Offshore Characterization Field Projects

High-resolution 3D seismic BuoyLink rGPS deployed at an active injection site at Tomakomai Project in Japan (2018). Photo courtesy of Gulf Coast Carbon Center.

Offshore Overview

The United States (U.S.) Department of Energy (DOE) has completed studies to estimate the storage resource on the continental shelf off the Atlantic and Gulf coasts of the U.S. The projects used a variety of methodologies and covered different geologic settings offshore of the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) and the Atlantic coasts.

Currently DOE is funding two offshore partnerships to assemble the knowledge base required for secure, long-term, large-scale carbon dioxide (CO₂) storage, with or without enhanced hydrocarbon recovery, and assess technology-development needs (infrastructure, operational, monitoring), which differ from those onshore.

The advantages of offshore CO₂ storage for the U.S. include:

CO₂ storage is provided in areas of many large, stationary CO₂ sources along coastlines and areas that may have potentially limited options for onshore CO₂ storage.
Issues with heavily populated, onshore areas are avoided.
Typically, there is one owner for leasing and pipeline siting.
Mineral rights are owned by the state or federal government.
Formation fluid in offshore sediments is typically similar to sea water in terms of chemistry and salinity (30,000 to 40,000 parts per million [ppm] total dissolved solids [TDS]).
Potential reduced risks to underground sources of drinking water (USDWs).

Considerations in determining the suitability of a formation for storage include:

In onshore saline formations, a minimum depth of about 914 meters (3,000 feet) is required for adequate fluid pressures and temperatures to store CO₂ in the supercritical state, minimizing the volume of required storage space. In offshore saline formations, the minimum depth below the seabed is less because the column of water above increases the pressure on the formation.
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) water-quality guidelines require a minimum pore water TDS of 10,000 ppm for assessed saline storage formations, which is unlikely to be an issue offshore.
The requirement of a suitable seal system, such as a caprock, to limit vertical flow of the CO₂ to the surface.

Gulf of Mexico Offshore Partnerships

GOMCarb map — Figure 2: The current offshore partnership study areas. Click to enlarge

The Partnership for Offshore Carbon Storage Resources and Technology Development in the Gulf of Mexico (GoMCARB): The GoMCarb partnership compiles data and expertise in the region, integrating academic research institutions, government entities, and industry affiliates to address knowledge gaps, regulatory issues, infrastructure requirements, and geologic and engineering technical challenges of storing CO₂.

Southeast Regional Carbon Storage Partnership: Offshore Gulf of Mexico (SECARB GOM): SECARB GOM is leading a coalition of southern universities and technical experts to expand the existing GOM government-industry partnership and focus on assembling the knowledge base required for secure, long-term, large-scale CO₂ subsea storage.

Gulf of Mexico CO₂ Storage Resource Estimates

Offshore GOM Map — Figure 3 shows the study areas of four DOE-funded projects focused on assessing the CO2 storage resource in the GOM. Click to enlarge.

Sediments beneath the GOM represent a vast storage resource in oil and gas reservoirs and saline formations, and resource estimates benefit from extensive oil and gas exploration and development data. Using production data, it is estimated that there are 20 billion metric tons of storage in just the oil and gas reservoirs. Including saline formations, analysis of seismic data and well data indicates that hundreds of billions of metric tons, or more, storage resource is available in the Gulf.

Detailed discussion of the results of these studies are provided by Savage and Ozgen and Agartan et al., Bruno et al., Nemeth et al. and https://www.beg.utexas.edu/gccc/research/osra.

Offshore Atlantic Coast Storage Resource Estimates

Atlantic map — Figure 4: Study areas of DOE funded projects to assess the CO2 storage resource in the offshore Atlantic. Click to enlarge.

Storage resource estimates are less well-defined off the Atlantic coast due to lack of data. Nonetheless, improved stratigraphic models, guided by biostratigraphy and combined with available seism ic data, indicate hundreds of billions of metric tons, or more, of storage resource is also available throughout a large study area from New York to northern Florida.

Detailed discussion of the results of these studies are provided by Gupta, Nemeth et al.

Offshore Partnership Project Landing Pages
Southeast Regional Carbon Storage Partnership: Offshore Gulf of Mexico	Southern States Energy Board (SSEB)
	FE0031557
Offshore Gulf of Mexico Partnership for Carbon Storage - Resources and Technology Development (GOMCarb)	University of Texas at Austin
	FE0031558
Assessment of CO₂ Storage Resources in Depleted Oil and Gas Fields in the Ship Shoal Area, Gulf of Mexico	Geomechanics Technologies, Inc.
	FE0026041
Offshore CO₂ Storage Resource Assessment of the Northern Gulf of Mexico	University of Texas at Austin
	FE0026083
Southeast Offshore Storage Resource Assessment	Southern States Energy Board (SSEB)
Southeast Offshore Storage Resource Assessment	FE0026086
Mid-Atlantic U.S. Offshore Carbon Storage Resource Assessment Project	Battelle Memorial Institute
	FE0026087
Offshore Storage Resource Assessment	NITEC, LLC
Offshore Storage Resource Assessment	FE0026392

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