with ample storage capacity and that sources and developing pipeline infrastructure are well located
for development of offshore storage hubs. The thick (1,500-4,500 m; 5,000–15,000 feet) and relatively
young and porous clastic Miocene stratigraphy has multiple regional confining intervals deposited during
regional sea level transgressions. This offshore geologic CO2 storage resource in the Gulf of Mexico is
nationally significant, is available for both CO2 sequestration and enhanced oil recovery (EOR), and is likely
to be the most appropriate region for giga-tonne scale storage in the United States. While EOR offers an
early economic driver for CO2 capture, compression, and transmission, CO2 storage in brine formations will
eventually be needed to achieve appreciable reductions in regional CO2 emissions through time. Static CO2
storage capacity estimates for the geology beneath the Texas State waters between Mexico and Louisiana
total more than 30 Gt, including both depleted hydrocarbon reservoirs and saline intervals. However storage
of industrially-sourced quantities of CO2 will likely require larger storage volumes than those represented by
historically produced natural gas accumulations (emphasizing a need to utilize adjacent saline formations),
and fault seal performance may be more important that topseal performance at the field scale. Preliminary
mapping and geologic characterization of select individual prospective reservoirs is complete, and highlights
the role that deltaic depositional systems and faults may have on project development (capacity and
retention). Ongoing work focuses on optimizing source hub development with transportation and storage
options, with specific considerations for integrated capture, transport, and utilization and storage project
development in the region.

Acknowledgements
This material is based upon work supported by the Department of Energy under DOE Award Number DE-
FE0026083. Disclaimer: This material was prepared as an account of work sponsored by an agency of
the United States Government. Neither the United States Government nor any agency thereof, nor any of
their employees, makes any warranty, express or implied, or assumes any legal liability or responsibility
for the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any information, apparatus, product, or process disclosed,
or represents that its use would not infringe privately owned rights. Reference herein to any specific
commercial product, process, or service by trade name, trademark, manufacturer, or otherwise does
not necessarily constitute or imply its endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by the United States
Government or any agency thereof. The views and opinions of authors expressed herein do not necessarily
state or reflect those of the United States Government or any agency thereof.

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to evaluate Quaternary fluvial valley development and geologic controls on shallow gas
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