(559f) MVA Lessons Learned from Ccus Project at the Farnsworth Unit, Texas

The Southwest Partnership on Carbon Sequestration (SWP) has been conducting long-term Phase III activity at the active Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) field in the Anadarko Basin of northern Texas (Farnsworth Unit (FWU)). To date, over 800,000 metric tonnes of anthropogenic CO₂have been successfully stored at the Farnsworth Unit since the project began monitoring the injection (2013). Since 2013, the CO₂-EOR project at the FWU field has been extensively monitored for fluid injection, production and migration, including any fluid migration beyond the reservoir zone. Activities include fluid volume accounting, reservoir and USDW chemical variability, multiple repeat seismic methods, surface CO₂leak detection, and multiphase tracer studies.

Beginning in early 2019, the SWP has shifted to “post-closure” monitoring activities. These MVA activities will be a continuation of critical risk-based activities necessary to evaluate fluid (CO₂and/or brine) migration (intended or unintended) at the FWU. The ongoing activities include regular monitoring of USDW groundwater, surface CO₂emissions, time-lapse seismic for CO₂plume assessment, continuous monitoring of microseismicity, and downhole sensors to monitor temperature/pressure. The FWU operator will continue to utilize CO₂for EOR activities and the SWP will continue to track fluid injection/production/flare data accounting. The MVA program at the FWU will utilize new or updated activities to provide additional data to other SWP working groups in an attempt to resolve any gaps in understanding of the Farnsworth Unit EOR system.

The MVA program will continue to evaluate past, current and future monitoring activities for efficacy and lessons learned. The best practices of FWU monitoring will serve as a blueprint for regional, economically-viable, commercial-scale CCUS.

Funding for this project is provided by the U.S. Department of Energy under Award No. DE-FC26-05NT42591.