SY024
The Life of an Oil and Gas Well from Spud to Plug: Quantifying Impacts, Understanding Integrity, and Improving Management of Active, Abandoned, and Orphaned Wells
Session ID#: 160538
Session Description:
The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) has allocated $4.7 billion to plug US oil and gas wells left orphaned by defunct companies. More than one hundred thousand documented and potentially hundreds of thousands of undocumented orphaned wells exist in the US. Leakage from these wells, or any oil and gas well regardless of its status, is an environmental and human health concern and can contribute to emissions of methane, a potent greenhouse gas. Efforts to characterize and understand the causes and impacts of well leakage are needed to help prioritize the BIL well plugging efforts. The goal of this session is to better understand leakage over the entire lifespan of oil and gas wells, whether they are active, abandoned, orphaned, or undocumented. We invite submissions from a broad range of multidisciplinary studies including field efforts (e.g., leakage detection, flux measurements, gas and water geochemical sampling, aerial surveys, mobile surveys, and geophysics), laboratory analyses, modeling studies, risk assessments, economic analysis, database analyses using historical, commercial, or public databases and documents, and policy analysis.
Index Terms:
0345 Pollution: urban and regional [ATMOSPHERIC COMPOSITION AND STRUCTURE]
0495 Water/energy interactions [BIOGEOSCIENCES]
1831 Groundwater quality [HYDROLOGY]
6349 General or miscellaneous [POLICY SCIENCES & PUBLIC ISSUES]
Primary Convener: Greg Lackey, National Energy Technology Laboratory Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, United States
Conveners: Mary Kang, McGill University, Civil Engineering, Montreal, QC, Canada, Adam S Peltz, Environmental Defense Fund, New York, United States, James W Carey, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM, United States and Jaisree Iyer, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, CA, United States
Student/Early Career Convener: Greg Lackey, National Energy Technology Laboratory Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, United States
A Case Study on the Magnitude and Impact of Gas Leakage in Abandoned Wells (1061295)
Al Moghadam, Netherlands Organization for Applied Scientific Research, Applied Geosciences, Utrecht, Netherlands, Susanne Nelskamp, Netherlands Organization for Applied Scientific Research, Energy/Geological Survey of the Netherlands, Utrecht, Netherlands and Elisabeth Peters, Netherlands Organization for Applied Scientific Research, Utrecht, Netherlands
A Numerical Investigation of Multi-Material Wellbore Plug Placement using the Lattice Boltzmann Method (1173799)
Carlos Garcia1, Eilis Jill Rosenbaum2, Julie M Vandenbossche3, Igor Haljasmaa2, Anthony T Iannacchione3, John Brigham3 and Richard Spaulding2, (1)University of Pittburgh, Pittsburgh, United States, (2)National Energy Technology Laboratory Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, United States, (3)University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, United States
Abandoned but Not Forgotten: Characterizing Materials Integrity in Abandoned Well Plugging Systems (1066333)
Eilis Jill Rosenbaum1, Igor Haljasmaa1, Richard Spaulding2 and Justin Mackey3, (1)National Energy Technology Laboratory Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, United States, (2)Research and Innovation Center, National Energy Technology Laboratory, Pittsburgh, United States, (3)National Energy Technology Laboratory Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, United States
Analysis of Methane Emissions from Orphaned Oil and Gas Wells to Identify Contributing Geologic and Drilling Factors (1176279)
Nicholas J. Gianoutsos1, Karl Haase2, C. Özgen Karacan3, Matthew D Merrill3 and Peter Warwick3, (1)U.S. Geological Survey, Central Energy Resources Science Center, Denver, United States, (2)U.S. Geological Survey, Strategic Laboratory Science Branch, Reston, United States, (3)U.S. Geological Survey, Geology, Energy, and Minerals (GEM) Science Center, Reston, VA, United States
Characterizing Methane Emissions from Orphaned Coalbed Methane Wells in the Powder River Basin (1056757)
Jeffrey Nivitanont1, Eric P. Robertson2, Shane M Murphy1, Matthew D Burkhart3 and Dana Caulton3, (1)University of Wyoming, Atmospheric Science, Laramie, WY, United States, (2)University of Wyoming, Enhanced Oil Recovery Institute, Casper, United States, (3)University of Wyoming, Atmospheric Science, Laramie, United States
Data-Driven Approaches for Understanding and Forecasting Well Leakage (1123671)
Isabelle Rose Pfander, National Energy Technology Laboratory Albany, Albany, United States, Alec Dyer, National Energy Technology Laboratory, Albany, OR, United States, Chung Yan Shih, National Energy Technology Laboratory Support Contractor / Leidos, Pittsburgh, PA, United States, Robert M Dilmore, National Energy Technology Laboratory, Pittsburgh, PA, United States and Greg Lackey, National Energy Technology Laboratory Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, United States
Documenting Orphaned Oil and Gas Wells in the United States (1069617)
Jade Boutot1, Renee McVay2, Daniel Raimi3, Adam S Peltz2 and Mary Kang1, (1)McGill University, Civil Engineering, Montreal, QC, Canada, (2)Environmental Defense Fund, New York, United States, (3)Resources for the Future, Washington, DC, United States
Enhanced Methods to Model Gas Migration During Cement Slurry Hydration (1192211)
Julie M Vandenbossche1, Naser Pourakbar Sharifi1, Anthony T Iannacchione1, Ping Lyu1, John Brigham1, Eilis Jill Rosenbaum2 and Carlos Garcia3, (1)University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, United States, (2)National Energy Technology Laboratory Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, United States, (3)University of Pittburgh, Pittsburgh, United States
Enhanced Wellbore Cements through Geomimicry for Mitigating Wellbore Leakage (1200034)
Cody Massion, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, United States, Sai Vamsi Krishna Vissa, Oklahoma State University Main Campus, Chemical Engineering, Stillwater, OK, United States, Mileva Radonjic, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK, United States and Mercy Achang, University of Delaware, Newark, United States
Exploring carbon offset credits for plugging abandoned and orphaned oil and gas wells (1167219)
Mary Kang, McGill University, Civil Engineering, Montreal, QC, Canada, Maris Densmore, American Carbon Registry - Winrock International, North Little Rock, United States and Adam S Peltz, Environmental Defense Fund, New York, United States
Identification and Characterization of the Source, Size and Cause of leaks from Faulty Oil and Gas Wells in the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin (1120895)
Gabriela González Arismendi, University of Alberta, Earth and Atmospheric Science, Edmonton, AB, Canada and Karlis Muehlenbachs, University of Alberta, Earth and Atmopsheric Scdiences, Edmonton, AB, Canada
Identifying Abnormal Tank Emissions Using Ethane to Methane Signatures of Oil and Natural Gas Production in the Permian Basin (1090870)
Dana Caulton1, Priya D Gurav1, Anna Robertson1, Kristen Pozsonyi1, Shane M Murphy2 and David Richard Lyon3, (1)University of Wyoming, Atmospheric Science, Laramie, United States, (2)University of Wyoming, Atmospheric Science, Laramie, WY, United States, (3)Environmental Defense Fund, New York, United States
Impact of Cement Properties, Brine Concentration, Reaction Rates, and Boundary Conditions on the Self-sealing of Damaged Well Cement Exposed to Carbonated Brine (1113841)
Megan M Smith, Lawrence Livermore Nat'l Lab, Livermore, CA, United States and Jaisree Iyer, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, CA, United States
Malfunctions and Methane Emissions from Flares at Low-producing Well Sites in the Permian Basin (1175089)
Jack Warren1, David Richard Lyon1, Benjamin Hmiel1, Kate Roberts2 and Steve Hamburg3, (1)Environmental Defense Fund, New York, United States, (2)Environmental Defense Fund, New York, NY, United States, (3)Environmental Defense Fund New York, Yale Institute for Biospheric Studies, New York, United States
Methane Emissions Mitigation and Retrofit Opportunities in the Intermountain West (I-West) Region (1187060)
Joseph Heimerl1, Martin Ma2, Bailian Chen3, Mohamed Mehana2 and Jolante van Wijk4, (1)Texas A&M University College Station, College Station, TX, United States, (2)Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM, United States, (3)Los Alamos National Laboratory, Earth and Environmental Sciences Division, Los Alamos, NM, United States, (4)Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, United States
Occurrence of Benzene, Toluene, Ethylbenzene, and Xylenes in Water Wells near Oil and Gas Development in the Wattenberg Field of Colorado (1197684)
Joseph Nolte Ryan, University of Colorado Boulder, Environmental Engineering, Boulder, United States, Mark T Schroeder, Integral Consulting, Portland, United States, Greg Lackey, National Energy Technology Laboratory Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, United States and Owen Sherwood, Dalhousie University, Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Halifax, NS, Canada
Orphan Zero: Plugging All Orphan Wells in a Timely Manner (1121990)
Aaron Wolfe, Environmental Defense Fund, Washington, DC, United States, Maureen Lackner, Environmental Defense Fund, Boulder, CO, United States and Adam S Peltz, Environmental Defense Fund, New York, United States
Plugging Orphaned Wells in Texas to Reduce Adverse Environmental Impacts (Invited) (1136920)
Bridget R Scanlon1, Robert C Reedy1, Jean-Philippe Nicot2 and Michael Young1, (1)University of Texas at Austin, Bureau of Economic Geology, Jackson School of Geosciences, Austin, TX, United States, (2)University of Texas at Austin, Bureau of Economic Geology, Jackson School of Geosciences, Austin, United States
Predicting subsurface unknowns: A big data, spatio-temporal approach to improve prediction of orphan and undocumented wells using global deep drilling records (1130807)
Kelly Rose1, Jennifer Bauer1 and Lucy Romeo2, (1)National Energy Technology Laboratory, Albany, OR, United States, (2)Battelle, National Energy Technology Lab, Albany, OR, United States
Seven years of repeated mobile OGI surveys for tracking long-term trends in methane emissions from oil and gas facilities (1075985)
Yuanlei Chen1, Jacob Englander2, Alan M Gorchov Negron3, Genevieve Plant4, Graham Fordice3, Stefan Schwietzke5, Daniel Zavala-Araiza6, Eric A Kort4 and Adam R Brandt1, (1)Stanford University, Stanford, CA, United States, (2)California Environmental Protection Agency Air Resources Board, Sacramento, United States, (3)University of Michigan Ann Arbor, Climate and Space Sciences and Engineering, Ann Arbor, MI, United States, (4)University of Michigan Ann Arbor, Climate and Space Sciences and Engineering, Ann Arbor, United States, (5)Environmental Defense Fund, Berlin, Germany, (6)Environmental Defense Fund, International Scientist, Climate and Energy Program, Austin, TX, United States
Simulating of the rapid CO2 leakage during well blowouts (1203067)
Pramod Bhuvankar1, Abdullah Cihan1 and Jens Birkholzer2, (1)Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Earth & Environmental Sciences, Berkeley, CA, United States, (2)Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Energy Geosciences Division, Berkeley, CA, United States
Study of Correlation Between Verification Techniques and Hydraulic Isolation using Sandwich Sections Retrieved from a North Sea Production Well (1167426)
Katherine Beltran Jimenez, Stavanger, Rogaland, NORWAY, Hans Joakim Skadsem, University of Stavanger, Stavanger, Norway and Dave Gardner, NORCE, Stavanger, Norway
Surface Investigation of Scale Inhibitors (SISI) (1122746)
Isaac Løge1, Benaiah Anabaraonye2 and Philip Loldrup Fosbøl1, (1)Technical University of Denmark, Chemical Engineering, Kgs. Lyngby, Denmark, (2)Technical University of Denmark, The Danish Offshore Technology Centre, Lyngby, Denmark
Water Quality Impacts and Hydrogeologic Methane Migration Pathways from Aging Oil and Gas Wells (1194935)
Samuel Shaheen, Pennsylvania State University Main Campus, Department of Geosciences, University Park, PA, United States, Tao Wen, Syracuse University, Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Syracuse, NY, United States, Melika Sharifironizi, Pennsylvania State University Main Campus, Nuclear Engineering, University Park, United States, Christopher H House, Pennsylvania State University, Geosciences and Environmental Systems Institute, University Park, PA, United States, Eric E Roden, University of Wisconsin, Department of Geology and Geophysics, Madison, WI, United States and Susan L Brantley, Pennsylvania State University Main Campus, Earth and Environmental Systems Institute, University Park, PA, United States
Water Quality Impacts from Shale-gas Development: from Case Study to Statistical Analysis and from Pennsylvania to the USA (Invited) (1045201)
Susan L Brantley, Pennsylvania State University Main Campus, Earth and Environmental Systems Institute, and Department of Geosciences, University Park, PA, United States, Samuel Shaheen, Pennsylvania State University, Geosciences, University Park, PA, United States, Tao Wen, Syracuse University, Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Syracuse, NY, United States and Jenn Baka, Pennsylvania State University Main Campus, Geography, University Park, United States
Wellbore Cement Stability in Unconventional Wells: from Development, through Production and Abandonment (1195863)
Cody Massion1, Gabriel Awejori2, Havila Jupudi2 and Mileva Radonjic3, (1)Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, United States, (2)Oklahoma State University Main Campus, Stillwater, United States, (3)Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK, United States
