Commercialization of Offshore CCS in Gulf of Mexico
Dr. Tip MeckelSenior Research Scientist
Gulf Coast Carbon Center
Bureau of Economic Geology
The University of Texas at Austin

TOPICS• Global CO2 Storage concepts on Continental Margins• What is the maturity of CCS in the Gulf Coast region?
• Many prior projects (research/demo, industrial)• Existing capture and pipeline transport infrastructure, upper coast• Work that has been done to mature near offshore storage inthe Miocene geology• Summary of prior geologic storage assessments since 2009
• Atlas publication• Status of active projects• GoMCARB – currently negotiating $14M for 5 year assessment project• Brief summary of 45Q tax credits for CCS in the USA

Offshore CCS can happen in a lot of places globally, but is not required everywhere to be effective globally.

Paul Mann, University of Houston
Passive Margins
Encyclopedia of Marine Geosciences
DOI 10.1007/978-94-007-6644-0_100-1

Typical subsurface pressure profile$CCS Resource Implications

Primary: Normal pressure (CENOZOIC)
Secondary: Elevated pressure (MESOZOIC)
Tertiary: High pressure, brine extraction?

Industrial CO2 Emissions – ‘Center of Mass’ heat map

Texas islargest
emitter in US

The Gulf Coast CCUS Landscape is Evolving Rapidly!
Meckel et al., in revision, Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage Hub Development on the Gulf Coast9

Existing TX Example: Petra Nova
(NRG + West Ranch) Houston• Post-combustion capture from coal-fired electric utility.
• Utilized significant DOE funding.
• Delivered on time and within budget.
• ~1.5 Million tons per year captured and used for enhanced oilrecovery.
• Increased production by 5,000 BBL per day.
• Storing ~5,000 tons CO2 per day.
• Probably not going to do this again without major change incapture costs and EOR operations.

Existing TX Example: Air Products(Port Arthur + Hastings)• 2013: Gas separation (SMR) facility.
• Utilized significant DOE funding.
• CO2 piped to southeast Houston for EOR
at Hastings Field.

Existing TX Example: Net Power(La Porte)• Zero emission gas-fired electricity.
• Private Financing.
• Novel Allam Cycle: CO2 is working fluid.
• 50 MWth Demo plant in La Porte achieved firstfire in 2018.
• High pressure, high purity CO2 offtake.
• 300 MWe commercial plants under FEED
development.

ClearPathhttps://www.netpower.com/news/

Gulf Coast CCS @ GCCC
1) Frio Saline tests 2004 & 2006
2) Cranfield stacked storage (EOR + CCS)
3) Air Products - Hastings MMV (EOR + CCS)
4) NRG – West Ranch (EOR + CCS)
5) BOEM BPM Offshore Storage
6) Offshore GoM Storage Characterization
1. 2009-2014 Texas Offshore Miocene
2. 2015-2018 TXLA Project
3. 2016-2018 CarbonSAFE Phase I
4. 2018–2023 GoMCARB Partnership•High-resolution 3D seismic acquisition• 3 GoM surveys• 1 Tomakomai, Japan survey134625

GoMCarb & SECARB Offshore GoM Annual Joint Partnership Meeting
April 7 – 8, 2021

Leveraging Gulf Data Maturity
Database of the Gulf Basin Depositional Synthesis Industrial Associated Program

https://ig.utexas.edu/energy/gbds/

Inner-shelf seismic data:east Texas – western Louisiana

TXLA 3D Dataset( approx. 7,000 miles)

Offshore OBS 3D Dataset( approx. 1,200 mi2 )( approx. 880 mi2 )Lower Miocene (~16-23MA)

GOM Paleogeography• Dominant environment: Coastal-Deltaic,shallow marine• Red River merging with Mississippi RiverSCHEMATIC!

(map from Galloway et al., 2011)(map from Deep Time Maps)

Typical large growth fault setting on inner shelf

Static Regional Capacity
Texas Coast & Offshore• NETL Methodology• 40,000 sq. km.
• 3,300 logs
• Tops, net sand, porosity• 172 Gt CO2 storage total• TX State Waters

STRUCTRHO
NETWallace et al., 2013, Regional CO2 sequestration capacityPHI
assessment for thecoastal and offshore Texas Miocene interval, http://doi.org/10.1002/ghg.1380

Project Opportunities on the Gulf Coast are vast
• 148 Sources > 400k/yr• 75 are <50 miles from coast• Shortest transport optimal• Existing CO2 trunk lines• Abundant EOR opportunities• Hundreds of gigatons of
CO2 storage in offshore
TX State Waters

22SPE SRMS Fig. 1.1

INCREASING CHANCE OF COMMERCIALITY
Gulf of Mexico BasinPROSPECTIVE STORAGERESOURCESWESTERNGoM

EASTERN
GoM

TX

Inaccessible
StorageResources

High Island

Prospect
Lead
Play

CAPACITY
ProvedProbable
Possible

24L
10L

CO2 Source
Hubs

LA

Inaccessible
StorageResources

Texas
StateWaters

CONTINGENT STORAGE RESOURCES

LakeJacksonDistrict

Louisiana StateWaters

Site Screening

Inaccessible
StorageResources

ChandeleurSound

Site Selection

SiteCharacterization

Ready forPermitting

SPE Storage Resources
Management System (SRMS)• Uniformity, clarity, familiarity• ‘Bankable’ storage – investment financing• Similar to PRMS

Meckel served on SRMS
Writing and Draft
Guidelines Committees• SRMS exists• https://www.spe.org/industry/CO2-storage-resources-management-system.php• Guidelines currently being drafted• Training workshops to come

SRMS

26

Porosity Estimation: Workflow

Deterministic
seismic inversion

Estimate ofelastic properties

Elastic to reservoir
properties transform

Rock physic modeling

Seismic DataEstimate ofreservoir properties

Example prospect: High Island 24-L Field – Offshore Southeast Texas
Structure on storage interval

STATIC VOLUMETRIC CALCULATIONSRuiz, 2019, MS Thesis, UT-Austin: Characterization 24L Field for CCS

28

Multiple flow simulations

CO2 Probability of Occurrence
LOW

HIGH

Permedia® CO2 Software

Injection points

100 m column height and structure map uncertainty

CO2 Column Height (m)0Permedia® CO2 Software

3 East Texas GoM CO2 Hubs: La Porte, Texas City, Port Arthur
La Porte Hub~5 Mt/yr total
SMR total = 1.75 Mta

ExistingPort Arthur Hub~20 Mt/yr total
17 Mta, 7 sources

Texas City Hub~12 Mt/yr total
10 Mta, 3 sourcesCHAPTERS

https://store.beg.utexas.edu/reports-of-investigations/3441-ri0283-atlas.html

1.

Regional Geology of the Gulf of Mexicoand the Miocene Section of the Texas
Near-offshore Waters

2.

Implications of Miocene Petroleum
Systems for Geologic CO2 Storage
beneath Texas Offshore Lands

3.

Evaluation of Lower Miocene Confining
Units for CO2 Storage, Offshore Texas
State Waters, Northern Gulf of Mexico,USA

4.

Capillary Aspects of Fault-Seal Capacity
for CO2 Storage, Lower Miocene, Gulf ofMexico

5.

Regional CO2 Static Capacity Estimate,
Offshore Saline Aquifers, Texas StateWaters

6.

Field-scale Example of Potential CO2
Sequestration Site in Miocene
Sandstone Reservoirs, Brazos Block
440-L Field

7.

Estimating CO2 Storage Capacity inSaline Aquifer Using 3D Flow Models,Lower Miocene, Texas Gulf of Mexico

8.

Appendix A: Regional Cross Sections,
Miocene Strata of Offshore Texas StateWaters

THANK YOU
GCCC Sponsors
US Department of Energy
Seismic Exchange, Inc.
Fairfield Geotechnologies

Meckel Bio• Dr. Tip Meckel is a senior research scientist investigating geologic carbon storage for the Bureau ofEconomic Geology at The University of Texas at Austin. During his 15 years with the Gulf Coast Carbon
Center at the Bureau he has led research focusing on geologic characterization, structural geology,
monitoring design, and pressure evolution for CO2 injections. He has been directly involved with manylarge-scale field demonstration projects funded through the DOE-NETL Regional Carbon Sequestration
Partnerships. After early exposure during the FRIO tests east of Houston in 2006, he co-directed theresearch program for the SECARB CO2-EOR demonstration project in Cranfield
Mississippi, and currently leads the research initiative to identify offshore sequestration potential in theGulf of Mexico with focus on capacity assessment and high-resolution 3D marine seismic monitoringtechnologies. Dr. Meckel works closely with offshore CCS developments in Japan and the North Sea. Hewas a contributor to the 2019 National Petroleum Council study on CCUS, and participated in theformation of the Society of Petroleum Engineer’s Storage Resource Management System (SRMS). Since2008 he has been PI or Co-PI on 16 CCS grants totaling over $70 million dollars. PhD - UT Austin, MS Univ. MT.