Towards Evaluating and Managing Risks Associated with Legacy Wells and Offshore Gas Storage in Scotland

评估和管理与苏格兰传统油井和海上天然气储存相关的风险

• 批准号: 2902920
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: Heriot-Watt University
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Studentship
• 财政年份: 2024
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2024 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=studentship-2902920
• 关键词: Towards; Evaluating; Managing; Risks; Associated

Carbon capture and storage (CCS) will play a vital role in mitigating greenhouse gas emissions and combating climate change during global efforts to reach NetZero. Offshore storage of CO2 presents a promising solution for long-term storage; however, it is crucial to assess, manage and mitigate the risks associated with the loss of containment at offshore CO2 storage facilities. The UK Continental Shelf is estimated to have a storage capacity of 80-90GT of CO2 (ETI UKSAP, 2011). Crown Estates Scotland (CES) are responsible for leasing assets for gas storage between 12 to 200 miles from the Scottish coast, an area of seabed that has a history of extensive oil and gas exploration and production, whereby more than 7,000 wells have been drilled since the late 1960s. The seabed available for potential gas storage managed by CES is approximately 7500 km2 in area and spans the Scottish coastline. When selecting optimal sites to lease for gas storage in any region, it is crucial to consider risk factors that may lead to loss of containment and evaluate the severity of consequences were containment to be compromised. Such risk screening exercises are critical to identify optimal areas for gas storage, to screen out areas with greater risk and to be used in the process of risk-based decision-making. Factors that determine the overall risk profile for an offshore storage area include geologic integrity and architecture, legacy infrastructure and integrity, seabed stability and the presence and nature of any environmental receptors that may be impacted by loss of containment. Of particular concern are legacy wells and their integrity for which many thousands exist within the Scottish offshore environment. Legacy wells are a major risk to containment during offshore geological storage, where integrity may become compromised allowing fugitive gas migration towards the seabed and into the marine environment. Currently, no legacy well risk screening tools, methods, or strategies specific to the Scottish offshore environment exist that can help manage, optimize and prioritize leasing of offshore gas storage in Scotland. Meanwhile, various data held by regulatory authorities (e.g., the NSTA National Data Repository) relate to legacy wells, their integrity and associated geological attributes. Such data could aid in assessment of risk posed to gas storage containment by legacy wells across the Scottish seabed, yet to date has not been utilized in such context. This PhD research will involve evaluating existing legacy well risk screening methods and strategies, appraising data availability related to the offshore Scottish environment with focus on legacy wells, collating said data and developing a custom database that can be used to aid in risk screening. Subsequently, the student will perform data analyses to better understand key risk factors associated with loss of containment and legacy wells, develop a risk screening approach, and apply it to legacy wells present within CES lease areas to aid in decision-making.

碳捕获和存储（CCS）将在减轻温室气体排放和打击全球努力到达Netzero期间的气候变化方面发挥至关重要的作用。二氧化碳的近海存储提出了一种有希望的长期存储解决方案。但是，评估，管理和减轻与离岸二氧化碳存储设施损失相关的风险至关重要。估计英国大陆架的存储容量为80-90GT的CO2（ETI UKSAP，2011年）。苏格兰皇冠庄园（CES）负责租赁距离苏格兰海岸12到200英里的天然气存储资产，该地区的海床区域具有广泛的石油和天然气勘探和生产历史，自1960年代后期以来，已经钻了7,000多口井。 CES管理的潜在天然气存储空间的海床在地区约为7500 km2，跨越了苏格兰海岸线。当选择最佳地点以租赁任何区域的气体存储时，考虑可能导致遏制损失并评估后果严重性的风险因素至关重要。这种风险筛查练习对于确定气体存储的最佳区域，筛查具有更大风险的区域并用于基于风险的决策过程至关重要。确定离岸存储区域总体风险概况的因素包括地质完整性和建筑，旧基础设施和完整性，海床稳定性以及可能受到遏制损失可能影响的任何环境受体的存在和性质。特别关注的是旧井及其在苏格兰离岸环境中存在数千个存在的诚信。遗产井是在离岸地质存储期间遏制的主要风险，在那里，诚信可能会受到损害，从而使逃离气体向海床和海洋环境迁移。当前，苏格兰海上环境特有的遗产井风险筛查工具，方法或策略都可以帮助管理，优化和优先考虑苏格兰海上天然气存储的租赁。同时，监管机构（例如NSTA国家数据存储库）持有的各种数据与传统井，其完整性和相关的地质属性有关。这些数据可以有助于评估苏格兰海床上的旧井对储气井构的风险，但迄今为止尚未在这种情况下使用。这项博士学位研究将涉及评估现有的遗产井风险筛查方法和策略，以评估与苏格兰海上环境相关的数据可用性，重点是遗产井，整理上述数据并开发可用于辅助风险筛查的自定义数据库。随后，学生将进行数据分析，以更好地了解与损失和遗产井相关的关键风险因素，开发风险筛查方法，并将其应用于CES租赁区域中存在的遗产井，以帮助决策。