The critical evaluation of carbon dioxide subsurface storage sites: Geological challenges in the depleted fields of Liverpool Bay

Chedburn, Lauren; Underhill, John R.; Head, Sam; Jamieson, Rachel

doi:10.1306/07062221120

Cited by 5 publications

(3 citation statements)

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“…CO 2 is stored underground in a supercritical phase, which requires a reservoir pressure of >74 bar and a temperature >31°C. These conditions generally occur in the UK at around 800 m depth (Benson and Cook, 2005;Chedburn et al, 2022). Zechstein reservoirs in established hydrocarbon fields in NE England and the adjacent offshore are mostly situated at depths greater than the 800 m threshold, potentially allowing for the storage of CO 2 in a supercritical phase.…”

Section: Carbon Capture Utilisation and Storage (Ccus)mentioning

confidence: 99%

The Upper Permian Zechstein Supergroup of Ne England and the Adjacent Southern North Sea: A Review of Its Role in the Uk's Energy Transition

Fyfe¹,

Underhill

2023

Journal of Petroleum Geology

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As the United Kingdom reduces its CO2 emissions in order to meet its 2050 net zero greenhouse gas targets, there will be a significant evolution of the UK's energy mix. The reliance on hydrocarbons will decrease while there is predicted to be an increase in low carbon energy sources such as renewables and nuclear. In order to decarbonise and achieve the net zero emissions targets while concurrently producing enough energy to provide for national energy needs, large‐scale, low carbon energy generation projects need to be developed alongside energy storage facilities to provide flexibility within a low carbon energy supply. Robust CCUS programmes will need be developed in order to capture and store unavoidable carbon dioxide emissions. The subsurface geology of the UK provides opportunities for the development of low carbon energy generation, energy storage and CCS, and the Upper Permian Zechstein Supergroup deposited in eastern England and offshore in the Southern North Sea is a potential host for these new developments. In NE England, salt cavern gas storage sites have been developed in thick Zechstein evaporites since the mid 20th centrury. In this paper we present new isopach maps and well correlation panels which will help to outline optimal locations for the development of additional salt caverns for gas storage. A review of the Zechstein Supergroup indicates that it does not exhibit great potential for the development of CCS, due both to its complex reservoir characteristics and to difficulties with both subsurface imaging and monitoring. However thick Zechstein evaporites could provide an excellent seal for CO2 storage in the underlying Lower Permian Rotliegend Group.

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Section: Carbon Capture Utilisation and Storage (Ccus)mentioning

confidence: 99%

The Upper Permian Zechstein Supergroup of Ne England and the Adjacent Southern North Sea: A Review of Its Role in the Uk's Energy Transition

Fyfe¹,

Underhill

2023

Journal of Petroleum Geology

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“…It has long been assumed that the main source of the basin's dry gas was derived from the upper Carboniferous (Stephanian and Westphalian) Coal Measures Group. However, the recent discovery of gas in areas where coal-bearing sequences are absent through erosion by the BPU (e.g., in the Breagh field and Pensacola discovery) has led to a greater appreciation of the contribution made by deeper intra-Carboniferous (Namurian and Dinantian) shale-prone source rocks equivalent to the Bowland or Hodder Shale that charges the fields in onshore areas (Besly, 2018;Grant et al, 2020a) and in the Liverpool Bay area of the East Irish Sea (Chedburn et al, 2022).…”

Section: Source Rocksmentioning

confidence: 99%

Use of exploration methods to repurpose and extend the life of a super basin as a carbon storage hub for the energy transition

Underhill¹,

Jonge-Anderson²,

Hollinsworth³

et al. 2023

Bulletin

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The Anglo-Polish Super Basin forms an important petroleum province that stretches across northwestern Europe. It contains many giant gas fields, primarily located beneath a thick upper Permian (Zechstein Group) evaporite canopy and a smaller amount of oil and gas in Mesozoic reservoirs in the suprasalt section. Although exploration activity continues in the super basin, discoveries have diminished in size; many fields have been decommissioned; and it is beginning a transformation from an area with a rich petroleum heritage to a new, low-carbon energy hub. Given its favorable geology, infrastructure, and the location of major industrial emitters in adjacent land areas, offshore parts of the super basin are being evaluated and repurposed for renewable technologies like wind and geothermal energy, and as possible sites for subsurface carbon dioxide, hydrogen, compressed air, and methane gas storage.The use of a rich, dense, and high-fidelity seismic, well log, core, and pressure data sets acquired during petroleum exploration and production activities provide the basis for a play-based exploration assessment of the super basin's carbon storage potential. The results of our analysis of the super basin's offshore waters of the United Kingdom sector suggest that storage in traps containing Carboniferous and Permian (presalt) and Triassic (postsalt) clastic reservoirs have the potential to extend the life of the mature super basin during the energy transition. The detailed evaluation of the Rotliegend Group, from which most of the gas in the basin has been derived, enables a prospective subsalt carbon storage reservoir play fairway to be defined, common risks to be identified, and composite maps to be produced that show where the best storage

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“…Continental erg systems have been studied extensively (Bagnold, 1941; Carr‐Crabaugh & Kocurek, 1998; Clemmensen & Blakey, 1989; Crabaugh & Kocurek, 1993; Hunter, 1977; Jerram et al, 2000; Kocurek, 1991; Kok et al, 2012; Mesquita et al, 2021; Mountney, 2012; Mountney & Thompson, 2002; Peterson, 1988; Porter, 1986; Rodríguez‐López et al, 2014; Wilson, 1972; Yu et al, 2021) and are known to deposit and preserve clastic sandstones, many of which possess favourable reservoir qualities. When identified within the subsurface, these can be indicative of hydrocarbon and sedimentary geothermal reservoirs and can provide opportunities for the development of carbon capture, utilisation and storage (Chedburn et al, 2022; Sass & Götz, 2012; Scorgie et al, 2021; Taggart et al, 2010; Yu et al, 2018). However, there are comparatively fewer studies focussing on the relationships between erg systems and surrounding coeval marginal environments (Rodríguez‐López et al, 2013, 2014).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The sedimentological expression of transgression–regression cycles upon aeolian–marine margins

Cross

Pettigrew

Priddy

et al. 2023

The Depositional Record

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When compared to their temperate coastal counterparts, sediments deposited and preserved along arid aeolian to shallow‐marine margins remain relatively poorly understood, particularly at the scale of lithofacies units and architectural elements. These systems often record evidence for relative sea‐level change within sedimentary basins. This work focusses on the Entrada–Curtis–Summerville formations that crop out in central eastern Utah, USA, and provides a detailed analysis of the aeolian Moab Member of the Curtis Formation (informally known as the Moab Tongue) that was impacted by cycles of marine transgressions and regression in the late Jurassic. This study utilises photogrammetry, sedimentary logging and sequence‐stratigraphical analysis techniques. Results indicate that four short‐lived transgressive‐regressive cycles are preserved within the Moab Member, followed by a broad regressive event recorded at the transition between the Curtis and Summerville formations. These cycles relate to changes in the relative sea level of the Sundance Sea and the deflation and expansion of the neighbouring aeolian dune field. During periods of normal regression, marine sediments displayed evidence of tidal and wave action, whereas the continental domain was characterised by growth of the aeolian system. However, when regression occurred within optimal physiographic conditions such as a restricted, semi‐enclosed basin, and at sufficient magnitude to outpace erg expansion, this acted to shut‐down bedform development and preservation. A rapid restriction of aeolian sediment availability and the inability of the dune field to recover resulted in the formation of deflationary sandsheets, arid coastal plain strata and contemporaneous shallow‐marine deposits that are starved of wind‐sourced sediments. This study highlights how a rapidly developing high‐magnitude regression can lead to the overall retraction of the erg. Deciphering the evolution and sequence stratigraphical relationships of arid aeolian to shallow marine margins is important in both understanding environmental interactions and improving the characterisation of reservoir rocks deposited in these settings.

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The critical evaluation of carbon dioxide subsurface storage sites: Geological challenges in the depleted fields of Liverpool Bay

Cited by 5 publications

References 0 publications

The Upper Permian Zechstein Supergroup of Ne England and the Adjacent Southern North Sea: A Review of Its Role in the Uk's Energy Transition

The Upper Permian Zechstein Supergroup of Ne England and the Adjacent Southern North Sea: A Review of Its Role in the Uk's Energy Transition

Use of exploration methods to repurpose and extend the life of a super basin as a carbon storage hub for the energy transition

The sedimentological expression of transgression–regression cycles upon aeolian–marine margins

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