Development of Aquifer Gas Storage Field with Minimum Environmental Impact
Authors: Henry William A. , Fix Frank F. 
Published: December 2007

American Institute of Mining, Metallurgical, and Petroleum Engineers, Inc.

This paper was prepared for the 49th Annual Fall Meeting of the Society of Petroleum Engineers of AIME, to be held in Houston, Texas, Oct. 6–9, 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 acknowledgment of where and by whom the paper is 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.

Discussion of this paper is invited. Three copies of any discussion should be sent to the Society of Petroleum Engineers office. Such discussions may be presented at the above meeting and, with the paper, may be considered for publication in one of the two SPE magazines.

This paper discusses in detail the steps in the development of an aquifer storage field from the exploration to full-operation status, with special emphasis placed upon creating a minimum environmental impact at every stage of development. Discussed are the procedures in the discovery, testing, development, and operation of an aquifer storage field. Special emphasis is placed upon the discussion of the development of Northern Natural Gas Co.'s Dallas Center field and the steps taken to offer a minimum environmental impact in the local areas. Also discussed are the various state and federal agencies to be dealt with during All phases from discovery to development of the gas storage field.

Introduction

The development of new supplies of natural gas has not kept pace with the demands of the high priority residential and small volume consumers of the nation. As a result, natural gas pipelines are being compelled to rely to an increasingly greater degree upon the development and utilization of additional underground storage as the most feasible means of maintaining adequate service to the high priority market. Many of these storage fields are located in the market areas of the Midwest States where the residents are unfamiliar with oil and gas field operations. In order to maintain the respect and cooperation of the local citizens, all efforts must be made to develop the gas storage fields with minimum environmental impact upon the countryside and local communities.

AQUIFER STORAGE DEVELOPMENT PROCEDURES

Since a number of the Midwest States do not have abandoned oil and gas fields that could be used for underground storage facilities, it is necessary to discover and develop aquifer storage fields. As a matter of economics the search for a storage structure would normally begin along the route of the pipeline, preferably near existing compressor stations and suitable for marking strategies. The distance a gas storage field could be located from a pipeline is governed by the economics and requirements of the pipeline company; a storage field could be located a considerable distance from the main pipeline if the particular requirements justified the use of the storage field.