Development of a Gas Storage Field with Minimum Environmental Impact-West Columbus Field
Authors: Horton Larry D. 
Published: December 2007

This paper was prepared for the Second Midwest Oil and Gas Symposium of the Society of Petroleum Engineers of AIME, to be held in Indianapolis, Indiana, March 28–29, 1974. Permission to copy is restricted to an abstract of not more than 300 words. Illustrations may not be copied. The abstract should contain conspicuous acknowledgement of where and by whom the paper is presented. Publication elsewhere after publication in the JOURNAL presented. Publication elsewhere after publication in the JOURNAL OF PETROLEUM TECHNOLOGY or the SOCIETY OF PETROLEUM ENGINEERS JOURNAL is usually granted upon request to the Editor of the appropriate journal provided agreement to give proper credit is made. provided agreement to give proper credit is made. Discussion of this paper is invited. Three copies of any discussion should be sent to the Society of Petroleum Engineers office. Such discussion may be presented at the above meeting and, with the paper, may be considered for publication in one of the two SPE magazines.

The West Columbus Field in St. Clair County, Michigan is a pinnacle reef. It has a potential working storage capacity of 21.6 BCF and a maximum flow-rate deliverability of 400 MMCF/D. The development of this field requires that additional wells be drilled. The care with which drilling fluids are handled and wellsites are restored minimizes environmental impact. In addition, the 100 acre parcel of land on which all drilling is being done will be landscaped to look like a park or preserve.

Introduction

The West Columbus Field is located in St. Clair County about 40 miles northeast of Detroit, Michigan. It was discovered in January, 1967 by the Sun Oil Company and developed as a gas producing field with 12 gas wells. Original producing field with 12 gas wells. Original reserves were estimated to be 19.6 BCF of gas-in-place to zero psia. In 1970 Michigan Consolidated Gas Company acquired the interests of the Sun Oil Company in this field. From the information on gas reserves and deliverability potential, this reservoir is estimated to have a potential, this reservoir is estimated to have a working storage capacity of 21.6 BCF and a withdrawal capacity of approximately 400 MMCF/D. This would be accomplished by cycling the field from 300 psig to 1725 psig utilizing twenty-two facility wells for the injection-withdrawal operations.

By 1972 the production of the field began to near completion. The excellent deliverability qualities of the reservoir and its relative compactness (Fig. 1) made it very attractive for development as a storage field. However, opposition by landowners in this largely farming community to such a project was strong and very well organized. Some of the landowners believed that the development of a storage field would interfere unduly with their farming operations, and these landowners possessed very successful farms. Also, many of the landowners envisioned that this area would have a high future potential value for real estate development. Since there is a river which provides potential for a water reservoir within the limits of the field, the land also had possibilities for recreational development.

Negotiations with the landowners for their storage rights were carried on for an extended period of time. The successful conclusion of period of time. The successful conclusion of these negotiations was triggered by a proposal which Michigan Consolidated made to the landowners during 1972.