Evaluating the sealing effectiveness of a caprock-fault system for CO2-EOR storage: A case study of the Shengli oilfield

Abstract

An effective sealing system is crucial for CO2-EOR storage, and these sealing systems are typically composed of the caprocks and faults that surround a reservoir. Therefore, the sealing effectiveness of a caprock-fault system must be evaluated at various stages of CO2-EOR storage projects. This paper presents a new evaluation framework that considers specific site characteristics and a case study on the sealing effectiveness of the caprock-fault system in the Shengli Oilfield. The proposed method is a weighted ranking system where a set of 17 indicators has been developed for the assessment and ranking of the G89 block in terms of their sealing ability for CO2 sequestration. Additional indicators are involved in the method, such as the newly proposed parameter, frontier displacement work which reflects the influence of formation pressure, displacement pressure resistance, and caprock thickness. The new approach considers the sealing mechanisms of caprocks and faults as well as the configuration relationships between them. The method was used to evaluate the sealing effectiveness of the G89 block that has a considerable number of faults and good sealing ability of caprock in the Shengli Oilfield.